Maybe resetting the lastused cell would help.

Debra Dalgleish has some techniques (both manual and VBA) for resetting the used
range at:

http://www.contextures.com/xlfaqApp.html#Unused

MeliDe wrote:

After performing an AutoFilter in Excel 2002, I end up with thousands of
blank rows when I copy the filtered info to a new worksheet? Anyone else
experience this? It makes the filtered file huge, when it should be smaller
than the original! Any ideas on how to alleviate this?

--

Dave Peterson