why is my worksheet so big?

relampico · External Since: Nov 09, 2005 Posts: 2

I accidently created a 39MB workbook with only 5 worksheets and a small
amount of data. What happened and how can I avoid in the future?

Nick Hodge · External Since: Jul 21, 2004 Posts: 1917

Excel can escalate in size dramatically. A couple of things to check

1) Did you at any point, possibly an import, have much more data than you
ended up with? In which case press Ctrl+End to see what row/column excel
think is the last one, select those excess rows, delete them and save the
workbook. (Do this for each sheet)
2) Do you have images/charts, etc in abundance, these will certainly 'bloat'
excel?
3) Have you saved the workbook in a 'hybrid' format (Excel 5/95 & 1997)?

--
HTH
Nick Hodge
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Southampton, England
www.nickhodge.co.uk
nick_hodgeTAKETHISOUT.RemoveThis@zen.co.uk.ANDTHIS

"relampico" <relampico.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:38238C22-93FA-40AA-B3CD-9D2837F1FB3B@microsoft.com...
>I accidently created a 39MB workbook with only 5 worksheets and a small
> amount of data. What happened and how can I avoid in the future?

relampico · External Since: Nov 09, 2005 Posts: 2

Thanks, Nick. I think I did initially download a lot of data into a
worksheet then deleted much of it. I didn't realize Excel still keeps the
size.

"Nick Hodge" wrote:

> Excel can escalate in size dramatically. A couple of things to check
>
> 1) Did you at any point, possibly an import, have much more data than you
> ended up with? In which case press Ctrl+End to see what row/column excel
> think is the last one, select those excess rows, delete them and save the
> workbook. (Do this for each sheet)
> 2) Do you have images/charts, etc in abundance, these will certainly 'bloat'
> excel?
> 3) Have you saved the workbook in a 'hybrid' format (Excel 5/95 & 1997)?
>
> --
> HTH
> Nick Hodge
> Microsoft MVP - Excel
> Southampton, England
> www.nickhodge.co.uk
> nick_hodgeTAKETHISOUT.DeleteThis@zen.co.uk.ANDTHIS
>
>
> "relampico" <relampico.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:38238C22-93FA-40AA-B3CD-9D2837F1FB3B@microsoft.com...
> >I accidently created a 39MB workbook with only 5 worksheets and a small
> > amount of data. What happened and how can I avoid in the future?
>
>
>

Nick Hodge · External Since: Jul 21, 2004 Posts: 1917

Be sure to delete the entire rows, by selecting the 'excess' and using
Edit>Delete...NOT clear or pressing the delete key. Saving is also
imperative. You should find not only does this shrink your file, your
scrollbars will become more 'manageable'

--
HTH
Nick Hodge
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Southampton, England
www.nickhodge.co.uk
nick_hodgeTAKETHISOUT RemoveThis @zen.co.uk.ANDTHIS

"relampico" <relampico RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9C238F11-D2E0-4A17-B8F5-1980656AE148@microsoft.com...
> Thanks, Nick. I think I did initially download a lot of data into a
> worksheet then deleted much of it. I didn't realize Excel still keeps the
> size.
>
> "Nick Hodge" wrote:
>
>> Excel can escalate in size dramatically. A couple of things to check
>>
>> 1) Did you at any point, possibly an import, have much more data than you
>> ended up with? In which case press Ctrl+End to see what row/column excel
>> think is the last one, select those excess rows, delete them and save the
>> workbook. (Do this for each sheet)
>> 2) Do you have images/charts, etc in abundance, these will certainly
>> 'bloat'
>> excel?
>> 3) Have you saved the workbook in a 'hybrid' format (Excel 5/95 & 1997)?
>>
>> --
>> HTH
>> Nick Hodge
>> Microsoft MVP - Excel
>> Southampton, England
>> www.nickhodge.co.uk
>> nick_hodgeTAKETHISOUT RemoveThis @zen.co.uk.ANDTHIS
>>
>>
>> "relampico" <relampico RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:38238C22-93FA-40AA-B3CD-9D2837F1FB3B@microsoft.com...
>> >I accidently created a 39MB workbook with only 5 worksheets and a small
>> > amount of data. What happened and how can I avoid in the future?
>>
>>
>>