Start of image by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
Description
Access 365 Current Channel version 2408 build 17928.20114, released Aug 26, has had many reports of instabilities. Before that, there had been reports of hanging tasks in the beta channels since Aug 19/20. The symptoms are:
MSACCESS.EXE background process remains after exiting Access. After that, databases can no longer be opened by clicking on the file in Windows Explorer or on a shortcut.
Error 3048 "Cannot open any more databases" when executing queries or opening recordsets. Less frequently also error 3037 "Cannot open any more tables or queries".
Status
Microsoft released version 2408 build 17928.20156 with a fix for this bug in the Current Channel on Tuesday, September 10.
If you do not receive it automatically, you can retrieve it by choosing File – Account – Update Options – Update Now. Many of those affected have confirmed that the problems are resolved by the fix.
As mentioned in the description, the problem had been present in the beta channels for some time:
A fix has been included in the Current Channel Preview version 2409 build 18025.20024, since Sep 3. We have seen several reports that the fix has resolved the issues there.
The fix should also be included in Beta Channel version 2410 build 18029.20004, released on Sep 10.
Workarounds
Roll back to version 2407 See Peter Doering's detailed description of rolling back versions of Office.
A few people reported that putting the database in a Trusted Location helped in their case.
There are various ways to forcefully terminate the open or hanging Access task that are discussed in our article about a similar problem in May.
Another workaround that helped with my installation of Office: Start a "dummy" Access database. Leave this database running throughout the workday, or even until you reboot. You can't just start a "dummy" Access instance, you must actually open a database-a new db is fine. Subsequent instances of Access will then open and close properly.
Thank you for sharing that a fix is supposed to be rolled out early this week. I've not been able to confirm that anywhere on the web. Is that posted anywhere on a Microsoft page? Would you mind sharing? Just want something to show my employer as we were affected by this.