Downloads

Parish Record Keeper is in production use and under continuous development. Updates are released frequently and every installation updates itself to the latest version, so please bear with an occasional bug — and when you meet one, please inform the developer at developer@parishrecordkeeper.com.

Prerequisites

Operating System: Windows 10 or Windows 11 (both 32-bit and 64-bit are supported). macOS and Linux are not supported.
Microsoft Access: Either the full version included in Microsoft Office (2016 or later), or the free Microsoft Access Runtime, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft website at no cost.
Licence Agreement: Please read the End User Licence Agreement (EULA) before downloading. By downloading this software you confirm that you have read and accept its terms.

Your System

A web page cannot see which version of Microsoft Office or Microsoft Access is on your computer — and that, not the version of Windows, is what decides which setup file you need. 32-bit Office on 64-bit Windows is perfectly normal and still the commonest installation.

✅ Start here: run the compatibility check It looks at Windows, at Microsoft Office and at Microsoft Access on your own computer, and tells you in plain words which setup file to download — or what has to be put right first. Windows only. It changes nothing and installs nothing.

compatibilityCheck.exe

💡 No Microsoft Office at all? Parish Record Keeper does not need the whole of Microsoft Office. It needs only the free Microsoft Access Runtime, which Microsoft provides at no cost. The setup tells you if it is missing, and installs it from the memory stick below.

Download

Parish Record Keeper · 64 bit & 32 bit

One file for Windows 10 and 11, whatever version of Office you have. The setup looks at your computer, chooses the 32-bit or 64-bit program that matches your Microsoft Office (not Windows). If there is no Access, it says so before installing anything: from the memory stick below it installs the free Microsoft Access Runtime first; from this single download it installs Parish Record Keeper and tells you to add the Runtime. It stops with a clear message if the Access on the computer is too old (Office 2013 or 2010) and shows the printed sheet for putting that right.

SHA-256 HASH: EDE0D37A553986BBC94598CF1578B6E062239F8FCE8FDF246B9CF61D5281B10C

Version: Parish Record Keeper 1.47 | release date: 27/10/2026

Setup_PRK.exe

The Access Runtime is not inside this download (it is about 250–320 MB). If your computer has no Access and no fast internet line, build the memory stick below instead.

🛡️ Your antivirus may stop this setup This release is new, and antivirus programs (McAfee above all) distrust files that few computers have seen yet, even when they are correctly signed. If the setup disappears or is put in quarantine, add an exception first, as shown below — restoring it alone is not enough.

Complete memory stick · works on any computer, offline

Run this small program on a computer that is online. It fills a memory stick with everything needed to set up any parish computer without internet: the setup, the free Microsoft Access Runtime (64-bit and 32-bit), the compatibility check, and the printed A4 sheet for removing an old Access 2013/2010. Every program is checked for a valid digital signature. Nothing is installed on your computer. Total about 600 MB, so use a stick of 2 GB or more.

Plug in the memory stick.
Download the program below and run it. Type the drive letter of the stick when asked.

Make-PRK-Stick.exe

Removing an old Access cannot be done automatically, because it means changing the Office that is installed. That is why the stick carries the printed sheet: it takes you through it step by step.

Only if the setup above does not work: the separate 64-bit and 32-bit setups

Read this first Do not choose by the version of Windows. Choose by the version of Microsoft Office (Access) on the computer: 32-bit Office on 64-bit Windows is normal and needs the 32-bit setup. Run the compatibility check first — it says which one you need. These two setups carry only one build and do not contain the Access Runtime; if Access is missing, install the free Microsoft Access Runtime (same bitness) first.

64-bit Office · SHA-256: 8945E8C50F9BBB900A6E155956E896401039396FFCDB96D440D6A565B33AD253

Setup_PRK_64bit.exe

32-bit Office · SHA-256: 7B3F1435973C6E1888B6B4C4EC314AFE12255155F944E539395D587809E741E1

Setup_PRK_32bit.exe

💡 Tip If your browser warns you about the file, choose Keep or Keep anyway to allow the download to complete.

🔓 Unblock the file before installing Windows marks files downloaded from the internet as blocked. Before running the installer, right-click the downloaded file, choose Properties, and at the bottom of the General tab tick Unblock, then click OK.

🛡️ Antivirus: allow Parish Record Keeper (McAfee, Norton, Avast, AVG, Windows Security and others) Some antivirus programs stop Setup_PRK.exe or ParishRecordKeeper.exe, or put them in quarantine, with names such as Artemis, IDP.Generic, Suspicious or Reputation. This is a false alarm.

Why does this happen?
These programs judge a file partly by how many computers worldwide already have it. A new release of Parish Record Keeper has been seen by very few computers, so it is treated as suspicious until enough people have used it — even though every program in it carries our digital signature. This settles by itself over time, and we report false alarms to the antivirus makers.

What to do — in this order
1. Check the signature. Right-click the downloaded file, choose Properties, open the Digital Signatures tab and check that the signer is Bernhard Udelhoven. Select it, press Details: it must say This digital signature is OK. If it does not, do not run the file — download it again from this page.
2. Add the exceptions first. In your antivirus, add an exception (also called exclusion) for:
• the downloaded setup file (or the folder it is in, usually Downloads), and
• the folder Parish Record Keeper is installed in — normally C:\ParishRecordKeeper. You may add it before it exists.
3. Then restore the file from the quarantine, or download it again. Restoring without an exception does not work: the antivirus checks the file again at once and puts it straight back into quarantine.
4. Run the setup. The folder exception also covers Parish Record Keeper itself, its updates and its helper programs, so they are not stopped later.

If your antivirus settings cannot be changed (greyed out, or "managed by your organisation"), the computer is looked after by an IT person or company: ask them to allow the file and the folder.

