How to Change Query Timeout Value for MS Access SQL Queries




By default, query timeout value in MS Access is 60 seconds. This value can be changed at three different levels. Each level is effective for a specific scope of queries.

You may have experienced Microsoft Access query timeout. This often happens to

1. Change query timeout for a pre-built query.
2. Change query timeout for raw SQL queries embedded in VBA code.
3. Change query timeout in Registry.

1. Change query timeout for a pre-built query. Quite a few types of queries can be pre-built in Access in query Design View or hand-code SQL in SQL view. After a query is created, a default query timeout value (60 seconds) is assigned to the query. To change this value, we use Northwind database as the example. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Access database and right click the query Employee Sales by Country. Click Design View in the drop down menu.

   

2. In the Design View window, click View icon in top left corner. And then select SQL View in the drop down.

   

3. When the SQL View is opened, click View in the menu bar across the top. And then select Properties in the drop down.

   

4. In ODBC Timeout field, type in a new value.

   You can use the ODBCTimeout property to specify the number of seconds Microsoft Access waits before a time-out error occurs when a query is run on an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) database. By setting this property to zero (0), no time-out will occur.

   For example, 120 will make this query to timeout in 120 seconds if it does not complete after runs for 120 seconds.

   

5. Close the window and save the query.

2. Change query timeout for raw SQL queries embedded in VBA code. Sometimes, you write raw SQL queries in VBA code and you want to control timeout value for a specific query or a bunch of queries. You can do it in code editor by using either ADO or DAO Database object.

For ADO, use this code to change timeout value:

For DAO, use this code to change timeout value:

Note that, the timeout value changed here is only effective to hard-coded SQLs in VBA. If you call a pre-built query by VBA, the timeout value set in the query's properties window takes precedence.

3. Change query timeout value in Registry. For raw SQL hard-coded in VBA or SQL coded in Access form control properties, if you don't specify a timeout value by using Database object, the value in Registry will be used.

To change query timeout value in Registry, follow these steps:

1. Open Registry Editor.

   Click Start -> Run and then type regedit in the command box.

   

   

2. Open Registry Editor.

   Locate the registry entry for ODBC.

   Depending on what version of your Access is, you should find the entry in the following location:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Jet\3.5\Engines\ODBC

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\ODBC

   

3. Edit QueryTimeout value.

   Double click the QueryTimeout entry and change its Decimal value to whatever suits you.

   

4. Click OK to save the new QueryTimeout value and close Registry editor.

Note that, if the QueryTimeout change in Registry is made while Microsoft Access is running, you must close and then re-open your Microsoft Access database before the change takes effect.

Also note that, the timeout value set in the properties of a re-built query takes precedence over the registry value.

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