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Microsoft Access 2003

Remove the Startup Task Pane

SUMMARY: Prevent Access from showing a task pane on startup.

When you start Microsoft Access 2003 without automatically opening a database, a "Getting Started" pane appears on the right side of the application window. This provides shortcuts to connecting to "Microsoft Office Online", getting the latest news about Access, as well as shortcuts to your last viewed databases. While many people like this feature, others may find this pane annoying. To disable it:

1. Open or create a database to enable the "Tools" - "Options" menu.

2. Click "Tools" - "Options".

3. When the "Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "View" tab.

4. Uncheck "Startup Task Pane" underneath "Show".

5. Click "OK" to close the dialog box.