Placeholder text in an unfilled (empty) text box on an Access form

Question

How can I add "placeholder" text to a Text Box in an Access form?

Before the user has typed anything into the text box I want it to display something like

Name: [Please enter the right name]

and then when the user enters some value the text box should show that instead.

Is there any way to insert a placeholder in a textfild of MS access Form — JRU, Oct 30 '13 at 11:40
It's like Placeholder>>"Please enter the right name" and value is Name — JRU, Oct 30 '13 at 11:50

score 16 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 30 '13 at 12:45

16

Use the .Format property, for text values it will be like this:

@;"Please enter the right name"

edited Oct 30 '13 at 12:45

Gord Thompson

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answered Oct 30 '13 at 11:42

4dmonster

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1

But it will add as the default value ...that doesn't sound like palceholder – JRU Oct 30 '13 at 11:47

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 14 '18 at 11:48

0

And if you would like to use like a really placeholder, use conditional formatting. Set the default text color value to gray and if the value is not a "" (empty) set the color to black.

answered Aug 14 '18 at 11:48

Piszi

1

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 21 '23 at 01:59

if you want to combine the date and placeholder use format as short Date

and in events vba

Private Sub Form_Load()
If IsNull(Me.VDate) Then
Me.VDate.Format = "@;Date[Blue]"
Else
Me.VDate.Format = "Short Date"
End If
End Sub

Private Sub VDate_AfterUpdate()
If IsNull(Me.VDate) Then
Me.VDate.Format = "@;Date[Blue]"
Else
Me.VDate.Format = "Short Date"
End If
End Sub

Placeholder text in an unfilled (empty) text box on an Access form

3 Answers3