How to Deal with Update Bugs
- Karl Donaubauer
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
Note: I presented this topic with more details, examples and demos in a recent talk for the Access User Group Europe. The recording is available on Youtube. |
By Update Bugs, we mean malfunctions such as regressions, instabilities or performance issues that were delivered by a Microsoft update.
Sources for update bugs
Access and Office updates
A change made in Access can cause the issue. A recent example is Access Crashes When Filtering Forms. This type of bug has advantages: We can report it directly to the responsible Access team, and the communication about reproduction, fix date etc. is often efficient. If the error is Office-wide/induced, the communication is already more indirect.
Security and Windows updates
One of the frequent security updates can affect Access. Recent example: Access+Outlook Freeze when trying to send a PDF by E-mail Affected users can often only guess/determine which update is to blame through detective work and uninstallation tests. Most fixes take some weeks and are done through newer security updates.
It is similar with Windows changes that radiate to Access, but Windows is generally even more sluggish. That said, the fix for the recent Query Designer Doesn't Allow Drag-and-Drop Tables or Joins happened unusually quickly within a few weeks. This was probably because the bug affected not only Access, but many different applications. Usually fixes after Windows updates take months and years or virtually forever, such as the very first bug we've documented on AFo in 2022, which has not been fixed to this day in May 2025.
Prevention – Channels
The most important measure to prevent update bugs is to choose the slowest possible update channel for your business. When installing Office or Access, the Current Channel is set by default. However, this is too fast for most productive environments. More information on the channel selection and how to actively change the channel can be found in our article Demystifying Microsoft 365 Update Channels.
Diagnosis – Tests
Not everything that stops working in Access or starts behaving strangely is an update bug. It is therefore important to test systematically to find the cause of a suddenly occurring problem.
First you should find out if the issue is a bug of Access or an individual problem caused, e.g. by changes in your data, programming or environment. To do this, test not only with the affected application, but also a) with a different database, b) a new database and c) on a different computer.
If these tests point to an Access bug, there is a fairly reliable method of finding out whether it is an update bug: Roll back your Access/Office to an older build and test whether the problem still occurs there. This can prove whether the bug was caused by a recent Access/Office update. If the bug also occurs with the older build, you can look at what security and Windows updates have happened recently and possibly test by uninstalling them.
At the latest after you have spent a few hours with such tests, you should set off for an internet search on AFo and in forums. Don't share the tragic fate of people who only turn up moaning and crying in comments to our articles or in forum discussions after weeks!
Bug Information on AFo
When we learn of an update bug, the AFo team discusses whether it is relevant enough to be documented here. The two most important criteria are spread and severity.
We then collect the available information, try to reproduce, report the bug to Microsoft's Access team and provide a bug description, status and workarounds in an article. The most common workaround to bridge the time until the bug fix is the above-mentioned rollback to an earlier, healthy build of Access/Office.
Some bugs can be fixed within a few hours by flipping a switch in Redmond. You can read more about FeatureGates in a blog post by Mike Wolfe. However, most fixes take longer. When we publish a planned fix date, we have this information from Microsoft and it is therefore quite reliable. Unexpected problems and delays can of course occur. The fix information shall help you to decide whether you can wait out a bug or not and to inform your users/customers.
If you are affected, you should keep checking our website for the latest information. We are constantly updating the articles until we can add the final "(Fixed)" to their title. Comments on our articles, in which you share your findings about a bug, workarounds etc., can be very useful for the quality of the information here and thus for other affected users.
Forums
Checking AFo should be one part of a web search. The other is the search and active bug report in a web forum for Access. There are Microsoft forums, such as Answers and TechCommunity, and there are many other Access forums.
An important factor in the efficiency of bug discussions can be that active or former Access MVPs take part in them. Through their direct contact to the Access team they can report the bug to the manufacturer and thus speed up a fix. Of course, it is ideal if an AFo team member joins the discussion. ;-) We are active in many forums and often determine the relevance of bugs on the basis of forum reports.
Bug Reports
Wherever you post a bug report, it should contain this information in order to be effective:
Access/Office version + build number, update channel and bitness
Windows version
Exact bug behaviour and symptoms
Step-by-step reproduction (good), pictures (better), reproduction file (the best)
Please take the Access version and build number directly from the File – Account screen:
Do NOT take the build number from the screen you get to by clicking on the About Access button! The build number there is from a DLL that is not always updated and therefore does not reliably reflect your current status. The About Access screen is only useful to determine the bitness:
Finally – The Fix
We will report when we know that a fix has actually been released. Office updates are distributed in waves over a few days. However, when you learn about a published fix, you can request it immediately and thus save time:
Conclusion
As with all predictable crisis situations, it makes sense to prepare a plan and a toolset for update bugs and to take a structured approach when the situation arises. This can reduce the impact, save time and hassle and make you look and feel professional.
In my opinion, such clear mitigation mechanisms, better information and accelerated fix processes have significantly reduced the trust crisis in the reliability of Access that prevailed a few years ago.
Last but not least: Since August 2024, i.e. eight months ago, there has not been a single serious new update bug, just a few minor issues. We only had to document two on AFo, which have since been fixed. So we can hope that Microsoft has improved its quality management.