[5 Fixes] Access Database Is Required To Be Repaired Error (2239)

Summary:

This particular blog summarizes information regarding one of the very commonly encountered MS Access database error i.e the database is required to be repaired or it’s not a Database file.

It also describes the best fixes to resolve this MS Access Error 2239 along with the reasons that causes this error to come up. Other than this you will also get to know about the alternative solution to securely recover data objects.

What Is Access Database Is Required To Be Repaired Error (2239)?

Access database corruption and inaccessibility can be a sarcastic situation for developers as well as normal users of MS Access. These situations are commonly encountered when a user encounters MS Access errors. Well, there are so many reasons that affect the integrity of Access data and leads to top corruption issues.

In a similar way, the Access database throws errors like:

Error code : MS Access Error 2239

Error name: The database is required to be repaired or it’s not a Database file

Screenshot:

What Causes MS Access Error 2239?

This particular ms access error “The database is required to be repaired or it’s not a Database file“ occurs when the jet engine is not able to identify its structure and definition. This happens due to some corruption issue encountered in the data of the table or its definition.

Reasons For Access File Inaccessibility

In order to get the correct solution, it’s important to know the actual reasons behind the occurrence of Access error 2239.

If you are unable to access your MS Access Database file and your database frequently showing The database is required to be repaired or it’s not a Database file error then the chances are also that file has turned corrupt. As corruption is frequently a recurring issue that makes the ACCDB/MDB file data inaccessible.

In that case, it becomes very important to retrieve data from the corrupt ACCDB/MDB file adopting the manual solution first.

Here are the most common reasons that lead to ACCDB or MDB file inaccessibility:

• Inconsistencies and conflicts in system Hardware or software.
• The file got damaged due to excessive storage of large volume data.
• Accidental deletion of access database data or storage media format.
• The structure or header of the ACCDB /MDB file is somehow got damaged.
• May be database is restored from an invalid backup.
• Incompatibility of files that were created in Access 2003 or previous versions.

Fixes To Resolve Access Error 2239: The Database Is Required To Be Repaired Or It’s Not A Database File

Though MS Access in conjunction with the JET Engine tries to fix the small error and issue automatically but errors like The database is required to be repaired or it’s not a Database file that needs manual recovery.

Here is some best fixes to resolve the “The database is required to be repaired” error, so just give it a try:

Solution 1: Convert Access MDB File to ACCDB

Access offers manual procedures that help in the exportation of the data from previous

MDB file versions to the latest ACCDB file to get easy access to the incorporated content.  To get started, first of all close entire of the opened access database file.  Just follow these steps to know how this is to be done.

• First of all open MS Access and tap to the File tab and hit Open.
• In the open dialog box, browse for the Access MDB file that needs to be converted to ACCDB file format.
• On the File tab, hit Save And Publish.
• Within the Database File Types, tap to the Access Database (*.accdb).
• After then press the Next option, at last tap to the Save As.

• If any Access database objects are open at this point then the application will prompt a message box to close it. So close it first and then proceed.  
• Tap to the yes option to close the object or tap to the NO option if you want to cancel the entire conversion process. Access will ask you to save the changes made recently.

6. Assign a name to the converted file in the file name field and click on the Save option.

This will create a copy of the original database and meanwhile, this original one will automatically get closed.

Solution 2: Use The Compact and Repair Database Option

Access database handling problems usually increase with the growth of the database size. But don’t get worried as Access offers an in-built utility i.e Compact and Repair Database tool to handle such complex situations.

 So, just try this inbuilt utility tool to fix Access Error 2239

• Open MS Access application
• Go to File Menu and click the Info button.
• Select “Compact & Repair” option
• Browse for the corrupt file or enter the file name you want to repair.

Solution 3: Try Manual Export

Open the corrupted database and manually export all the elements of MS Access like tables, forms, queries, reports etc. to a newly formed database. Follow the below given steps to manually export the MS Access elements:

• Open MS Access application
• Go to the External Data tab and click More from the Export group, and click Access Database.

• Specify the destination in the File name box and click OK.
• The Export dialog box will appear. Provide a new name for the element you are transferring and click OK.

Solution 4: Recover Data From The Corrupt Table

Access database is required to be repaired error also due to the corruption of the Access database file. Try to export the table to another Access database with the following steps:

• In your database, export the Access table to the ASCII file.
• Delete all the relationships if it is present in your Access table.
• If your database is having a corrupt table, then compact it first. After that re-create and all the associated relationship.
• Now in the word processor open your ASCII file and after that remove unwanted data from that file.
• Save your file in the format of ASCII text file.
• After that re-import the ASCII text file within this freshly created Access table.
• Re-enter any of the records from the Access table which you are forced to delete.

Solution 5: Rely On Professional Access Recovery Tools

If in case, above mentioned solution might not be powerful enough to tackle severe Access Database unexpected error. Such as : “The database is required to be repaired or it’s not a Database file” then also you need to worry. As still you have the option to retrieve back your Access Database Data without any loss. Just try the Access Repair & Recovery Tool to get rid of the MS Access Error 2239.  

* By clicking the Download button above and installing Stellar Repair for Access (14.8 MB), I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the End User License Agreement and Privacy Policy of this site.

This tool is designed specifically to deal with any of the Access Database issues and error whether it is encountered due to corruption issue or any other reason.

Wrap Up:

Hopefully, all the mentioned solutions of this blog will resolve your Access Database Error “The database is required to be repaired or it’s not a Database file”.

Do share your opinion regarding this if you have other issues then also you can ask in our comment section.