My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

It sounds like your Excel file may have hidden data or formatting that is still taking up space even though you have deleted all visible cells. Here are a few steps you can take to try and reduce the file size:

1. Remove hidden rows and columns: Sometimes, even if you have deleted the cells in a row or column, the row or column itself may still be hidden and taking up space. To check for hidden rows and columns, select the entire sheet by clicking the box at the top left corner of the sheet (above row 1 and to the left of column A), then right-click and choose "Unhide". If there are any hidden rows or columns, they will appear and you can delete them.
   
2. Clear formatting: If there is any formatting applied to the cells, such as borders, shading, or font styles, this can also take up space in the file. To clear all formatting, select all cells by clicking the box at the top left corner of the sheet, then go to the Home tab and click the "Clear" button in the Editing group. Choose "Clear Formats" to remove all formatting.
   
3. Check for objects: If there are any objects in the sheet, such as charts, shapes, or images, these can also take up space. To check for objects, go to the Home tab and click the "Find & Select" button in the Editing group, then choose "Go To Special". In the dialog box, choose "Objects" and click "OK". Any objects in the sheet will be selected, and you can delete them.
   
4. Save as a new file: If none of the above steps work, you can try saving the file as a new file with a different name. Sometimes, Excel files can become corrupted or have hidden data that cannot be removed, and saving as a new file can help to reduce the size.

I hope these steps help you to reduce the size of your Excel file.

You might have some named ranges defined in the workbook which are no
longer needed. Another common reason for a workbook to increase in
size is for there to be some graphic objects which are no longer
needed. Check also that the file is saved as the latest version, not
as a hybrid (i.e. Excel 5.0/95 workbook).

Hope this helps.

Pete

On Feb 28, 5:35*am, wrote:
My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. *I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. *I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. *Any ideas? *Thanks!

After deleting the unused rows and columns did you SAVE the workbook.

Some versions require a sav/close and reopen before changes take effect.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:35:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

All mentioned methods did not work!!

I tried the following tests and appended my finding:

Test #1
Action Result
Remark
1. Copy "Problem" Excel File to dummy OK
Data + Chart
2. Open dummy Excel File OK
3. Delete "Slow-motion" Worksheet File Size drop dramatically
4. Copy & Paste data from "Problem" file File size increase litte bit

Test #2
Action Result
Remark
1. Open "Problem" Excel File OK
Data + Chart
3. Delete "Slow-motion" Worksheets' charts File Size drop very little bit
4. CLEAR ALL"Slow-motion" worksheet' data
5. Save & re-open Excel File File size still same

Any suggestion to fix my problem on using Excel 2003.

Daniel Cheng

"Gord Dibben" wrote:

After deleting the unused rows and columns did you SAVE the workbook.

Some versions require a sav/close and reopen before changes take effect.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:35:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

No ideas left.


Gord



On Mon, 5 May 2008 03:09:00 -0700, Daniel Cheng <Daniel
wrote:

All mentioned methods did not work!!

I tried the following tests and appended my finding:

Test #1
Action Result
Remark
1. Copy "Problem" Excel File to dummy OK
Data + Chart
2. Open dummy Excel File OK
3. Delete "Slow-motion" Worksheet File Size drop dramatically
4. Copy & Paste data from "Problem" file File size increase litte bit

Test #2
Action Result
Remark
1. Open "Problem" Excel File OK
Data + Chart
3. Delete "Slow-motion" Worksheets' charts File Size drop very little bit
4. CLEAR ALL"Slow-motion" worksheet' data
5. Save & re-open Excel File File size still same

Any suggestion to fix my problem on using Excel 2003.

Daniel Cheng

"Gord Dibben" wrote:

After deleting the unused rows and columns did you SAVE the workbook.

Some versions require a sav/close and reopen before changes take effect.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:35:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

On May 5, 5:09 am, Daniel Cheng <Daniel
wrote:
All mentioned methods did not work!!

I tried the following tests and appended my finding:

Test #1
Action Result
Remark
1. Copy "Problem" Excel File to dummy OK
Data + Chart
2. Open dummy Excel File OK
3. Delete "Slow-motion" Worksheet File Size drop dramatically
4. Copy & Paste data from "Problem" file File size increase litte bit

Test #2
Action Result
Remark
1. Open "Problem" Excel File OK
Data + Chart
3. Delete "Slow-motion" Worksheets' charts File Size drop very little bit
4. CLEAR ALL"Slow-motion" worksheet' data
5. Save & re-open Excel File File size still same

Any suggestion to fix my problem on using Excel 2003.

