How can I reduce the size of an Excel file?

[Guest]

I have an Excel spreadsheet that I populate with data each month. I have
been using the same file for almost 3 years and the size is getting close to
7 MB. In an effort to reduce the size I deleted some rows and columns that
contained previous year's data. To my surprise the size of the file actually
increased! My guess is that Excel works similar to a database that has to
compacted after records are deleted in order to free the unused space. Am I
correct in my thinking? Does anyone know of a way of reducing the file size?

 

[Richard O. Neville]

This happened to me once. I right-clicked on the sheet tab and copied the
sheet to a new document, then saved it with a different name. The size was
greatly reduced, for reasons I don't understand.

 

[Gord Dibben]

Where odes CRTL + End take you on a worksheet?

Excel treats once-used cells as currently used even when data is cleared.

If far below and to the right of actual data range, Edit>delete(not clear)all
rows below and all columns to the right of actual data on each worksheet.

Save and close the workbook.

Re-open to see new reduced size.

Gord Dibben Excel MVP