MS Access: Linked Tables – how to get the connection string when linked table manager is not installed

calendar_today Asked Nov 16, 2009
thumb_up 10 upvotes
history Updated April 16, 2026

Question posted 2009 · +4 upvotes

I’m looking after a database while its author is on holiday. The server it’s running on has no linked table manager, and the db is giving me an error – “ODBC –connnection to ‘XYZ’ failed.” when I try to Domd.OpenQuery a query that’s depending on a linked table.

I get the same message when I try to open said linked table. How do I find out where it’s pointing to?

Accepted answer +10 upvotes

Open the table in design mode, accept the warning with “Yes”, look into the “Properties” window of the table (not the one of the column — in Access 2007, the table properties window is docked on the right-hand side of the window; in earlier versions there’s a button in the tool bar, if I remember correctly). The “Description” field contains the ODBC string for the table.

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