>>Maybe that behavior changed between some earlier versions? I know I fought this problem a long time ago, but it never happened after I changed my code to use "safe select".
>
>Actually, blanking the recordsource preserves the grid, but still has some other problem - which I can't remember. I'm also using safe select (was using it for a few years before I heard it had a name), so whatever that other problem was, doesn't affect me either.
>
>Blanking or even changing the recordsource at design time is a safe recipe for grid amnesia, though :).

It may be some of the Dynamic.. stuff, formatting, bindevent code or something else. I also know for sure that it was something that got lost.