Growing XLS file

Posted by Corey on August 07, 2001 8:19 AM

Help! My file is growing daily. No macros/complex formulas/formatting in this file, but lots of linking. The file has grown from 1 MB to 5 MB. Is there a way to compact an Excel file, like one can do to an Access database? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Corey

Posted by KLove on August 07, 2001 9:06 AM

Corey:
How are you saving your workbooks??
Sometimes when you have a workbook that is very large in size you can reduce this dramatically by saving the file as "Microsoft Excel Workbook (*.xls)" as apposed to "Microsoft Excel 5/95 Workbook (*.xls)". In other words avoid saving as multiple versions whenever possible. Does this help??

Posted by Corey on August 07, 2001 9:13 AM

Thanks.

I do not think I am doing anything out of the ordinary when saving my file. Every few days I save the file as a different version. Would this have any impact on the size?

Corey

Posted by KLove on August 07, 2001 10:26 AM

Yes, data is essentially stored twice in the same workbook (once for each format), a workbook in this format may be twice as large as a workbook in a regular format.

Features and formatting unique to Excel 2000 or Excel 97 may be lost if the file is resaved in a different file format. It is recommended that users with earlier versions open these types of files read-only. If you want to make sure that the files have no features or formatting unique to Excel 2000 or Excel 97, or if you want the workbook to be smaller than that saved in the dual file format, you can save the file in the Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook format instead.

Hope this helps!

Posted by Corey on August 07, 2001 11:29 AM

Thanks! I'll give it a try.