Microsoft Access is a relational database management system which combines the Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface plus a software development tool. It is preferable when working with large databases for a lot of reasons. One database can hold several tables which make organizing and merging data easier. It is also great for generating summaries and collecting data since it can bring related data together. This tutorial can show you how to import your text files into Microsoft Access. You can also use the same steps to import other files with some minor variations.

The first step you have to do is to create a new database where you can store and merge your databases because you cannot directly open other data files in Microsoft Access. Once you have created the empty database, you will be able to import your text file into the database by clicking on the File menu, Get External Data, and click Import. When the Files Type box show up, select Text Files, and then select the file that you want to import from the list and click Import. Just follow the directions in the Import Text Wizard dialog box when the import begins.

There are some issues of confusion when importing text files compared to when importing spreadsheets since delimiting texts is a pretty confusing job. However, once you get the gist of importing different files, merging data using Microsoft Access will be a cinch.