Access & Excel rescue
Access and Excel System Rescue
When the Business Runs on One Access File or Spreadsheet
An Access database or a macro-heavy workbook that one person built years ago, that the whole business now depends on, and that just broke after an Office update. I stabilise it first so work can continue, then help you decide calmly whether to keep it, fix it properly or move it to a web system - with the data intact.
Key takeaways
- The first job is always a backup and a working copy. Repairing the only copy of a file the business runs on is how data gets lost.
- Most breakages after an Office update are references, 32/64-bit declarations or blocked macros - fixable without a rewrite.
- Moving to a web system is worth it when several people must work at once, when the file lives on one computer, or when only one person understands it.
- A migration keeps the history: tables, relations and the business rules hidden in the forms and macros are mapped before anything moves.
What I build
- Emergency diagnosis of a broken Access database or macro workbook
- Fixing VBA after Office updates: references, 64-bit declarations, blocked macros
- Splitting a shared Access file into front-end and back-end, or moving the data to SQL Server
- Documenting a system only one person understands, so it survives that person
- Migration to a web system your team opens in a browser, with the data and history intact
- Connecting the old system to invoicing, ERP or reports while you decide
Projects I built
Company Base Migration Cleaner
Python cleaner that normalizes a messy legacy referrals workbook into a migration-ready template.
Google Apps Script Data Manager
Dual-surface (sheet modal + web app) data manager with column whitelists for safe partial editing.
Dry-Fruit E-Commerce Platform — Django Maintenance & Fixes
Inherited Django e-commerce app — stabilized, re-documented, editable-install fixes, DB backup fixture for fast onboarding.
Systems I connect
See the full systems mapHow it works
A short scoping call
What hurts today, what you already use, and what "done" looks like.
A written fixed-price quote
Scope, price and timeline in writing, approved before any work starts.
Built in stages, on your real data
You see a working first version early, not a demo at the end.
Handover with documentation and monitoring
You own the code and the data, and a support window follows launch.
Guides on this
Practical guides from real client work.
Access Says Unrecognized Database Format: What to Do and What Never to Do
What the Access unrecognized-database-format error really means, the recovery order that does not make it worse, and when it is the signal to leave Access.
A VBA Macro Stopped Working After an Office Update: Diagnosing It Without Removing Protections
A macro broken by an Office update: telling Mark of the Web from a MISSING reference from a Declare without PtrSafe, why lowering macro security is not a fix.
Moving From Access to a Web System: Replacing the Database Without Breaking the Process Around It
A plan for leaving Access while the business keeps running: mapping what depends on the file, moving data to SQL Server, and what sets the cutover date.
Excel #SPILL!, #REF! and #N/A: Recovering a Model Without Hiding the Problem
Three Excel errors, three different failures: no room, a deleted reference, a value not found. What each means and why IFERROR erases the evidence you need.
Migrating Off Forty Excel Sheets: Map Them Before You Choose a System
Forty spreadsheets are not forty systems. How to build the inventory, sort each file into four dispositions, find sources of record, and reconcile the result.
The Critical Spreadsheet Only One Person Understands: Extracting the Knowledge Before You Automate
A spreadsheet only one person understands is an operational risk, not a documentation gap. How to read the file, which questions get answers, and the exit test.
Signs Your Business Has Outgrown Spreadsheets (Time for a Custom App)
Has your business outgrown spreadsheets? The concrete signs it is time to replace spreadsheets with a custom app, the real cost and timeline to build one, and how AI made it affordable.
When Google Sheets Stops Being Enough: Five Measurable Signs
Not a feeling - five signs you can check: concurrent editing, a value in two places, no change history, a sheet nobody dares touch, and automations that keep breaking.
SQL Deadlock and Timeout: Find the Contention Instead of Extending the Wait
Errors 1205, 1222 and -2 look alike in a log and mean very different things. How to tell a deadlock from a lock timeout from a client give-up, and find the contention.
Frequently asked questions
Our Access database stopped opening. What do we do first?
Stop saving over it. Copy the file, and the folder it lives in, somewhere safe before anyone runs a repair. Then the diagnosis runs on the copy. The guide linked below walks through the safe order of steps.
Do we have to rebuild everything?
Usually not. Many systems only need the broken part fixed and a proper backup routine. A rebuild makes sense when several people need to work at once, when the file is on a single computer, or when it keeps breaking. You get that recommendation in writing after the diagnosis.
How is this priced?
The diagnosis is scoped first, and the fix or migration gets a fixed written quote once the scope is known. A move to a web system is priced like the custom systems on the pricing page.
Sources
Official documentation you can verify the claims on this page against.
Let us scope your project
Tell me what you need and I will give you an honest scope, price, and timeline.