Many people don"t notice it, but Office and Microsoft 365 installations still come with Microsoft Access bundled. This is because it is still used by some customers as a simple database management system for environments that offer basic use-cases, limited concurrency requirements, and some security mechanisms. Now, Microsoft has announced that it is retiring an Access component which impacts numerous Office versions.
The standalone Database Compare (DATABASECOMPARE.EXE) utility is being retired in June 2026. For those unaware, this allowed customers to compare two Access databases, and was particularly useful in understanding schema design changes. However, within a few months" time, it is being axed and will no longer be bundled or distributed with Office.
Microsoft has explained that the reason for this retirement is that this tool depends on components that are "no longer available" and do not launch reliably on several Office configurations. Since the firm is unable to supply updated components that work reliably in heterogenous environments, it has decided to get rid of Database Compare altogether.
This retirement affects the following versions of Office:
- Access 2019 volume licensed and Enterprise plans
- Access 2021, Access 2024, and Microsoft 365 subscriptions
- Access 2021 and Access 2024 as part of the Office 2021 and Office 2024 perpetual licenses (standalone versions)
Supporting DLLs and configuration files included in the DCF folder of Office used to handle database connections, comparisons, and other activities will be removed as well. Customers have until June 20, 2026, to use Database Comparison, after which point it will be removed and will no longer be available for download.
Microsoft understands that this may be a breaking change for some customers, which is why it has advised those impacted to figure out and devise migration plans. It has also suggested alternatives from third-party vendors, such as AccessDiff, AccdbMerge, DataWeigher, and Total Access Detective.