This guide will teach you how to reduce the space used by a Microsoft Excel file by taking out some formatting, compressing images, and saving it in a more efficient format.
Steps
Method 1 of 6: Saving as Binary File
Step 1. Open a Microsoft Excel file
Double-click the green and white app with a X and then going to File and Open… in order to select the desired file.
Step 2. Click File
Step 3. Click Save As…
Step 4. Enter a name for the file
Step 5. Click on the drop-down menu "File Format:
".
Step 6. Click on the Binary Excel Workbook option under the "Special Formats" tab
Files saved in this format are considerably smaller than the . XLS conventional ones.
Step 7. Click Save
The file of the Excel smaller size will be saved to your computer.
Method 2 of 6: Removing Formatting from Empty Rows and Columns
Step 1. Open a Microsoft Excel file
Double-click the green and white app with a X and then going to File and Open… in order to select the desired file.
Step 2. Select all empty lines
To do this, click on the number of the first empty row and press and hold Ctrl+⇧ Shift+↓ (in Windows) or ⌘+⇧ Shift+↓ (in MacOS).
On most keyboards, the arrows are at the bottom right
Step 3. Click on the Home tab (in Windows) or in the menu Edit (on MacOS).
Step 4. Go to Clean
Step 5. Click Clear All (on Windows) or on Everything (on MacOS).
This clears all content present in cells that are not being used.
Step 6. Select all empty columns
To do this, click on the letter in the first column and press and hold Ctrl+⇧ Shift+→ (on Windows) or ⌘+⇧ Shift+→ (on MacOS).
On most keyboards, the arrows are located at the bottom right
Step 7. Click on the Home tab (in Windows) or in the menu Edit (on MacOS).
Step 8. Go to Clean
Step 9. Click Clear All (on Windows) or on Everything (on MacOS).
This clears all content present in cells that are not being used.
Method 3 of 6: Remove Conditional Formatting
Step 1. Open a Microsoft Excel file
Double-click the green and white app with a X and then going to File and Open… in order to select the desired file.
Step 2. Click on the Home tab at the top of the screen
Step 3. Click Conditional Formatting…
This option is found in the " Style" from the top band.
Step 4. Go to Clear Rules
Step 5. Click Clear Entire Worksheet Rules
Method 4 of 6: Removing Empty Cell Formatting in Windows
Step 1. Open a Microsoft Excel file
Double-click the green and white app with a X and then going to File and Open… in order to select the desired file.
Step 2. Click on the Home tab at the top of the screen
Step 3. Go to Find and Select
This option is found in the " Edition" from the top band.
Step 4. Click Go to…
Step 5. Click Special…
Step 6. Click on the Blank option
Step 7. Click OK
All empty cells in the dataset will be selected.
Step 8. Click Clean
This is the rubber icon.
Step 9. Click Clear All
Method 5 of 6: Removing Formatting from Empty Cells in MacOS
Step 1. Open a Microsoft Excel file
Double click the green and white app with a X and then going to File and Open… in order to select the desired file.
Step 2. Click Edit
This option is found in the top menu of the screen.
Step 3. Go to Find
Step 4. Click Go to…
Step 5. Click Special…
Step 6. Click on the Blank option
Step 7. Click OK
All empty cells in the dataset will be selected.
Step 8. Click Edit on the menu bar
Step 9. Go to Clean
Step 10. Click All
Method 6 of 6: Compressing Images
Step 1. Open a Microsoft Excel file
Double click the green and white app with a X and then going to File and Open… in order to select the desired file.
Step 2. Open the "Compression" dialog
For that:
- On Windows, click on an image and then click on the " Format" and then the " Compress Images " option in the toolbar.
- On MacOS, click " File" is on " Reduce File Size…".
Step 3. Click on the drop-down menu next to "Image Quality"
Step 4. Choose a lower image resolution
Step 5. Select the option "Delete cropped areas from image"
Step 6. Select the All images in this file option
Step 7. Click OK
The images in it will have been compressed and the image data outside the archive will have been erased.