How to Reduce Excel File Size? 7 Proven Ways

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(Note: This guide on how to reduce Excel file size is suitable for all Excel versions including Office 365

It is a common concept that when the data is added and the complexity of the file increases, so does its size. Based on the amount of data and the features added to the file, the size of the file can vary from a certain KB and MB to a few GB.

An average Excel file tends to occupy a particular space depending on the data added and the features enabled. Although KB and MB file sizes do not occupy much space, they do become quite a menace when they are in large numbers.

The huge amount of data associated with an Excel file tends to make it slow and hazy. Also, a vast number of files all with greater sizes makes it very difficult to share.

In such cases, you will have to reduce the size of the Excel file which will make it easier to handle the files. In this article, we will tell you how to reduce Excel file size in 7 proven ways. 

You’ll Learn:

• 7 Easy Ways: How to Reduce Excel File Size?
  • Save the File in Binary Format
  • Remove Unnecessary Data
  • Compress the Images
  • Save Pictures in Low Resolutions
  • Remove the Pivot Cache
  • Compress the File
  • By Disabling the Watch Window

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7 Easy Ways: How to Reduce Excel File Size?

If you are looking to reduce the Excel file size, try the below-given methods which will help you bring down the size and make the files more compact. 

Save the File in Binary Format

When you save an Excel file, the particular workbook gets stored as a Microsoft Excel Worksheet with a .xlsx extension. This format is considered the standard and it takes a certain file size. 

However, if you want to reduce the standard file size, you can convert the usual Excel file with a .xlsx extension to a binary spreadsheet file with a .xlsb.

There are two ways you can save an Excel file into a binary spreadsheet. 

Save an Individual File

Let us first see how to save an individual file into a binary spreadsheet with the .xlsb extension.

• To save the current file in binary format, navigate to File. 

• Click on Save As.

• You can select the Excel Binary Workbook option from the Save As pane in the Excel window.

• If you want additional options, click on the More Options button. 

• This opens the Save As dialog box. Enter a file name and storage location for the file. 

• From the Save As type dropdown, select Excel Binary Workbook and click on Save.

• This saves the Excel file as a Binary Workbook with a .xlsb extension.

Set Binary Workbook as Default Save Format

If you are a person who works with a variety of files, you can change the default save type to Binary Workbook format every time you save the file.

• To change the default format, navigate to File.

• Click on the Options. 

• This opens the Excel Options dialog box. 

• Click on the Save category. From the Save files in this format dropdown, select Excel Binary Workbook. 

Though the binary format helps in reducing the size of the Excel file, it has some limitations. The binary format does not support macros associated with the file and also the Power Query editor cannot read the data. The binary workbook format is not open-source readable compared to XML format, thereby making this method optional when it comes to reducing the file size. 

Suggested Reads:

How to Select Multiple Cells in Excel? 7 Simple Ways

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Remove Unnecessary Data

Every data you enter onto an Excel sheet takes a certain amount of space. The more data, the greater will be the size of the workbook. The data can be: 

Images: You can remove unwanted images or reduce the resolution of the image. 

Data: Make sure to delete all the empty cells.

Worksheets: If the data are dissected into different worksheets, combining them into a single worksheet can help in reducing the size.

Formatting: Excel sheets with excessive formatting can also be a reason for increased file size. To remove the formatting, navigate to Home. Under the Editing section, click on the dropdown from Clear and select the clearing options. 

Formulas: Unwanted or excess formulas also tend to increase the file size. It is always a better practice to convert the formulas to values for better performance and security purposes.

Hyperlinks: To remove the hyperlinks, first, select the hyperlinks. Then, right-click on them and select Remove Hyperlinks. 

Compress the Images

We know that adding pictures or images to your Excel spreadsheet helps in the easy understanding of data. Though this is an advantage, more images also tend to shoot up the file size.

You can choose to remove the unnecessary images in some cases. But, there might be instances where you cannot remove any images but would also want a lesser file size. In such cases, you can compress the image.

• To compress an image, first, select the image and navigate to the Picture Format main menu ribbon. 

• Under the Adjust section, click on Compress Pictures

• This opens the Compress Pictures dialog box. 

