How to change field into SSN format (###-##-####) in MS Access?

Question

I know how to edit a field to remove the dashes but how do I take a field that is a text field with 9 numbers and manipulate it so that it follows standard SSN formatting? Open to VBA or Query (SQL) methods. Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

There is Format(expression[, format[, firstdayofweek[, firstweekofyear]]]) function, which can show you your 9 symbols in desired format

?format("123456789","@@@-@@-@@@@")
123-45-6789

If you decided to change stored values you can use SQL query like this

UPDATE [tblTable] SET [ssn] = format([ssn],"@@@-@@-@@@@")