Over large file size and the delete function (Word 2003)

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We have a problem with Word files getting very large. One document in question, created from a previous document by mostly deleting stuff, wound up at 16MB for a 12-page doc with virtually no graphics. I tried the “Web Page export” process mentioned elsewhere in this forum and got the size back to 2.25MB (which is what I expect). One of my colleagues also got the same result by “copy and paste” of the entire document into a new blank document.

Now, if we delete EVERYTHING from the old document, coming back to a 1-page blank document and saving, it’s still 13MB! Fast saves are off, picture previews are off, etc. My question is, when you delete something in word does it not really go away (much like “deleting” files on a hard drive). Is there another way to do a destructive delete that will really clean up the document size?

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There must be something in the document that causes the size.
Do you have Fast Saves turned on in the Save tab of Tools | Options? If so, turn it off.
Do you have Track Changes turned on (on the Reviewing toolbar)? If so, turn it off and accept all changes.
Do you have automatic versioning turned on (in File | Versions)? If so, turn it off and remove all older versions.
Otherwise, what could be special about the document? You’ve already mentioned that there few graphics. Anything else?

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Hans

Fast saves are off, versions is off, track changes off (also tried “accept all changes” anyway just to be certain).

The thing is, even with EVERYTHING deleted – just a single blank page – it’s stilll 13MB. There must be something in the file that’s not visible under normal editing.

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Those 13 MB must have been put into the document at some time, even if it’s not visible. Have you done anything out of the ordinary with the document that could explain it?

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Does it make any difference if you scrub metadata from the file? Microsoft offers an add-in for this, or you might have third party software to do it.

Microsoft: Download details: Office 2003/XP Add-in: Remove Hidden Data

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After ensuring that revisions are not tracked and fast save is turned off, I would be looking at the headers and footers
1. Delete all content in the body then insert two hard page breaks
2. Go to the page setup and ensure that the settings for ‘Different First Page’ is ON and also that the ‘Different Odd and Even’ is ON
3. Now go into each of the three Headers and check there is no content lurking there
4. Do the same for all three Footers
5. If you find content there, delete it and then check the file sizes you get

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Hi Keith,

What happens if you save the document using File|Save As?

Other than that, I suspect thre may be some shapes embedded in the document that have been moved off the page. To test that, try running the following code:

Sub FindShapes()
If ActiveDocument.Shapes.Count > 0 Then
For Each Shp In ActiveDocument.Shapes
ShapeNames = ShapeNames & Shp.Name & vbCr
'Shp.Delete
Next Shp
MsgBox "Found Shapes:" & vbCr & ShapeNames
End If
End SubIf you find there are attached shapes and you want to get rid of all of them, simply uncomment the line ‘Shp.Delete. Alternatively, you could change that line to something that repositions the shapes so that you can see what they are.

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

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