Unable to connect to Access database

[a_rp]

On my new laptop, I am getting an error that says "you need 64-bit version of Access Database Engine" and when I tried to install 64 bit version of Access Database Engine, it says "you need 64-bit MS Office to install 64 bit version of Access Database Engine".......I cannot change the entire MS Office to 64-bit.....is there any alternative to solve this issue? Please help me.

[v-henryk-mstf · Accepted solution]

Hi @a_rp ,

According to your description, there are four solutions that can be tried for such problems:

1. Change the version of Power BI Desktop to match the bit-version of your Microsoft Office installation.
2. Change the bit-version of Microsoft Office to match the bit-version of your Power BI Desktop installation:
3. If the error occurs when you attempt to open an .XLS file (an Excel 97-2003 workbook), you can avoid using the Access Database Engine by opening the .XLS file in Excel, and saving it as an XLSX file.
4. If the previous three solutions are not feasible, it's possible to install both versions of the Access Database Engine.

For more details, you can read related document as below:

Troubleshoot importing Access and Excel .xls files in Power BI Desktop

If the problem is still not resolved, please provide detailed error information and let me know immediately. Looking forward to your reply.

Best Regards,
Henry

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[a_rp]

Hi @v-henryk-mstf #b is what I could adopt and it did solve the issue. Thanks.

[v-henryk-mstf]

Hi @a_rp ,

Thanks for your feedback.😊

Best regards,

Henry

[amitchandak]

@a_rp , refer if these can help

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Desktop/Power-BI-does-not-support-32-bit-Access-DB/td-p/7175

from Guyinacube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQUUGmJ7hs