Help with Excel

[Agent Plissken]

I work with an excel file which has a very large file size. Is there a way in excel (similar to "Condense and repair" in Access) to decrease the file size? Thanks.

[Sesshomaru]

Your mileage may vary, but try these:

1. A lot of times large files, especially from queries, have a lot of blank characters that fill up the entire spreadsheet. You can't see them, but they take up A LOT of space. I would highlight and DELETE, not clear, all blank rows (up to 65,XXX). Do it for the columns as well.

2. If you save the file for compatibility with other versions of Excel, all it does is save multiple copies of the same file in different formats. If that's is the case, choose one version of Excel and that should save some space.

Think of more later.

I don't think you can compact an Excel file, because unlike Access, when you delete something, it actually gets deleted instead of hidden.

[ray]

Delete any unused tabs.

[Agent Plissken]

Thanks, ill try those wednesday at work.

[seqiro]

I've sometimes found that copying everything from one workbook into another can reduce file sizes and in some cases cure files which have become partially corrupt.

[DaFunkyUnit]

I've sometimes found that copying everything from one workbook into another can reduce file sizes and in some cases cure files which have become partially corrupt.

which merely gets rid of formulas and other hidden "attributes" of the cells, something that maybe useful for the user later on.

[seqiro]

which merely gets rid of formulas and other hidden "attributes" of the cells, something that maybe useful for the user later on.

I don't know what version of Excel you're using, but having done this many times I can tell you that if you highlight an entire sheet, copy it, and paste it into a new workbook, cell formatting and formulas are completely retained.

In fact, I just tried this and it worked fine.

[DaFunkyUnit]

I don't know what version of Excel you're using, but having done this many times I can tell you that if you highlight an entire sheet, copy it, and paste it into a new workbook, cell formatting and formulas are completely retained.

In fact, I just tried this and it worked fine.

well if you really want to get technical about it, theres paste and paste special, which allows you to paste watever you want.

usually, when you do the default cut/paste, there is something that gets left out.

hence, your reduction of space

[Agent Plissken]

Yes, and I have cut and pasted the "values" only... which worked like a charm. Unfortunately there is so much formatting in the file it would be impractical for me to reformat the whole thing again to make it look how it does now.