Data Import & Export

How to Export Over One Million Access Records Without Losing Rows

Olivia Miller Oct 16, 2026 871 views

Question details

The user needs to export approximately 11 million records from a Microsoft Access database for use in other systems like ArcGIS Pro, but direct exports are losing data.

How to Export Over One Million Access Records Without Losing Rows

Product: Microsoft Access
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Exporting massive database tables for downstream processing in external mapping or data analysis software.
Observed behavior: When exporting the database directly to an Excel workbook, the output is truncated at approximately one million rows due to Excel's strict worksheet capacity limit.

Before you start

Ensure you have sufficient hard drive space, as exporting millions of records to a raw text file can generate files several gigabytes in size. Verify that your destination software supports importing large text datasets.

Solution 1Recommended

Export Access Data Directly to a CSV File

Bypass the physical row limits of spreadsheet applications by exporting your large database tables into a comma-separated values (CSV) text file.

Spreadsheet software, including Microsoft Excel and WPS Spreadsheet, limits a single worksheet to 1,048,576 rows. By exporting as a CSV or delimited text file, you can successfully output unlimited records into a single file.

A CSV file stores tabular data in plain text, which is universally accepted by data visualization tools, GIS software like ArcGIS Pro, and programming environments like Python or R.

Select the Target Table

Open your Microsoft Access database. In the Navigation Pane on the left, click once to highlight the table or query that contains your 11 million records.

Initiate Text File Export

Navigate to the 'External Data' tab on the top ribbon. In the 'Export' group, click on the 'Text File' icon.

Choose Save Location and Format

In the Export wizard, click 'Browse' to choose where to save the file. Change the file extension in the file name box from .txt to .csv, then click 'Save'. Ensure 'Export data with formatting and layout' is unchecked to speed up the process.

Configure Delimiter Settings

Click 'OK' to proceed to the Export Text Wizard. Select 'Delimited' and click 'Next'. Choose 'Comma' as the delimiter, check the box for 'Include Field Names on First Row', and click 'Finish'.

Export Access Data Directly to a CSV File

Export Duration: Exporting a database with over 10 million rows can take significant time depending on your computer's processing power. Do not close Access while the export progress bar is running.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Handle Everyday Data Tasks Smoothly with WPS Office

While no spreadsheet software can bypass the 1,048,576 row limit in a single sheet, WPS Office offers a lightweight, highly compatible alternative to Microsoft Office. It is perfect for viewing segmented CSV files, analyzing summarized data, and creating professional reports without the heavy subscription fees.

1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS Office website to download and install the free suite.
2. Open Your Data: Launch WPS Spreadsheet, go to the 'Data' tab, and click 'Import Data'.
3. Analyze and Report: Select your segmented CSV files or summarized datasets to analyze them using familiar spreadsheet tools.

Fully compatible with Microsoft Excel formats (.xlsx, .xls, .csv).Lightweight architecture ensures fast loading of complex data summaries and reports.Includes advanced built-in data filtering and pivot table tools.Completely free to use with a familiar, easy-to-navigate interface.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my Access export to Excel stop at 1,048,576 rows?

Both Microsoft Excel and WPS Spreadsheet have a hard-coded architectural limit of 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns per worksheet. Any data exceeding this threshold during a direct export will be automatically truncated.

Can I split an Access table into multiple Excel sheets automatically?

Access does not have a native feature to automatically split a single large table across multiple Excel worksheets during export. You would need to create segmented Access Queries (for instance, filtering by ID ranges or dates) and export each query individually.

How do I open a CSV with more than 1 million rows?

To handle CSV files larger than 1 million rows, you should avoid standard spreadsheet applications. Instead, use specialized data software like ArcGIS Pro, Microsoft Power BI, Python (pandas), or database management systems like SQL Server.

Excel & Data Problems