HOW TO: FIX ERROR - "the 'microsoft.ace.oledb.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine"

Question

NOTE: i have found hundreds of threads on this error, yet they all seem to suggest using the 'Microsoft access database engine'. however for whatever reason (even though its made for 64-bit office) this did not work on my machine so i was forced to find an alternate method.

this resolution works with:

• 64-bit Windows 7
• 64-bit MS Office
• Please reply to this thread if it worked for you so i can make this a full "compatibility list"

 

trying to connect to an Access database in visual studio but keep getting this error?

try installing this first: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13255

 

however if, like me, that doesnt work for you, try the following method:

NOTE: this DOES work for office 2010 even though it is for 2007 office, dont ask me why it just does :)

1. download and install this: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=23734

2. in VS click add data source, follow the wizard and enjoy! :)

 

P.S thanks to everyone that helped me at my original thread: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/ebb05600-055a-44c4-8cd3-d33a79878b23

i did give up and tried storing to text files, but oh my god was that a bad choice! so i came back to trying to resolve this and managed to after HOURS AND HOURS of searching.

this thread is for all of those people being given a hard time connecting to Access databases!

Please share your opinions/ problems below!

Answer 1

The second link worked for me 100%

Win 7 x64 and Office x64.

Thanks a million for this.

Answer 2

It worked for me too!! The second solution. I don't believe it. I tried everything including hard search on registry!

Thanks very much..

 

Answer 3

no problem guys :)

as i say i spent hours trying to find a solution so upon doing so, i felt the need to share it with everyone. i still want to know why it even works!

Answer 4

Second link works just fine.. :)

Thanks.

Answer 5

Well, even installing the non-64-bit (32 bit) version of Access Database Engine 2010 (rather than the 2007 version you suggested) works for me on Windows Server 2008. It is just that the 64-bit version is not working for some mysterious reason!

Answer 6

The second solution worked for me. Thanks a lot. You made my day.

Answer 7

This resolved the problem for me, but caused another one.  I had installed Office 2010 64-bit, then installed the AccessDatabaseEngine.exe from the second link, which resolved my original issue.  Then I tried to install Visio 2010 64-bit and it wouldn't let me, displaying a message saying:

-------------------

You cannot install the 64-bit version of Office 2010 because you have 32-bit Office products installed.  These 32-bit products are not supported with 64-bit installations:

Microsoft Office Access database engine 2007 (English)

If you want to install 64-bit Office 2010, you must uninstall all 32-bit Office products first, and then run setup.exe in the x64 folder.  If you want to install 32-bit Office 2010, close this Setup program, and then either go to the x86 folder at the root of your CD or DVD and run setup.exe, or get the 32-bit Office 2010 from the same place you purchased 64-bit Office 2010.

-------------------

 

I haven't tried it yet, but I assume I could uninstall the database driver and then install Visio and then reinstall the database driver, but this is not something I can put end users of my product through.  I'm wondering if I made a grave mistake in basing my application on an Access database.

- Ian

Answer 8

it worked for me, but now i get the couldn't find installable ISAM error. 

everything i can find for that error is for Jet. it seems to be a registry error but i don't know how to fix - any suggestions?

(win 7, office 2010, vs2010)

Answer 9

I am getting this error when trying to import Excel files to my SQL Server 2008 R2 database. I tried the first method and then the second. The second method took care of the problem. First post I tried, guess I got lucky.

 

Thank you.

Answer 10

Hi there,

Installing the x86 version on the first link did the trick. That's brilliant, thank you.

Answer 11

I have Windows 2008 R2 Standard Server with 64 Bit OS.

 

IT installed MS Office 2010 64 bit version and it did not work.

I installed 1st link and it did not work.

Then I installed 2nd link and it worked. Strange but true.

Thanks a lot.

Jayson.

Answer 12

Hello Max,

I installed the two files and the error went away.  Win 7, VS 2010, Office 2010 64.

Thank you for your post!  You saved me alot of time and trouble.

WD

Answer 13

I seem to still be struggling.

Trying to add the database from visual studio 2010 on a Win7 & office 2010 64bit

Im wondering if its due to my database setup.

In my database i do have 2010 features (including navigation, calculated fields as well)

Does anyone have these features? Any help would be amazing!

Answer 14

I'm using VS 2010 and the second method worked like a charm. Thank you!

