Reducing File Size

You say your Excel files have gotten a bit “Fat” and you wish there was an easy way to reduce their size?  You’re in luck, as there are several ways of reducing Excel Bloat!

Decreasing the size of your Excel files can have several benefits.  It can make them easier to email, (and save the ire of your recipients for bogging down their inboxes…), make them open more quickly, and reduce the chance of curious error messages/problems.

Here are just a few ways of putting your Excel files on a diet:

1.   First of all, check to see if a bit of housecleaning is in order: Are there any unused worksheets, irrelevant charts, or redundant calculations in your workbook?  If so, removing them is an obvious quick fix.

2.   Delete any unnecessary formatting.  If you have rows of blank cells that are formatted (color, lines, etc.), doing away with this needless bling can be a help in your efforts to slim down.

3.   Compress any graphics in your file.  That beautiful company logo may look great in your workbook presentation, but it may be hogging unnecessary space.  Just double-click on image, go to Compress Pictures and choose the Email (96ppi) option.  This can make a surprisingly huge difference!

4.   Zip your files.  Although zipping Excel files does not have as much effect as in did years ago, the application WinZip can still help, especially if you are using (as is the case with some companies) Excel 2003.

These techniques are not all-encompassing, but they are a good start if you wish to put your files on a diet (speaking of which, maybe I’ll have a salad for lunch…).