Access Database Engine

This article is about JET Red used in Microsoft Access. For the JET Blue ISAM implementation, see Extensible Storage Engine.
Access Database Engine
Other names
  • ACE Database Engine
  • Office Access Connectivity Engine (ACE)
  • Microsoft JET Engine
  • Microsoft Jet Database Engine
  • Jet Red
  • Joint Engine Technology (JET)
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial release1992; 32 years ago (1992)
Stable release
ACE 16
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
TypeDatabase engine
Websiteoffice.microsoft.com/en-us/access/ Edit this on Wikidata

The Access Database Engine (also Office Access Connectivity Engine or ACE and formerly Microsoft Jet Database Engine, Microsoft JET Engine or simply Jet) is a database engine on which several Microsoft products have been built. The first version of Jet was developed in 1992, consisting of three modules which could be used to manipulate a database.

JET stands for Joint Engine Technology. Microsoft Access and Visual Basic use or have used Jet as their underlying database engine. However, it has been superseded for general use, first by Microsoft Desktop Engine (MSDE), then later by SQL Server Express. For larger database needs, Jet databases can be upgraded (or, in Microsoft parlance, "up-sized") to Microsoft's flagship SQL Server database product.