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

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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.
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    Click File.
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    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

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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.
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    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

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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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    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.
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    Click Edit. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
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    Click Find.
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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 Edit in the menu bar.
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    Click Clear.
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    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.
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    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.
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    Click OK. The images in the file have been compressed and extraneous image data has been deleted.
Update 05 March 2020
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