Short answer: the 32-bit build of the Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable is the file AccessDatabaseEngine.exe — no _X64 suffix. You can download it from Microsoft.
Two things are worth knowing before you install it. First, the 32-bit engine is normally the right choice — 32-bit Office is still the default, and most data tools are 32-bit too. Second, it carries a memory limit that shows up as soon as a job gets big, and no amount of reinstalling will remove it. Both are explained below.
Which build do you actually need?
The Access Database Engine ships in two builds and they are not interchangeable. Your application, your Office installation and the engine all have to agree.
| 32-bit — this page | 64-bit | |
|---|---|---|
| File name | AccessDatabaseEngine.exe |
AccessDatabaseEngine_X64.exe |
| Install it when | the program that reads the database is 32-bit | that program is 64-bit |
| Symptom if you pick wrong | the provider never shows up in the list | “Provider cannot be found” still appears after installing |
Why 32-bit is usually the one people need
Microsoft Office installs as 32-bit unless someone deliberately picks the 64-bit option, and that choice has to be made at install time. Most older data tools, reporting add-ins and ODBC clients are 32-bit as well. If the program that reads your Access database sits under C:\Program Files (x86), it is 32-bit and it needs this engine.
To confirm on your own machine: in Office, File → Account → About Excel shows the bitness on the first line. For any other program, open Task Manager, go to the Details tab and look for the “(32 bit)” label next to the process name.
The 32-bit ceiling you will run into eventually
A 32-bit process can address roughly 2 GB of memory, and the Access engine loads much of its working set inside the calling process. A wide query, or a table with long Text and Memo columns, can exhaust that space even on a machine with plenty of free RAM. The job then fails with an out-of-memory error that looks like a data problem but is really an addressing limit.
If that is what brought you here, installing this driver will not help. The limit belongs to the 32-bit build itself, and it is the main reason to move the work to a 64-bit tool.
No driver, and no 2 GB ceiling
Withdata’s Access tools open .mdb and .accdb files directly in a 64-bit process, so they never load the ACE provider and never hit that ceiling. No Access Database Engine, no ODBC or OLEDB driver, no Microsoft Access installation — on Windows, Linux and macOS.
- Export Access tables to CSV, Excel, JSON, TXT or SQL
- Import CSV, Excel or text files into Access
- Copy data between two Access databases
- Migrate Access to MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL and others
Our Excel tools work the same way, without Microsoft Excel installed and without this driver.
If you still need Microsoft’s driver
Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable installs the ACE provider that older applications use to read .mdb, .accdb, .xls, .xlsx and .xlsb files. Microsoft publishes it here: Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 Redistributable. Choose the 32-bit download — AccessDatabaseEngine.exe, not the _X64 one.
See also: the 64-bit version of this driver · Missing msvcr110.dll · Unable to load odbcji32.dll · all database tools
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