I think I would open that huge file and just copy all the cells in each
worksheet to a new worksheet in a new workbook.

I wouldn't waste too much time trying to fix the old--just create a new one.

This may sound simple, but it might not be. Watch out for formulas, named
ranges, named anything, VBA code, headers/footers, filters, and anything else
you can think of.

But it sure sounds easier than trying to fix that 171MB file.

Josh wrote:

i have an excel file that is 171 MB, I don't understand why... I removed the
autoformatting I thought might have been the problem, but it's still the same
size. It also takes an extremely long time to save my progress, to open or
close, and it sometimes pauses every ten or so rows when I'm scrolling to set
the print area. It shouldn't be that big- There are 5 sheets, each is between
400 and 500 rows, and there's only ten columns. What's going on? Thanks for
any help.
--
Josh

--

Dave Peterson