Answer 15

tried the second link first (seems the more popular method) and it worked, nice hack.
 64 bit OS and Office

Answer 16

True. The 2nd link works perfectly, even with x64 Office and x64 Windows7.

Well done & thanks!

Answer 17

please update me if any one is getting a new connection in Visual studiio and with what name

when i installed on XP x64 machine both the versions did not work

one 32 bit version worked on my laptop which is 32 bit xp os but i am unable to get

to point to that is add data source using this driver for excel spread sheet  or access database

there is no entry in data source which states or smells something like excel

2. in VS click add data source, follow the wizard and enjoy! :)

all replies are honoured and welcome

thanks in advance and warm regards

bye

Answer 18

Thanks Max, 

The second one works for me, it was 200777777777777777

Answer 19

Hi,

I installed the program but my problem not solved. I've the same error which is "The 'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine." What is wrong?

Win 7 x64 and Office x64.

Help me pls?

My Connection String

OleDbConnection Conn = new OleDbConnection("Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=" + excelPath + ";Extended Properties=\"Excel 12.0 Xml;HDR=YES\";");

Answer 20

Seriously?!!?!?

This is a very perplexing work around. But it works! Thank you.

Answer 21

Second link work's like magic!

Thanks!

Answer 22

Second link fixed this for my friend.

Answer 23

Worked, thank you!

Answer 24

This is so nice and as others have commented but i am kinda new to this stuff, please break it down  for me. I'll appreciate it. 

My challenge is that the error comes up on my client's system >> "Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0" is not registered on the local  machine. but it works perfectly on my system. Thanks

---

Goody-Christ

Answer 25

I received this error when using SQL Server Management Studio and attempting to import data into a SQL Database.  I selected Microsoft Excel as my data source,  the highest Excel Version that I can select is 2007.   When attemting to go to the next page of the wizard I receive the error message in your post.   

I have downloaded and installed the second link to my Windows 7 x64 bit workstation and it solved my problem.   When I go directly to the SQL server 2008 r2 running on a Windows 2008  and bring up SSMS and get the same error again.  So it looks as if you need to install this fix on every maching that you will be running SSMS on,  even if it is the server.  

Answer 26

Thank you very much...

Second link has absolutely worked for me......... 

Thanks again... :)

Answer 27

Thanks MaxJordan91,

Second point also wored for me. It save me.

Here is the sequence of operation i performed.

IIS Pool configured to the 32 bit.

Error: The 'Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0' provider is not registered on the local machine. Solution: So downloaded from the link and installed.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255

Error: The 'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine. Solution: So downloaded from the link and installed.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=23734

Thanks,

Rakesh Ranjan

Answer 28

Step 1 :  Goto Project Menu Project Properties

Step 2 :  Build

              Platform target : x86

              Save

Try this one..

Hope this will works..

Regards Manju K Gowda

Answer 29

If you have installed the AccessDataEngine and are still getting the Not Registered error

AND

you are running IIS7 on a 64 bit server,

MAKE SURE

you have enabled 32-bit applications for the application pool associated with the website.  In IIS,  Right click on the application pool.  In the properties window, the 2nd option from the top is "Enable 32-Bit Applications".  Set it to true.

Answer 30

I installed the 2nd link and tried to run my project and again I found that my project was not working.

But as soon as I used the trick posted by Manju K Gowda ,

My project started working properly.

and for this My connection string was something like this

string filename = "D:\\email.xls";

OleDbConnection strConn = new OleDbConnection(@"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=" + filename + ";Extended Properties=\"Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes;IMEX=1\"");

Thanks a lot.

Answer 31

(Second solution) worked for me - Win7 64 / Office 2010 64.  Thanks- you're a life saver!

Answer 32

The second link worked great!

Win 7 X64 and Office 2010

Thank You.

 

Answer 33

I know you said "this resolution works with:

• 64-bit Windows 7
• 64-bit MS Office"

So my question may be outside the scope of this thread, but what does one do if you have a 64-bit PC running 32-bit Windows 7 N and 32-bit MS Office 2010, and trying to connect to an Access MDB file from a Visual Studio (Visual Basic) program using an ADODB.Connection?  Neither of the above solutions works.  I still get
"Error 3706: Provider cannot be found" with Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0

Any solution will be greatly appreciated.