Daniel Cheng

"Gord Dibben" wrote:
After deleting the unused rows and columns did you SAVE the workbook.

Some versions require a sav/close and reopen before changes take effect.

Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:35:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

Are there objects? Press F5, click Special, choose Objects. If there
are any, the Delete key will get rid of them quickly. Assuming you
really want to get rid of them.

Exactly how much data is there?

Thank you very much..

This helped to fix the same issue I faced the same file size prob.

Deleting the Objects reduced size dramatically..

Regards
Kannan

In case another solution might help someone else, - I had an excel file with pivot tables that referenced external source data. I tried to save an extract version of the workbook that did not contain the pivot tables or reference the external data, but the workbook file was larger than expected and did not reduce much in size even if all the sheets were deleted. The problem appeared to be that cross-references to the external data were still retained somewhere internally in the workbook. One solution was to go back to a version of the spreadsheet before deleting the sheets containing the pivot tables and other external references, then transfer the external source data into the workbook, making sure there were no additional external links (menu item: Edit / Links), and THEN deleting the various sheets I didn't need including the data that had been transported back in and was not needed for the extract version of the workbook. CAUTION - use a separate copy of the workbook and the source data copied into a separate directory so that the original workbook and its reference links to the source data are not messed up. [note - Other potential solutions to a too-large spreadsheet included looking at the menu item: "format / sheet / unhide". and looking for hidden objects under the menu option: "tools / macro / visual basic editor" but that is for more experienced or risk-taking users.]

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On Thursday, February 28, 2008 1:35:43 PM UTC+8, wrote:
My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

Try this free Tool(docoptimizer.com) , it can reduce the number of styles in use and the number of activated cells.

Op donderdag 28 februari 2008 06:35:43 UTC+1 schreef :
My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

I have into this many times, and all of the above (with the exception of one or two objects every now and then) fails. My file grew from less than 300 KB to almost 4 MB.

The solution for my .xlsm file is:

Open the file with the .xlsm extension, then Save as: .xls (tried this several times, the size was reduced in half with the file that was just exploded in size).

Then, because you want to use the .xlsm functionality, open the .xls file and Save as .xlsm again.

Miraculasly the size was reduced back to almost the original level.

I have not tried all possibilities, but changing back and forth from xlsm to xls and back to xlsm again did the trick.

George

On Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 11:35:43 PM UTC-6, wrote:
My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

Delete the Rows or Columns that are empty and save voila. Do not delete just the cells but the rows or columns

El jueves, 28 de febrero de 2008, 1:35:43 (UTC-4), escribió:
My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

Something that works for me is to save the workbook in .xlsb which is binary format it reduce the workbook in a 60%

On Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 4:43:33 PM UTC-6, Gord Dibben wrote:
After deleting the unused rows and columns did you SAVE the workbook.

Some versions require a sav/close and reopen before changes take effect.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:35:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

This worked for me! I have kept files open for so long and tried a million ways to get the cells to remove the content. So simple that I can't believe I never tried before. Excel 2016.

davidwalburn wrote:

On Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 4:43:33 PM UTC-6, Gord Dibben wrote:
After deleting the unused rows and columns did you SAVE the workbook.

Some versions require a sav/close and reopen before changes take effect.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP
On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:35:43 -0800 (PST), wrote:

My file size is 700 KB for a spreadsheet with little text and few
formulas with links but no macros. I deleted the cells to the right
and bottom of the cells being used and the size stays the same; even
deleting all of the cells in the workbook does not change the size. I
cut the spreadsheet and pasted into a new file and the new file has
the same size as the original. Any ideas? Thanks!

This worked for me! I have kept files open for so long and tried a million
ways to get the cells to remove the content. So simple that I can't believe
I never tried before. Excel 2016.

Bad enough that you effectively posted "me too!", but the original post was
***10 YEARS AGO!!!***

--
This woman seemed flawless because she didn't have enough time to
drive you crazy, as any person you know well will eventually do.