Stylish Checkboxes & Toggle Buttons in MS Access

The standard checkbox in Access is small, grey, angular – and somehow lifeless. With a little VBA you replace it with a command button featuring a real icon, hover effect and lots of interactivity. Here are two simple ways.

We all know that the standard controls in Microsoft Access aren’t particularly stylish – especially the checkbox. Sometimes we look longingly at modern web applications, where everything is smooth, interactive and stylish. But Access can do more than it seems at first glance.

With a little code and clever use of existing functions, you can replace a boring checkbox or toggle button with a command button – with an icon, hover effect and lots of interactivity.

Why a command button?

• Any icons (even dynamic ones at runtime)
• Size adjustment – from mini to mega buttons
• Hover functions and visual feedback
• More interaction and a modern look
• Free design for states such as ON/OFF, LOCK/UNLOCK, SHOW/HIDE

A checkbox, by contrast, is… well, quite limited: small, grey, angular – and somehow lifeless. 😅

Example 1: Replace the checkbox

What you need:

• a suitable icon (from the hidden MSysResources table),
• an additional command button that controls the checkbox,
• and a few lines of VBA.

The idea: the button is clicked → the value of the (hidden) checkbox is toggled → the picture is changed. Everything in one procedure in the form:

Private Sub cmdShow_Click()

    ' toggle the value (True/False)
    Me.chkShow.Value = Not Me.chkShow.Value

    ' change the icon (thanks to Alessandro Grimaldi)
    Me.cmdShow.Picture = IIf(Me.chkShow, "show_ON", "show_OFF")

End Sub

Example 2: Toggle with multiple states

With a text box as a status memory and a command button, you can cycle through any number of states – e.g. 1 → 2 → 3 → … → 16 → back to 1.

Private Sub cmdIcons_Click()

    tboIcons = (Nz(tboIcons) Mod 16) + 1

    ' we could use a Switch expression here instead of the function
    SetMyControlImage_ICONS Me, Me.cmdIcons, Me.tboIcons.Value

End Sub

The function sets the matching icon depending on the number:

Public Sub SetMyControlImage_ICONS(frm As Form, ctr As Control, ctrValue As Integer)

    Select Case ctrValue
        Case 1:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "switch_ON"
        Case 2:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "switch_OFF"
        Case 3:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "check_ON"
        Case 4:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "check_OFF"
        Case 5:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "lock_ON"
        Case 6:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "lock_OFF"
        Case 7:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "show_ON"
        Case 8:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "show_OFF"
        Case 9:  frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "no1"
        Case 10: frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "no2"
        Case 11: frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "no3"
        Case 12: frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "no4"
        Case 13: frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "facebook"
        Case 14: frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "linkedin"
        Case 15: frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "pinterest"
        Case 16: frm.Controls(ctr.Name).Picture = "youtube"
    End Select

End Sub

Conclusion

With minimal effort you not only expand the functionality of your Access forms, but also modernize their appearance and interactivity. This makes Access exciting, lively and, above all, user-friendly again.

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