How to add the exception in the common antivirus programs

Menu names change a little between versions. If yours looks different, search the program's help for exclusion or exception.

McAfee (Total Protection, LiveSafe and similar)
Open McAfee → My Protection (or PC Security) → Real-Time Scanning → Excluded files → Add file / Add folder. Add the setup file and C:\ParishRecordKeeper.
If McAfee keeps removing the file before you get there: in the same screen turn off Real-Time Scanning for 15 minutes, add the exceptions, restore the file from Quarantined items, run the setup, then switch scanning on again.

Windows Security (Microsoft Defender, built into Windows)
Start → Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → under Virus & threat protection settings click Manage settings → Exclusions: Add or remove exclusions → Add an exclusion → Folder.
To restore: Virus & threat protection → Protection history → open the entry → Actions → Allow on device (or Restore).

Norton
Open Norton → Settings → Antivirus → Scans and Risks → Exclusions / Low Risks → next to Items to Exclude from Auto-Protect, Script Control, SONAR and Download Intelligence Detection click Configure → Add Folders / Add Files.
To restore: Security → History → choose Quarantine → select the file → Restore.

Avast and AVG
Open the program → Menu → Settings → General → Exceptions → Add exception and choose the folder.
To restore: Menu → Quarantine (Avast) or Protection → Quarantine (AVG) → select the file → Restore and add exception.

Any other antivirus
Look in its settings for Exclusions, Exceptions or Trusted files, add the setup file and C:\ParishRecordKeeper, then restore the file from its Quarantine (sometimes called Virus Chest or Vault).

🔒 Verify download (optional) Verify the SHA-256 hash (see below) — if it matches, the file is exactly as published and has not been tampered with.
1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder where you saved the installer
2. Click the address bar at the top of the window (the path will be highlighted), type powershell and press Enter — this opens PowerShell directly in that folder
3. Run (copy one of these lines into PowerShell):
Get-FileHash ".\Setup_PRK.exe" -Algorithm SHA256
4. Compare the result with the hash above
→ If they match exactly, the file is authentic and not corrupted

♻️ Installing again over an existing installation You do not need to uninstall first. Run the setup again and choose the same folder (usually C:\ParishRecordKeeper), for example to repair the installation or to bring a computer up to the newest version. The setup replaces only the programme files. It deletes nothing in the DataFiles and Exports folders, and your stored settings and passwords stay as they are.

Afterwards Parish Record Keeper opens the same datafile as before. Should it ever open on the Welcome screen instead, your records are still there: press OPEN EXISTING DATA FILE and choose your datafile in the DataFiles folder.

Sample Datafile

Our Lady of Trials · a parish for practising

A complete sample parish to learn on and to try things out: 230 family files, 1,053 persons, 500 BaptismBook entries, five years of contributions and a parish ledger. Every person in it is fictitious, and nothing you do to it can harm a real register. It is the datafile used by the Training Course.

OurLadyOfTrials_sample.zip

How to use it:
1. Unzip the file. It holds OurLadyOfTrials_DATA.PRK and a README that lists the training examples built into it.
2. Copy OurLadyOfTrials_DATA.PRK into the DataFiles folder of Parish Record Keeper (Control Panel → OPEN DATA FOLDER).
3. Open it with Control Panel → OPEN DATABASE. To return to your own parish, open your own datafile the same way.
4. Keep an untouched copy of the ZIP, so you can start again at any time.

Launcher Update

Parish Record Keeper Launcher

If Parish Record Keeper has notified you that a new launcher is available, you can download it directly here — no need to reinstall the full application.

ParishRecordKeeper.exe

How to install:
1. Close Parish Record Keeper completely.
2. Copy the downloaded ParishRecordKeeper.exe into your Parish Record Keeper installation folder, replacing the existing file.
3. Start Parish Record Keeper normally.

Uninstall

Removing Parish Record Keeper

If you installed with the setup program, the normal way is Windows Settings → Apps → Installed apps (Windows 10: Apps & features) → Parish Record Keeper → Uninstall. Download the program below only if that entry is missing, or if you installed by hand without the setup program.

The uninstaller asks whether you want to keep your parish data (the DataFiles and Exports folders). Only a No to that question deletes them. To repair or update an installation you do not need to uninstall at all: just run the setup again into the same folder.

SHA-256 HASH: 535D167AB542FDB7853CFE3E9850E1C0D2AC054B918D37790CB42A1CCC19CAF2

Uninstaller_PRK.exe

How to use it:
1. Close Parish Record Keeper completely.
2. Right-click the downloaded file, choose Properties, tick Unblock and click OK.
3. Copy Uninstaller_PRK.exe into your Parish Record Keeper installation folder (usually C:\ParishRecordKeeper). It refuses to run from any other folder, so it can never delete anything else by mistake.
4. Double-click it. Type yes to confirm, then yes to keep your parish data (the DataFiles and Exports folders) or no to delete them as well.
5. It removes the programme files, the Access trusted location, the stored settings and passwords and the shortcuts, and then deletes itself.

⚠ Note on automatic updates Our hosting provider occasionally blocks IP address ranges that have been reported as abusive by other users. This can affect shared or satellite internet connections — known examples include Starlink and MTN Zambia — and may prevent the application from checking for or downloading updates (HTTP 403 error).

Your data is never affected. If the update feature stops working, connecting through a reputable VPN service typically resolves the issue. You can also download the latest installer manually from this page at any time.

Documentation

The documentation PDF covers installation, configuration, and all major features of Parish Record Keeper. Reading it before installation is strongly recommended.

View the Documentation (PDF) Download the Documentation (DOCX) Manual Installation Guide (TXT)