I want to ask is there a known registry override to increase the handle limit

Hon Ying 40

My Access application is frequently crashing with Error 3048 ("Cannot open any more databases") despite properly closing all recordsets and setting objects to Nothing in my VBA cleanup routines. Since the latest Office update (Build 2602), the msaccess.exe process often hangs in the background and refuses to release the .laccdb lockfile, eventually exhausting the engine's hard limit of 2,048 open handles.

Viorel 126.9K Reputation points

2026-03-09T17:18:12.06+00:00

Maybe the problem with the hanging of process should be solved first.

Answer accepted by question author

Karl Donaubauer 3,191

Hi,

The limit in modern versions like 2602 is 4096 tables. See our AFo blog article (and eventually the detailled article Colin links there) on the extensions in 2023.

Perhaps you can test if it reliably helps to roll back to a previous version of Office. If yes and thus it looks like a regression, you could try to build a demo to reproduce the problem that we could test and forward to the Microsoft Access team.

Servus
Karl

Access Forever News DevCon
Access-Entwickler-Konferenz AEK

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Answer accepted by question author

Steven-N 25,305 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Hon Ying

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum

I have conducted some research, Microsoft Access has documented hard limits for internal resources that are consumed not only by “database files,” but also by objects Access opens internally (forms, reports, queries, controls, linked tables, etc.). In Microsoft 365 versions of Access, the maximum number of open tables is 4,096 (including tables opened internally by Access), and available connections is 512. In non–Microsoft 365 versions, those limits are 2,048 open tables and 256 connections.

Moreover, you can see the confirmation of this limit here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12579186/ms-access-2010-cannot-open-any-more-databases

Note: This information is provided as a convenience to you. These sites are not controlled by Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks before using any suggestions from the above link.

Regards

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1 additional answer

Richard Yung 120 Reputation points

2026-03-09T15:37:38.9566667+00:00
Hi Hon Ying,

This "Error 3048" issue has indeed become more prevalent following recent Office updates. While Access has a hard limit on table handles (around 2048), you can try to increase the MaxTempTableSize or check the MaxLocksPerFile in the registry to alleviate memory-related handle pressure.

You can try navigating to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines\ACE

Or for older versions:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Jet 4.0

__Steps:__
1. Look for MaxLocksPerFile.
2. Increase the Decimal value (e.g., to 15000 or higher).
__Note:__ Since this started with Build 2602, it might also be a regression in how the engine handles nested queries. If the registry fix doesn't help, many users have found temporary relief by rolling back to the previous stable Office build while waiting for a formal patch from Microsoft.

Hope this helps!
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I want to ask is there a known registry override to increase the handle limit

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