MDB viewers compared: every way to open an .mdb or .accdb file

An MDB viewer is anything that lets you read the tables in a Microsoft Access database without Access itself. There are more than a dozen, and they differ in three things that usually decide it: which computer they run on, what they cost, and whether your file leaves your computer. This page is written by the maker of AccessLens, one of the options below, so every other product's details come from its own website or store listing, checked on 28 September 2026.

The short answer

• Windows with Microsoft 365: check whether your plan includes Access (Personal, Family, Apps for business, Business Standard and Business Premium do). If it does, use it.
• Windows, free desktop program: MDB Viewer Plus. It is portable, but .accdb files need Microsoft's Access Database Engine installed.
• Mac: a Mac App Store viewer such as MDB ACCDB Viewer ($18.99), or one of the browser-based options.
• Linux, or scripting on a Mac: mdbtools, free on the command line.
• SQL queries, or editing the data: DBeaver Community with its UCanAccess driver, free on Windows, Mac and Linux.
• A work laptop you cannot install on, a Chromebook, or a confidential file: something that runs in the browser without uploading the file, such as AccessLens.
• Confidential data: avoid any website that uploads the file to its server.

Side by side

As stated on each product's own website or store listing on 28 September 2026. "Per the site" marks a claim we could not test ourselves. Prices and versions change; if a row is out of date, the contact address is on the AccessLens store listing.

Microsoft's own options

• Microsoft Access runs on Windows only and comes with Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Apps for business, Business Standard and Business Premium, or as a retail licence. Access 2013 and later cannot open Access 97 files directly; those need an older Access first (details).
• Microsoft 365 Access Runtime is free, but it exists to run finished Access applications: all design tools are removed, and it is not a table browser. Installing it needs administrator approval.
• Excel on Windows imports Access tables through Data → Get Data → From Database → From Microsoft Access Database, if the Access database provider is installed. Without it, or with the wrong 32/64-bit version, Excel reports The 'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' provider is not registered.
• The Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable, the usual fix for that error, is still downloadable, but Microsoft ended its support on 14 October 2025 and points to the Access Runtime instead. It cannot be installed next to an Office of the other bitness.

Desktop viewers for Windows and Mac

• MDB Viewer Plus (Windows, free) is portable and still maintained: version 2.79 came out in June 2026. It exports to many formats and can also edit, so work on a copy if the file matters. For .accdb files it needs the Access Database Engine unless Access 2007 or later is installed.
• Data Exporter for Access (Windows 10/11, 64-bit, Microsoft Store) reads .mdb and .accdb without Access. The Store lists a free trial; the vendor's site sells a one-time licence. Its optional AI features use an online service with your own API key.
• MDB ACCDB Viewer by Egger Apps (Mac, $18.99) is read-only and opens Access 97 to 2013 files. It opens password-protected .mdb files without asking for the password, but cannot open encrypted .accdb files. Last updated in December 2024.
• Other Mac App Store viewers: Viewer for Access Database ($14.99, editing and other features as in-app purchases, last updated November 2023) and Access MDB Viewer (free, with a $4.99 Pro upgrade; needs macOS 14).
• The real Access on a Mac means Windows in a virtual machine: Microsoft lists Parallels Desktop 18 to 20 for Windows 11 on Apple M1 to M3 Macs, plus a Windows and a Microsoft 365 licence.

Free tools for any operating system

• mdbtools is open source and command-line only: brew install mdbtools on a Mac, apt install mdbtools on Debian or Ubuntu. mdb-tables lists the tables and mdb-export writes one to CSV. Version 1.0.1 (December 2024) reads files up to Access 2019; its handling of encrypted files is not documented.
• DBeaver Community opens .mdb and .accdb through the UCanAccess driver on Windows, Mac and Linux, with Java bundled. It is a full database tool: SQL queries, and editing, so it can change your file. Access 97 files are read-only, and encrypted files need extra driver setup.
• LibreOffice Base connects to Access files on Windows through its Microsoft Access connection. On Mac and Linux it needs the UCanAccess driver added by hand.

Online viewers: uploaded, or read in your browser

Websites that open Access files work in one of two ways, and the difference matters for anything confidential.

• Upload to a server. mdbopener.com uploads the file, keeps it for 30 minutes and accepts up to 25 MB. RebaseData converts uploaded files, free up to 10 MB. Neither is suitable for client, HR, financial or medical records.
• Read in the browser tab. mdb-viewer.com and DBConvert's MDB/ACCDB Viewer say the file is parsed in your browser and not uploaded. mdb-viewer.com does not open password-protected databases; DBConvert's viewer does, and asks for PRO to export more than 10,000 rows.
• Google Drive apps. MDB ACCDB Viewer and Reader opens files from Drive and asks for Drive and account permissions. Its listing does not say whether files are processed on its server.

A website's “we don't upload” is a statement you can check: open the browser's developer tools, switch to the Network tab and watch what happens when you open the file.

Where AccessLens fits

AccessLens is a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that reads .mdb and .accdb files (Access 97 to 2019) in a browser tab. It contains no network code, which every release build is checked for; since version 1.1.1 its content security policy also makes the browser block any outbound connection from it; and it requests no permissions, so installing it on a managed work laptop is usually a single approval (what IT checks). It opens password-protected .accdb files if you have the password, browses and searches every table, shows the schema and relationships, and exports to CSV, Excel, SQLite or a SQL script.

What it does not do: it is read-only, it shows tables and data but not forms, reports, queries or VBA, it has no SQL console, and it needs Chrome, Firefox or another Chromium browser such as Edge. Exporting or searching every table at once is free up to 20 tables and 50,000 rows in total; above that it needs the optional one-time Pro licence.

Questions