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How to Reduce Size of Excel Files

This wikiHow teaches you how to reduce the amount of storage a Microsoft Excel file uses by removing some formatting, compressing images and saving the file in a more efficient format. Open a Microsoft Excel file. Do so by double-clicking...
Part 1 of 6:

Saving as a Binary File

  1. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 1How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 1
    Open a Microsoft Excel file. Do so by double-clicking on the green and white app with an X, then clicking on File and Open..., and selecting the file.
  2. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 2How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 2
    Click File.
  3. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 3How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 3
    Click Save As….
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    Type a file name.
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    Click the "File Format:" drop-down.
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    Click Excel Binary Workbook under "Specialty Formats." Files saved in this format are considerably smaller than standard .xls files.
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    Click Save. The smaller Excel file will be saved on your computer.
Part 2 of 6:

Removing Formatting from Empty Rows and Columns

  1. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 8How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 8
    Open a Microsoft Excel file. Do so by double-clicking on the green and white app with an X, then clicking on File and Open..., and selecting the file.
  2. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 9How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 9
    Select all empty rows. To do so, click on the first empty row number, then press and hold Ctrl+⇧ Shift+↓ (Windows) or ⌘+⇧ Shift+↓ (Mac).
    1. The arrow keys are in the lower-right corner of most keyboards.
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    Click on the Home tab (Windows) or Edit in the menu bar (Mac).
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    Click Clear.
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    Click Clear All (Windows) or Format (Mac). This clears unnecessary formatting from cells that are not being used.
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    Select all empty columns. To do so, click on the first empty column letter, then press and hold Ctrl+⇧ Shift+→ (Windows) or ⌘+⇧ Shift+→ (Mac).
    1. The arrow keys are in the lower-right corner of most keyboards.
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    Click the Home tab (Windows) or Edit in the menu bar (Mac).
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    Click Clear.
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    Click Clear All (Windows) or Format (Mac). This clears unnecessary formatting from cells that are not being used.
Part 3 of 6:

Remove Conditional Formatting

  1. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 17How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 17
    Open a Microsoft Excel file. Do so by double-clicking on the green and white app with an X, then clicking on File and Open..., and selecting the file.
  2. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 18How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 18
    Click the Home tab at the top of the screen.
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    Click Conditional Formatting. It's in the "Styles" part of the ribbon.
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    Click Clear Rules.
  5. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 21How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 21
    Click Clear Rules from Entire Sheet.
Part 4 of 6:

Removing Formatting from Empty Cells in Windows

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    Open a Microsoft Excel file. Do so by double-clicking on the green and white app with an X, then clicking on File and Open..., and selecting the file.
  2. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 23How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 23
    Click the Home tab at the top of the screen.
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    Click Find & Select. It's in the "Editing" part of the ribbon.
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    Click Go To….
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    Click Special….
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    Click the Blanks radio button.
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    Click OK. All the empty cells in the data set will be highlighted.
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    Click Clear. It's the eraser icon.
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    Click Clear All.
Part 5 of 6:

Removing Formatting from Empty Cells on Mac

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    Open a Microsoft Excel file. Do so by double-clicking on the green and white app with an X, then clicking on File and Open..., and selecting the file.
  2. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 32How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 32
    Click Edit. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
  3. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 33How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 33
    Click Find.
  4. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 34How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 34
    Click Go To….
  5. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 35How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 35
    Click Special….
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    Click the Blanks radio button.
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    Click OK. All the empty cells in the data set will be highlighted.
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    Click Edit in the menu bar.
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    Click Clear.
  10. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 40How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 40
    Click Format.
Part 6 of 6:

Compressing Images

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    Open a Microsoft Excel file. Do so by double-clicking on the green and white app with an X, then clicking on File and Open..., and selecting the file.
  2. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 42How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 42
    Open the Compression dialog box. To do so:
    1. In Windows, click on an image, then click on the Format, tab and click on Compress in the toolbar.
    2. On Mac, click on File and then Reduce File Size….
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    Click the drop-down menu next to "Picture Quality."
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    Select a lower image resolution.
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    Check "Delete cropped areas of pictures."
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    Click All pictures in this file.
  7. How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 47How to Reduce Size of Excel Files Picture 47
    Click OK. The images in the file have been compressed and extraneous image data has been deleted.
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