How to compress spreadsheet files size in Microsoft Excel
Is your Excel spreadsheet too large? Here are several tips to reduce its size.
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If you work withMicrosoft Excel, sometimes, you may come across a large file that you may want to reduce in size to make it more manageable to share over the internet or store on a removable drive.
Regardless of the scenario, Excel has several options to reduce the size of the spreadsheet. For instance, you can save the file in binary format, change the resolution or compression of the embedded images, delete unnecessary sheets, and more, including zipping the file in File Explorer.
This guide will walk you through therecommendedsteps to compress an Excel spreadsheet onWindows 11or 10.
How to reduce spreadsheet size in Excel
When using Microsoft Excel, you can make an Excel spreadsheet smaller through a number of methods, including saving the file in binary format, lowering the resolution and compressing image files, deleting unnecessary sheets, excluding pivot cache, and using file compression with the Zip container.
Save current file in binary format
To save the current spreadsheet in binary to save space, use these steps:
Save file in binary format
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To change the Excel settings to always save files in binary format, use these steps:
Delete unnecessary worksheets
Alternatively, if you have different sheets without any critical information, you can delete them to help reduce the size of the file.
To remove sheets without important information from a spreadsheet, use these steps:
Save at lower resolution
To save images on an Excel file at a lower resolution, use these steps:
Compress images in file
To compress images in Excel to reduce the size of the file, use these steps:
Avoid saving pivot cache in file
Excel files that include one or more pivot tables can consume more space since they save the source table data cache. However, if you must reduce the size of the spreadsheet, you can disable the option to save the data cache for pivot tables to refresh the information when you open the file.
To reduce the size of an Excel file containing a pivot table, use these steps:
Zip the spreadsheet file
If you don’t want to change the application settings, it’s also possible to reduce the spreadsheet size by usingfile compression with a zip folder.
To zip an Excel spreadsheet to make the file smaller, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the Excel spreadsheet will reduce its size to make it more manageable.
More resources
For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10 and Windows 11, visit the following resources:
Mauro Huculak has been a Windows How-To Expert contributor for WindowsCentral.com for nearly a decade and has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides. He also has an IT background and has achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and CompTIA. He has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years.
