In the Navigation pane, click Customers. Then on the Create tab, in the Forms group, click the Form Wizard button.

The Form wizard starts.

If a table is selected in the Navigation pane when you click the button, that table’s information populates the wizard’s first page.

Display the Tables/Queries list, and click Table: Categories. In the Available Fields list, double-click CategoryID to move it to the Selected Fields list, and double-click CategoryName. Then click Next.

On the wizard’s second page, you choose a layout for the new form. The preview area on the left shows how the form will look with the selected option applied.

With Columnar selected, click Next.

On the wizard’s last page, Access suggests the table’s name as the title of the form.

With Open the form to view or enter information selected, click Finish.

The new Categories form opens.

The new form displays the first record in the Categories table.

Scroll through a few records by using the controls on the record navigation bar at the bottom of the form.

Let’s make a few changes in Design view.

On the View Shortcuts toolbar, click the Design View button.

Access displays the design grid for the Categories form.

The design grid for the Categories form.

On the Design contextual tab, in the Themes group, click the Themes button. Then in the gallery that appears, click the Austin thumbnail.

You might notice only a subtle change in the font used for the control text. But behind the scenes, Access also makes the color scheme of the Austin theme available to the form.

Click the Form Header section bar to select that section. Then on the Format contextual tab, in the Control Formatting group, click the Shape Fill button. Under Theme Colors in the palette that appears, click the third box (Light Green, Background 2).

Point to the bottom of the Form Header section (just above the Detail section bar), and when the pointer changes to a two-headed arrow, drag downward to enlarge the section until you can see the entire Categories title control.

Click the Categories title control. On the Arrange contextual tab, in the Sizing & Ordering group, click the Size/Space button.

A list of sizing and spacing options appears.

The Size/Space list.

Under Size in the list, click To Fit.

Point to the bottom of the Form Header section, and drag upward until the section is just tall enough to contain the title control.

In the Detail section, click the CategoryID text box control, and on the Design contextual tab, in the Tools group, click the Property Sheet button.

In the Property Sheet, click the Data tab. Click the Enabled property, click its arrow, and click No. Then close the Property Sheet.

Disabling the CategoryID text box control changes its text and background to gray, indicating that users can no longer change this value.

Click the Category Name label, double-click Category, and then delete it and the following space.

Now let’s add the category description from the Categories table to this form.

Point to the bottom of the Detail section, and drag downward until the section is about 2.5 inches tall. Then point to the right edge of the section and drag to the right until the section is about 5 inches wide.

On the Design tab, in the Tools group, click the Add Existing Fields button.

The Field List opens.

You can click Show All Tables to display the fields from other tables in the database.

In the Field List, click Description, drag the field below the Category Name text box control in the Detail section, and then close the Field List.

Point to the border of the Description text box control, and drag the control so that its left edge is aligned with the Category Name control above and its top edge sits at the 1 inch mark on the vertical ruler.

Click the Description label control, and drag the large handle in the upper-left corner to the left until the control is aligned with the labels above. Then widen the control to match the other controls.

Hold down the Shift key, and click the Name and CategoryID labels to add their controls to the selection. Then on the Format contextual tab, in the Font group, click the Align Text Right button.

Make the Detail section just tall enough to contain its controls.

The form now occupies the smallest possible amount of space.

You have added a text box control and its associated label control.

On the View Shortcuts toolbar, click the Form View button.

You can now see the results of your changes.

The labels and their controls now look neater on the form.

Scroll through a few category records. Try to edit entries in the CategoryID field to confirm that you can’t.

We don’t need the record selector bar down the left side of this form, so let’s return to Design view and turn it off.

Switch to Design view, click the form selector (the box in the upper-left corner at the junction of the horizontal and vertical rulers), and then display the Property Sheet for the form.

On the Format page of the Property Sheet, change the Record Selectors property to No. Then close the Property Sheet.

Switch to Form view to verify that the form no longer has a record selector.