Work with Control Properties

Every control on a form—every text box, every label, and every check box—has a set of properties that you can modify. A property is an attribute that defines an object's appearance, behavior, or characteristics. For example, the properties of a house would be its color, square footage, and shape. A property for a field on a form might be the number of decimal places displayed or the default value for the field. Because you can almost always change an object's properties, you can think of them as the object's settings.

1. In Design View, select the control that you want to edit.

   You can also work with properties in Layout View.

2. Click the Property Sheet button on the ribbon.
   

   The Property Sheet pane appears and the properties for the control you selected are displayed.

3. In the Property Sheet pane, click the appropriate property box and make the changes.
   

Some property boxes will display one of the following buttons when clicked:

• Click to display a list of options to change the settings for the selected property.
• Click to invoke a Wizard or display a dialog box that you use to change the settings for the selected property.

Most controls have dozens and dozens of properties. You will often have to click the appropriate tab and then do some scrolling to find the property box that you're looking for.