New SysCmd actions: Version Info

Gone are the days of having to ask users repeated questions to get full Access version info.

New SysCmd Actions

Starting with Current Channel version 2604 19929.20090 released on 2026-04-21, new SysCmd actions are included which provide detailed version info.

Value	Name	Description	Example Result
715	acSysCmdGetMsoBuildNumber	Office715 MSO.dll major build number (long integer)	19929
720	acSysCmdGetFullVersion	Full Office build information (string )	Microsoft Access (Version 2604) Build 16.0.19929.20090 Current Channel 64-bit
721	acSysCmdGetVersion	YYMM version (long integer)	2604
722	acSysCmdGetFullBuildNumber	Full major / minor build number (string)	16.0.19929.20090
723	acSysCmdGetChannelName	Update channel name (string)	Current Channel
724	acSysCmdGetBitness	Office bitness (string)	64-bit
725	acSysCmdGetBuildNumber	Office build number (long integer)	19929

Each of these values are officially supported and will be documented by Microsoft.

They are included with all supported Access versions: 365, 2024 & 2021 - Click to Run installations only (NOT LTSC).

Why has this been done?

Obtaining full version information is essential when reporting or investigating bugs / issues.

It is also vital for identifying which features should be available to developers and end users.

For example, the new Zooming feature is available in 365 Current Channel (Preview) version 2604 19929.20090 but not in the same version and build in 365 Current Channel. The feature is also not available in any update channels, versions or builds of Access 2024. Much of the Office version info is available next to the About Access button in backstage view, though the bitness and Office license info are both omitted.

Unfortunately, this info cannot be copied. Many users instead copy the version info from the screen seen when the About Access button is clicked. This does include bitness and license info.

However, this screen shows the mso.dll file version info which sometimes differs from the Office version.

Alternatively, it is possible to get all this information using code. To do so, it is necessary to run several VBA functions including WMI code, check multiple registry settings and even perform a web scrape from an online Microsoft help article to get the YYMM version number!

Many developers have been asking for this information to be available natively from Access.

Example results with the new SysCmd actions in the latest Current Channel build:

The new SysCmd values provide almost all info needed to follow up on bug reports and check feature availability. Either the SysCmd name or number can be used in each case.

However, we have asked the Access team to provide additional info that would be very useful including:

·   Office license number (365 / 2024 / 2021 etc) – determines which features are available

·   Office language e.g. English (UK) – to identify language specific issues

Once we have this additional information, the full version SysCmd should then return e.g. Microsoft Access 365 (Version 2605) Build 16.0.20014.20002 Beta Channel 64-bit English (UK).

NOTE: 1. Error 7952 (Illegal function call) occurs if any of the new SysCmd actions are used in older

versions or builds, For older unsupported versions (Access 2000+), the free

Access/Windows Version Check Add-In is still available.

2. For full details of all SysCmd actions (both supported and unsupported), see this related article: Access SysCmd Actions