About linking tables from a password-protected database

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To link a table from a Microsoft Access database that is password-protected, you must supply the correct password. If you supply the correct password, Microsoft Access stores the database password with the information that defines the link to the table. After the link has been defined, any user who can open the database that the table is linked to can open the linked table. When a user opens the linked table, Microsoft Access uses the stored password to open the database where the table is stored. If the password is changed for the database where the table is stored, the next time the linked table is opened, the new password must be supplied before Microsoft Access will open it.

Microsoft Access stores the database password in an unencrypted form. If this will compromise the security of the password-protected database, you should not use a database password to protect the database. Instead, you should define user-level security to control access to sensitive data in that database. For more information on user-level security, click aa158482(v=office.10).md.