Too many bites in Word document, how do I find source?

[Guest]

I have a Word document (Word 2003, Windows XP) that is 15 pages but has 4,500
bites, which is hard to believe. I do have some tables in the document but
don't think that would cause the document to be so large.

This document was created from another template.

Is there a way to find out way the document is so large?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

There are a number of reasons for excessive file size, including:

1. Fast Saves: Disable this at on the Save tab of Tools | Options.

2. Preview Picture: Clear the check box on the Summary tab of File |
Properties.

3. Versions (File | Versions): Make sure "Automatically save version on
close" is not turned on.

4. Revisions (Tools | Track Changes):
Highlight Changes: Make sure "Highlight changes on screen" is turned on
(or that "Final Showing Markup" is displayed).
Accept/Reject Changes: If "Accept All" or "Reject All" is available then
revisions are present; accept or reject all changes, then turn Track Changes
off.

5. Embedded True Type fonts (Tools | Options | Save); embedding fonts should
be avoided wherever possible.

6. Embedded graphics: When feasible, it is preferable to link the graphics.
That is, when you insert the graphic, click the arrow beside Insert in the
Picture dialog and choose Link to File rather than Insert or Insert and
Link.

7. Embedded objects: These are even worse than ordinary graphics saved with
the document. If you see an { EMBED } code, the graphic is an OLE object.
Unless you need to be able to edit the object in place, unlink it using
Ctrl+Shift+F9.

8. File format: Make sure you are saving as a Word document; in some cases
..rtf (Rich Text Format) files are significantly larger than .doc files.

9. Document corruption: See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/AppErrors/CorruptDoc.htm.

Smart tags may also be an issue. These can be removed on the Smart Tags tab
of Tools | AutoCorrect Options.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Tony Jollans]

4,500 bytes is tiny - I don't think you can have a Word file that small. How
big is your file really?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I guess I was assuming 45 KB. <g> But the size of an empty Word 2003 file is
at least 20 KB, so even 45 KB is still quite modest.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

This document went from 1,316 KB to 4,514 KB only when I edited the document
and by changing a few minor things. It should not have increase by that many
bytes with the small amount of changes.

 

[Guest]

The document was 1,316 KB and then I did a few minor changes and it became
4,514 KB. Doesn't that seem strange?

 

[Tony Jollans]

Take a look at several possible reasons in Suzanne's post.

Apart from that, files do occasionally become corrupt (for all sorts of
reasons, possibly environmental and possibly nothing directly to do with
Word). If you copy the content to a new document things may return to
'normal'.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help. I will try moving the contents to another document and
if that does not work I will go back to Suzanne's response and try her
suggestions.

Thanks again.