In Access, a Yes/No field stores only two values: Yes or No. If you use a text box to display a Yes/No field, the value displays as -1 for Yes and 0 for No. These values are not very meaningful for most users, so Access provides check boxes, option buttons, and toggle buttons that you can use to display and enter Yes/No values. These controls provide a graphic representation of the Yes/No value that is both easy to use and easy to read.

Create an unbound check box, option button, or toggle button. On the Design tab, in the Controls group, click the tool for the control you want ( Check Box, Option Button, or Toggle Button ). Click on the form or report where you want to place the control. Access places the control on the form or report.

This article describes the applications for each of these controls, and tells you how to add them to your forms and reports.

What do you want to do?

Decide which control to use

For most situations, a check box is the best control for representing a Yes/No value. This is the default type of control that is created when you add a Yes/No field to a form or report. By contrast, option buttons and toggle buttons are most often used as part of an option group. For more information about option groups, see the section Understand option groups.

The following illustration shows the three controls and how they represent Yes and No values. The Yes column shows the control as it appears when selected, and the No column shows the control as it appears when cleared.

Create a bound check box, option button, or toggle button

You can quickly create a check box by dragging a Yes/No field from the Field List pane to the form or report.

1. Open the form or report in Layout view or Design view by right-clicking it in the Navigation Pane, and then clicking the view you want on the shortcut menu.
2. If the Field List pane is not already displayed, press ALT+F8 to display it.
3. Expand the table lists, if needed by clicking the plus signs (+) next to the table names.
4. Drag the Yes/No field from the Field List pane to the form or report.
   Depending on the setting of the field's Display Control property, a check box, a text box, or a combo box is created and bound to the field. When you create a new Yes/No field in a table, the default setting of the field's Display Control property is Check Box.

If you want, you can change the check box control to an option button or a toggle button. To do this, right-click the check box, point to Change To on the shortcut menu, and then click Toggle Button or Option Button .

Create an unbound check box, option button, or toggle button

You can use an unbound check box, option button, or toggle button in a custom dialog box to accept user input and then carry out an action based on that input.

1. Open the form or report in Design view by right-clicking it in the Navigation Pane, and then clicking Design View on the shortcut menu.
2. On the Design tab, in the Controls group, click the tool for the control you want (Check Box , Option Button , or Toggle Button ).
3. Click on the form or report where you want to place the control.
   Access places the control on the form or report.

Although it is not required, you might want to rename the control so that it has a more meaningful name. Doing so does not change the label displayed next to the control, but it can make it easier to refer to it in expressions or macros.