Answer 34

I had the problem on SQL mngt Studio / 64 bit Win7 / 64 Bit Office 2010 importing excel sheets

Installing the accessdbengine work for me.

Answer 35

I am developing a Winform application in c# 4, .Net 4.0 runtime. My dev platform is Windows 7 64-bits with Office 2010 32-bits,

I noticed that this error happens when the platform target is set to 'Any CPU'. When the platform target is x86 it works fine.

I havn't checked what happens if the platform target is set to x64.

I suspect that a 64-bits application cannot work with the 32-bits Jet ACE driver.

Answer 36

wired. This link works for my Office 2010/x64 and OS/x64:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=23734

but the Office 2010 X64 engine does not work!

Answer 37

wired. This link works for my Office 2010/x64 and OS/x64:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=23734

but the Office 2010 X64 engine does not work!

Answer 38

Thanks.

I am able to run my application.

Answer 39

This totally worked for me. I am so happy right now. Thanks a million for caring enough to post your findings. Mucho appreciated!

• win7 x64
• office 2010
• IIS 7.5

however if, like me, that doesnt work for you, try the following method:

NOTE: this DOES work for office 2010 even though it is for 2007 office, dont ask me why it just does :)

1. download and install this: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=23734

2. in VS click add data source, follow the wizard and enjoy! :)

Jb-

Answer 40

Great!!

The 2nd link works

I am using SQL Server 2012 Management Studio , Microsoft Excel 2010 (64 Bit Office 2010)
/ Windows 7 64 bit

Thanks!!!

MRod

Answer 41

Unbelievable :)
The first link didn't work.
The second did.

Environment:
* Visual Studio 2012 Ultimate (Trial)
* Office Access 2010 x64
* Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Thanks a million!
-tsemer

Answer 42

Hi,

I have installed the program from the second link (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=23734), the first error is gone, but I can't make the connection to Access 2010 files with the extension "accdb".

In the wizard for creating data connection, I have the following error message: Unrecognized database format "File.accdb".

For .mdb files, the connection is ok.

My environment is : Windows Server 2008 R2, VS 2010, MS Office 2010 64 bits

What can I do now ?

Answer 43

Well done and thanks!  Just got into Db programming and was frustrated with this error until I found your fix.  Thanks very much....but I have to say that it is pretty poor that this even exists

Answer 44

2nd link worked for me. thank you very much

Answer 45

Second link worked for me.  Importing data from a 2010 Excel file into SQL Server 2008 on Windows 7 64-bit OS.

Thanks!

Answer 46

The second link worked for me as well. I got Windows 7 64-bit, Office 2010 64-bit, and running SQL Data Tools (also VS 2008 BIDS).

Hope we won't have an issue like this after the newer version of Office is released.

Thanks a lot,
Nachi

Answer 47

Its work for me!!!!!

Windows 7 Ultimate x64, Office 2010 x64

Thanks a lot man!!!!!!!!!

Answer 48

Second link worked totally fine for me (Windows 7 x64 & Office 2010 x64).

btw: I don't think it's strange, that you have to use Office 2007, since you are adressing a driver with version number 12 (Microsoft.ACE.OleDB.12.0) which is the version number of Office 2007. I guess it would work with Office 2010 if you would address Microsoft.ACE.OleDB.14.0.

Answer 49

Second link worked fine for me as well.

Win 7 x64 and Office x64

Thanks a lot!

Answer 50

The second link worked for me too (smoothly)

Win 7 x64 and Office x64.

Thanks a lot

Answer 51

this really worked n thanks:)

Answer 52

Worked like a charm! Thank you for the help.

Answer 53

The second link worked for me.

I am running Win 7 64bit + MS Office 64 bit.

Thanks!

Answer 54

Same here.  The second link worked and got my customer up and running and happy with me again.  :-)

Answer 55

Win 8 Pro x64

Office 2010 x64

VS 2010 Ultimate x86

Second solution worked like a charm!  Your the man, Max!  Thanks for your post.

Answer 56

Thanks. The second link worked for me!

Answer 57

the second one is what works. saved me alot of time

Answer 58

I am having the same issue I installed the 2007 Version but now get the "Unrecognized database format "File.accdb"."

Any Idea how to fix this?

Thanks

Answer 59

Thanks for sharing , the second link works !

nice job

Answer 60

Second one works!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!

Answer 61

Second method worked for me ...Thanks so much!

