How to Convert MDB to CSV? Know the Full Procedure

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Written By Andrew Jackson
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh
Published On April 4th, 2023
Reading Time 6 Minutes Reading

Looking to convert MDB to CSV format? Well, you have stumbled across the right post then. Here, we will discuss different ways to convert MDB to CSV file format. We have presented both a manual solution as well as an automated one. So, without wasting any further time, let’s dive straight into the article.

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MS Access is a well-known database management system from Microsoft. It is a wonderful application for storing data in an organized manner. Moreover, it helps in managing and analyzing large amounts of data efficiently. MS Access creates and stores its data in two formats; MDB and ACCDB. The latest versions use the ACCDB format whereas the versions earlier than 2003 used the MDB format to store MS Access data.

About MDB & CSV Formats

MDB is a Microsoft Access database format which stands for “Microsoft Data Base”. MS Access 2003 and the versions earlier than that used this format as default to store the data. It is a proprietary format used by the MS Access application. An MDB file contains a basic database structure and entries such as rows, tables, fields, and data. Along with that, you can also save information like queries, reports, data entry forms, database security settings, and stored procedures as well.

On the other hand, CSV aka Comma Separated Values file format is one of the popular file formats. It is a text file format in which the data is stored in a table-structured or tabular format. This file format is supported by Google Spreadsheet, Microsoft Excel, and many other similar programs. Therefore, users are looking to convert their MDB files to CSV format.

Simple Steps to Convert MDB to CSV Format

  1. Run the Access Converter utility on your system.
  2. Browse and add your MDB files to the utility.
  3. Preview MDB files in the dedicated software panel.
  4. Choose from the provided export options.
  5. Lastly, click “Export/Save” to initiate the conversion.

So, this is the fast and hassle-free way to accomplish the task. Continue with the blog to check out these steps in detail as well as the provided manual solution. But before diving straight into that, let’s get acquainted with the benefits of converting your .mdb files into CSV format.

Advantages of Converting to CSV Format

As stated above, MDB files are a proprietary format that can be used only in MS Access 2003 or earlier versions. Consequently, it is better to convert your MDB files into CSV format for many reasons such as the ones mentioned below.

  • CSV format is supported by numerous applications like MS Excel and Google Sheets.
  • It can also be opened in text editor applications such as WordPad, Notepad, etc.
  • Reading and understanding a CSV file is easier in comparison.
  • CSV file format easily stores numbers, text, and other various databases in tabular form.

Now moving on to the actual question which is how to convert an MDB file to CSV format. Well, for that, we have shared a hassle-free solution above. In addition to that, we have brought you a manual solution as well. And further, in the article, we have explained the above-mentioned solution in detail.

Manual Approach to Convert MDB File to CSV For Free

In this segment, we are first going to explain the steps of converting the Access database format to MDB and then converting it to CSZV format. Therefore, this method will be helpful for users of all categories. Follow these given steps to manually convert your Microsoft Database (.mdb) files to Comma Separated Values format.

  1. Start the MS Access application on your system.
  2. Go to the “External Data” tab.
  3. In the “Export” option, click on the “Text File” button.
  4. Now, select a preferred location to save the resultant file.
  5. Name the file with a “.csv extension”.
  6. At last, click on “OK”.

So, this is how you can manually proceed to accomplish the task. However, for this method, you must have MS Access installed in your system beforehand. If you want to do this without MS Access dependency then check out the next segment.

Expert Way to Convert MDB to CSV Without Access

If you want a solution with which you can convert your MDB files into CSV format without having to install MS Access then this segment is for you. The SysTools Access Converter Tool is a blessing for users who want to convert MDB to CSV without Access. Not only does this software converts MDB files to CSV format but it does it in an extremely secure and reliable way. Moreover, this splendid software is loaded with astonishing features that contribute to its functioning and improve it well.

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Remarkable Features of this Utility

  • Converts MDB to CSV and other formats such as ACCDB and XLS.
  • Capable of recovering and converting deleted data of MDB files
  • Supports converting corrupted MDB files as well.
  • Provides the option to export “only schema” or both “schema and data”.
  • Supports MDB files from all versions of MS Access.
  • Works well on all versions of Windows OS.

So, these are some amazing features of this tool. Now, let us move further to the detailed steps with images to understand the functioning of this tool in a better way.

Detailed Steps to Use the Software

  1. Download and run the MDB to CSV Converter on your device. Click Browse to Add and upload your MDB files to the utility.
    download and install the utility on your system
  2. Preview your MDB files in the software panel before converting MDB to CSV format. Click on Recover to recover deleted MDB data in the resultant files.
    preview your MDB files before converting MDB to CSV
  3. Click on Export and select CSV format. Choose either to export “Only Schema” or both “Schema and Data”. Browse and select a preferred location path.
  4. Moreover, you can also choose if you want to export recovered data in resultant files. At last, click on the “Export/Save” button.
    choose from provided export options and click Save

And that is all for the steps to use this MDB to CSV Converter to accomplish the task in a smooth-sailing and hassle-free manner.

Wrapping Up

This article on “Convert MDB to CSV” discussed various different solutions to accomplish the task. In this blog, we discussed a manual solution as well as an expert-recommended choice. However, the manual procedure is Access dependent and quite complex to execute. Hence, if you want to Convert MDB to CSV without Access then choose the above-mentioned automated solution to achieve desired results in a hassle-free manner.

  author

By Andrew Jackson

I am SQL DBA and SQL Server blogger too. I like to share about SQL Server and the problems related to it as well as their solution and also I do handle database related user queries, server or database maintenance, database management, etc. I love to share my knowledge with SQL Geeks.