• Under the Compression options section:
  • If you check the checkbox for Apply only to this picture, every change you make in the Compress Pictures dialog box applies only to the particular image. If you leave it unchecked, the setting will apply to all the images in the workbook.
  • Additionally, if you check the checkbox for Delete cropped areas of pictures. The cropped area will be removed with no way to restore it. 

• Under the Resolution section:
  • You can select the resolution you want from the list of resolutions. The higher the resolution, the greater the size will be. Choose the resolution that suits your purpose. 
  • Or, you can also select the Use default resolution.

• Click OK.

Save Pictures in Low Resolutions

Every change you make to your Excel file gets stored in the background for restoring and undoing purposes. But, this phenomenon consumes a certain space, especially in the case of images. By default, the images are stored with a higher resolution.

Note: You can change the default image resolution in Excel by going to File>Options>Advanced. Under the Image Size and Quality, change the default image resolution. 

The resolution and editing factors plan a major role in determining the size of the Excel file. 

• To reduce the image resolution and the file size, navigate to File and click on Options.

• From the Excel Options dialog box, click on Advanced. 

• Scroll down to the Image Size and Quality section. 

• From the dropdown, select the workbook you want to implement the changes.

• Check the checkbox for Discard editing data. Checking this option deletes the pre-edit image which can be used to restore the file. 

• Uncheck the checkbox for Do not compress images in the file. When you check this option, the images appear with maximum picture quality which results in a larger file size. Upon unchecking the option, the images will appear with lower quality with a lesser pixel per inch.

• Change the default resolution. When you select high fidelity, the images will have the highest resolution but they will significantly increase the file size. 

Remove the Pivot Cache

PivotTables are a common and useful feature to organize data in Excel. Any changes you make to the pivot table get stored in the PivotTable cache. The PivotTable Source Data Cache in the PivotTable can also be a factor to increase the file size. You can reduce the size of the Excel file by refreshing the cache when you open the spreadsheet. 

• To remove the pivot cache, first, click on any cell from the PivotTable.

• Then, navigate to the PivotTable Analyze main menu ribbon. 

• Under the PivotTable section, click on Options. 

• Click on the Data tab in the PivotTable Options dialog box.

• Under the PivotTable Data section:
  • Uncheck the checkbox for Save source data with file. 
  • Check the checkbox for Refresh data when opening the file.

This removes the Pivot cache and thereby subsequently reduces the size of the file.

Compress the File

If you are looking for an easy way to reduce file size without making any changes to the existing file, you can choose to compress the file externally. Though this method is supported by Windows or other third-party tools, compressing a file reduces the size of almost any type of file.

• To compress a file, right-click on the file and select Compress to ZIP file.

This instantly compresses the current file. You can then share a large number of files easily and the end-user can extract and get back the original file.

However, compressing an Excel file to reduce its size does not speed up the file or reduce the load time, but it greatly assists while sharing the file. 

By Disabling the Watch Window

Watch is an efficient feature in Excel that lets you inspect calculations, formulas, and data. This is true especially when the data is large. 

Though this is a helpful feature, enabling it takes up considerable space and makes the file size a bit large. So, it is better to remove Watches once they are done.

• To remove the watches, navigate to the Formula main menu ribbon and click on the Watch Window.

• This opens the Watch Window dialog box. 

• In the dialog box, select the watches you want to delete and click on Delete Watch.

Once the watches are deleted, the size of the Excel file comes down. 

Also Read:

How to Remove Comma in Excel? 5 Easy Ways

How to Convert Excel to CSV File? 2 Different Approaches

How to Insert PDF in Excel? 5 Easy Ways

Frequently Asked Questions

Closing Thoughts

Excel files with lesser file sizes facilitate easy sharing and transfer of files. In addition, they also load faster and are easier to download. 

In this article, we saw how to reduce Excel file size in 7 easy ways. Some methods just take a couple of clicks, whereas others can be quite extensive. Each method is different and helps in reducing the size of the file in its way. Choose the method that suits your purpose the best.

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Simon Sez IT has been teaching Excel and other business software for over ten years. For a low, monthly fee you can get access to 140+ IT training courses. 

Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!