 

Answer 62

NOTE: i have found hundreds of threads on this error, yet they all seem to suggest using the 'Microsoft access database engine'. however for whatever reason (even though its made for 64-bit office) this did not work on my machine so i was forced to find an alternate method.

this resolution works with:

• 64-bit Windows 7
• 64-bit MS Office
• Please reply to this thread if it worked for you so i can make this a full "compatibility list"

trying to connect to an Access database in visual studio but keep getting this error?

try installing this first: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=13255

however if, like me, that doesnt work for you, try the following method:

NOTE: this DOES work for office 2010 even though it is for 2007 office, dont ask me why it just does :)

1. download and install this: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=23734

2. in VS click add data source, follow the wizard and enjoy! :)

P.S thanks to everyone that helped me at my original thread: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/ebb05600-055a-44c4-8cd3-d33a79878b23

i did give up and tried storing to text files, but oh my god was that a bad choice! so i came back to trying to resolve this and managed to after HOURS AND HOURS of searching.

this thread is for all of those people being given a hard time connecting to Access databases!

Please share your opinions/ problems below!

YOU ARE MY HERO!! 

I have been fighting with this problem for a long time when trying to debug while importing Excel files to be processed.  I could run it in Beta testing and Production environments, but could not debug there.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Answer 63

running x64 Win 8 and x64 Office 2013, worked for me.  Awesome, thanks so much!!

Answer 64

See here:

http://kambiz-na.blogspot.com/2012/12/microsoftaceoledb120-provider-is-not.html

Answer 65

Chabon  la solución 2 funciono te re agradezco.

gracias,

chabon

Answer 66

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/thread/4fbd905f-f877-4bd9-b44c-97a61acd2b3f/#181ac1cb-134b-406a-be79-cfd089ce1461

---

Aarsh Talati

Answer 67

Thanks second link fixed error with sql 2012

Answer 68

Thanks Max.  I Googled the error and your answer came up second, though the first result was irrelevant.  If it wasn't for those many hours you spent, I'd be spending them myself.  Thanks greatly for posting your solution!

Glenn

---

Glenn T. Kitchen VB.NET Forums

Answer 69

Thanks for the solution.

I had to uninstall office 32-bit and Installed office professional plus X64

Finally it worked 

Answer 70

It worked for me.  In my case I tried to create Excel connection in SSIS using SQL Server Data Tool (SQLServer 2012).  Have to install the access database engine for Office 2007 to make it connect. The error it gave me was "Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 is not registered".

Answer 71

It's work, thx so much

Answer 72

Great, thanks for your assistant, I install it ,and it is OK.

Answer 73

Kudos to you MaxJordan91!

Have SQL 2012 CU1 on 64-bit Win 2008 R2. Couldn't import Excel data trough Management Studio: rightclick db, tasks, import data. Installed AccessDatabaseEngine.exe (that gives me a 32 bit connectivity package, I think?) from link two and then it worked.

Thank you for sharing!

---

JB

Answer 74

Second link worked for :

-Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise (64-bit)

-Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 (64-bit)

Thank you very much.

Answer 75

Thanks 

Second link work for me .

you save my time

Answer 76

I am getting this error when trying to import Excel files to my SQL Server 2008 R2 database. I tried the first method and then the second. The second method took care of the problem. First post I tried, guess I got lucky.

 

Thank you.

Same situation here. I used the second method and it's work!

Thanks for the solutions!

Answer 77

YES!! Brilliant! Worked for me.

Whats bizarre about this solution is on 64-bit Server boxes (2003 and 2008) the "Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable" is all thats needed to fully support older and newer Office files (97-2010). But only on Windows 7 64-bit, even AFTER installing Office 2010 64-bit AND "Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable", it does NOT work! Only after installing the 2007 components does this work. Why?

I suspect this is tied to the fact those old JET drivers are still being registered on Windows 7, for some reason, for backward compatibility. When the older files are loaded, they are addressed with 4-bit pointers, and use the JET, while Office 10 is 8-bit and its components are not removing the JET references. The OLEDB components on Windows 7, even after Office 10 installation, still point back to the 4-bit 2003 Office JET engine drivers, when they should have been upgraded to 8-bit. I guess the 2007 update fixes that.

Answer 78

The second alternative fixed it for me.  Everything was working fine until I upgraded from 32-bit Office 2010 to 64-bit Office 2013; then I started to get the 'provider not registered' errors.  I tried the first option, but that didn't work.  The second option worked like a charm :-).

