Comparing Access and Dataverse data types

Short Text

Text

Dataverse: 4000 characters
Access: 255 characters

In Dataverse, if the string is updated beyond 255 characters, Access casts the value to Long Text for display.

Long Text

Multiline Text

Dataverse: 1,048,576 characters
Access: 1 GB with a display limit of 64,000

Access prevents export if the Dataverse limit is exceeded.

Hyperlink

URL

Dataverse: 4000 characters
Access: 8,192 characters (including the URL, display name, and tool tip parts)

Whether the Access URL is just a simple URL or it has one or more URL parts, it is converted to one column in Dataverse.

DateTime

DateTime

Both Dataverse and Access use the standard date and time format

Full support

Date/Time Extended

No equivalent

Access: For more information, see Date/Time Extended.

Not supported

AutoNumber

Unique Identifier

Dataverse: GUID
Access: integer, +2,147,483,647

Dataverse converts the Access value to an integer.

Currency

Currency

Dataverse: +/- 922,337,203,685,477 with two to ten decimal places
Access: +/- 922,337,203,685,477 with four decimal places

Dataverse has built-in exchange rate conversion but only supports one currency format in a table.
Access supports more than one currency format in a table.

Consider converting the Access Currency data type to Decimal.

Alternatively, You can import the Currency system table (which has the exchange rate and base tables for every currency) from Dataverse to Access. For more information, see Dataverse system tables and columns.

Number: Decimal

Decimal Number

Dataverse: +/-100,000,000,000 and up to 10 decimal places.
Access: +/- 10^28-1 and up to 28 decimals places

Access doesn’t export data that exceed Dataverse limits.

Number: Integer

Whole Number

Dataverse: +/- 2,147,483,647
Access: +/- 2,147,483,647 (1, 2, or 4 bytes)

Full support

Number: Single (4 bytes)
Number: Double (8 bytes)

Floating Point Number

Dataverse: Fractional values up to 17 digits, but display is limited to +/- 100 billion with five decimal places, and arithmetic is approximate

Access: Four bytes
Negative values: 3.402823E38 to -1.401298E-45
Positive values: 1.401298E-45 to 3.402823E38

Access Eight bytes:
Negative values:  1.79769313486231E308 to -4.94065645841247E-324 Positive values:  4.94065645841247E-324 to 1.79769313486231E308

Not supported

Tip   To migrate an Access floating point data type, convert it first to a Number data type, set the Field Size property to Decimal, and then migrate the data to Dataverse, which will store it as a Decimal Number data type.

In comparison to the Access floating point data type, the Dataverse floating point data type can create tiny differences that might be rounded for display. This normally isn’t a problem, but during repeated calculations, you can get slightly incorrect results. If absolute precision is required, consider using the Dataverse Decimal data type because it holds a larger range of fractional values and it preserves accuracy.

Large Number

Big Integer (BigInt)

Dataverse: 8 bytes, -2^63 to 2^63-1
Access: 8 bytes, -2^63 to 2^63-1

Full support

Attachment

File

Dataverse: 128 MB, one file per column, and stored in the cloud
Access: 2 GB, multiple files per column, and stored in the database

Not supported yet, but coming soon. Watch for updates.

OLE Object

Image (or File)

Dataverse: 32 MB, supports GIF, PNG, JPG, and BMP, one image per column, and stored in the cloud
Access: 2 GB, supports images, charts, and Active X controls, and stored in the database

Not supported

Lookup Wizard

Lookup

Dataverse: one column lookup
Access: one or more columns lookup

Supported

Access exports only a one column lookup which requires preparation. For more information, see Create a choice field for migration to Dataverse.

Yes/No

Yes/No (or Two Options)

Both Dataverse and Access use a Boolean value

Full support for two options. 

No support for multi select option set.

Calculated Columns

No equivalent

Dataverse: You can create calculations based on whole number, decimal, or text data types. For more information, see Define calculated columns in Power Apps and Create and define calculation or rollup fields in Microsoft Dataverse. 

Access: For more information, see Calculated Columns.

Only the results of the Access calculated columns are exported.

Multivalued fields

MultiSelect Field or Choices

Dataverse: Stores values as a delimited string in one column.

Access: Stores multivalued field stores values across multiple tables. For more information, see multivalued fields.

Not supported

Rich Text

Text or Multi-line text

Dataverse: Text supports up to 4000 characters and Multi-line text supports up to 1,048,576 characters with formatting.

Access: A Long Text data type (also called Memo) field with the TextFormat property set to RichText.

Not supported

Hyperlinks

URL

Dataverse: Only displays the URL text

Access: Besides the URL text,  Access has built-in components that include the friendly name and displayed name of the link. 

Supported

Hyperlink components for the friendly name and display name are created as additional columns in Dataverse. These will continue to work as expected in Access forms and reports.