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Thread ID: 84550 2007-11-10 01:17:00 MS Word 2003 Unusually Large File Size dtmenace (13014) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
609961 2007-11-10 01:17:00 Program: Microsoft Word 2003 SP2
PC: Windows XP Professional - all updates current.
RAM: 1GB
No history of any issues
I've got a Word doc of about 80 x A5 pages. In previous versions of this document the file size was about 250KB. Document is text only - no graphics.
Someone else worked on it recently (editing & adding text here & there) without knowing how to use Styles correctly. The doc is now 21.5MB. This takes a long time to save and sometimes crashes Word when saving.
When I convert to pdf (using Primo), the pdf file size is 250KB. I surmise from that the Word doc has saved a vast amount of formatting information or similar. There is absolutely no visible reason in the document itself why the file size is so extraordinarily large.
What has caused this & how do I fix it in the current document?
dtmenace (13014)
609962 2007-11-10 02:03:00 First thing I would try is: select all/copy/paste into a new Document, use a new name to save this new Document so that if there is something wrong you still have the over-sized original for other repair attempts. zqwerty (97)
609963 2007-11-10 03:18:00 Make sure tracking changes is not turned on.

Welcome to PressF1 as well. :)
Jen (38)
609964 2007-11-10 04:38:00 First thing I would try is: select all/copy/paste into a new Document, use a new name to save this new Document so that if there is something wrong you still have the over-sized original for other repair attempts.Alternatively, paste the text into Notepad (or similar) to strip out any background formatting. Then copy the text from the text file back to Word and re-apply your styles...

(And don't let the non-expert friend loose on the document again :D )
johcar (6283)
609965 2007-11-10 08:41:00 I set up another blank doc with same Page Settings and copied all the text over into this new doc. Saved & checked file size - it's a sweet 251KB. No visible formatting issues - so doc is SAVED! Thanks for tip.
Track changes not on.
I didn't want to copy to Notepad as doc is set up for an index in the front and would require all the styles to be re-applied.
The non-expert friend - had to laugh - will definitely pass that on!
dtmenace (13014)
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