Thanks for sharing this solution with the rest of us.

Terri

Answer 79

Thanks a lot. Now I dont have to go to the campus to run my program. I wonder how can Microsoft overlook such a simple thing such as making their program backwards compatible...

Answer 80

I used the x86 first link. Thinking about it, is logic. I am running an asp.net site compiled for x86 platform. So, I need a x86 version of Acces Database engine . 

Thank you !

Answer 81

Great...second link working.

Many thanks

Answer 82

The second link works for me as well.  This is "Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010" 64-bit and Win7 64-bit.

However, as of my last attempt it appears I have to remove this if I want to install office 2013.

Answer 83

Manju: Great posting. Could not get it to work even after downloading the

patches, but your fix did the trick. Thanks!

Answer 84

I installed http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255 for reading an xlsm file with "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0" in a C# project but I still got this error message. Then I installed http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=23734 and the file was successfully read.

The environment is Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, Visual Studio 2010 Pro and .NET 3.5.

Answer 85

I am using Windows 7 64 bit OS, Office 2010 64 bit and Visual Studio 2010 32 bit..I installed the .exe from the second link..I have data in excel files that needs to be loaded into tabular model of Sql Server 2012.. I am still getting the error Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 is not registered. I dont understand if I need to do any other steps followed by installation of .exe file? what does the step "in VS click add data source" means?

However, if I use powerpivot i can use the same provider to load the excel files..Can someone help me out what I need to do?



Answer 86

To get rid of this error message on Windows Server 2008 R2 I had to uninstall existing MS Access Database Engine (maybe it was 32-bit) and install 64-bit version of http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255.

Arunava0907, see the chapter System Requirements / Note here:
http://yoursandmyideas.wordpress.com/2011/02/05/how-to-read-or-write-excel-file-using-ace-oledb-data-provider/

Answer 87

Thanks the second URL worked for me.

Initially I had Windows 7 64-bit and MS SQL Server 2012 Developer Edition with MS Office 2010.

Installing MS Office 2013 - it seems to me - caused the problem.

Answer 88

second option worked for windows server 2008 thank you very much for such an easy straight forward fix

Answer 89

I am using Windows 8

64 bit Office 2013 and the 32-bit driver(AccessDatabaseEngine.exe) from the first link worked!

Answer 90

Thank you it worked for me.

I was facing issue while importing data to SQL Server 2008 R2 from and Excel 2007 files. I installed from this link http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=23734 and it worked :).

Cheers,
Abdul Qadar

---

MIS engineer

Answer 91

Thanksssssssssssssss a lot. 2nd link works fine for Office 2013.

Answer 92

Thanks Manju K. Gowda. Your above method works fine on VS 2012 with Office 2013. 

Once again Thank You very much.

Answer 93

I have just resolved this problem on my machine using your method, thank you so much.

My machine is running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit + Office 2013 Professional Plus 64 bit

Answer 94

I had previously installed the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable. I installed your second link (2007 Office System Driver: Data Connectivity Components) in an attempt to resolve the issue. That did not work. I still got the The 'microsoft.ace.oledb.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine message.

I resolved this error on my Windows 8 64-bit PC by changing the Visual Studio: Build | Platform Target explicitly to X86. I had it set to Any CPU previously.

Answer 95

I can't belive I forgot that solution! This happened me more than once and I still forget to do that simple setting to overcome that unbeliavable error. I was having the error (actually VS just executed and stopped without giving any error) in Release mode, and the code was working in debug mode. These errors always make me think "why am I insisting working as a developer after facing similar pains for 27 years"! :-)

Thank you for reminding this solution. I was about to break my laptop!

Answer 96

I had similar issue with Win2008R2 x64 and custom program which used new Access format (I'm not a developer of it, so I only had an installer).

I had installed this:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255

It didn't work, then I had installed this:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=23734

And with two of these (or just the last one) program worked correctly.

Answer 97

Thank you. This link helped. :)

Answer 98

This may help a few people with SSIS I just use OPENROWSET with Excel these days works fine in 64 and 32 IDE or Non-IDE

SELECT * FROM OPENROWSET('Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0',  'Excel 12.0;Database=C:\Temp\2010-11-Imports.xlsx', [Sheet1$])

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Geoff Fane