Why is my MS Excel file so heavy?

Do you take a long time to upload excel files to databases or emails? Do you find your excel file gets heavy too quickly? Do you get shocked to see your excel file is between 10-20 mb when it should only be a few kb's?

Here is what you can do to make your excel file shed a few kilo(byte)s!
 

1. The used range of the original spreadsheet may be greater than you think it is. To test this, go to the spreadsheet, hit CTRL+END and see where XL jumps to. If the cell it jumps to is beyond what you think is the end of your spreadsheet, then XL somehow has chosen a used range greater than what you think is used. Delete all these unused rows and columns, save, close, and re-open the workbook - the file size will reduce dramatically.
    
2. Copying data from one file to another tends to make it very heavy, as it copies macros, formulae and blank cells. When you are copying data from one sheet to another, try to copy only relevant cells (vs a ctrl all) . If you have to copy only data and no formulae try using 'paste special - values' vs 'paste'.
    

Follow these tips to keep your excel files trim and slim, and to keep your databases light!