4 Modern Ways to Slim Down Your Microsoft Word File
Is your Word document too large to send via email? Don’t worry, you can often significantly reduce the file size by focusing on the biggest culprits—images and hidden data. Try these modern, effective methods.
1. Optimize and Compress Your Pictures (Most Effective)
Images are the single most common reason Word files become bloated. Even if you’ve resized a picture on the page, Word often keeps the original, full-resolution data hidden in the file.
How to do it:
- Click on any picture in your document to select it.
- The Picture Format tab will appear in the ribbon (at the top of the screen).
- In the Adjust group, click Compress Pictures.
- In the dialog box, you have key options:
- Check Delete cropped areas of pictures (This permanently removes the parts of the image you’ve cropped out, reducing the size).
- Choose a Resolution. For email, Email (96 ppi) is the smallest size. For on-screen viewing and printing, Print (220 ppi) or Web (150 ppi) are good compromises.
- To apply the changes to every image in the file, make sure Apply only to this picture is unchecked.
- Click OK.
Pro Tip: Always Insert images (using Insert > Pictures) rather than copying and pasting from a webpage or another document. Pasted images often retain extra, uncompressed data. Also, use common compressed formats like JPEG or PNG instead of very high-resolution formats like uncompressed BMPs.
2. Turn Off Font Embedding
Embedding fonts ensures that someone who opens your file sees the exact font you used, even if they don’t have it installed. This is great for presentation fidelity, but it significantly increases file size.
How to do it:
- Go to File > Options (it’s often at the bottom of the left-hand menu).
- In the Word Options dialog box, select the Save tab.
- Under Preserve fidelity when sharing this document:
Uncheck the box for Embed fonts in the file. - Click OK.
If you MUST embed a font: Check the box, but then ensure you select Embed only the characters used in the document (best for reducing file size). This embeds only the characters used in your document, rather than the entire font library.
3. Save as a New File (Garbage Collection)
As you edit, Word sometimes keeps remnants of old data, formatting, or temporary versions that inflate the file size. Saving the file in the modern “.docx” format or even re-saving an existing “.docx” file can perform a type of “garbage collection.”
How to do it:
- Go to File > Save As.
- Give the file a new name.
- Make sure the “Save as type” is set to Word Document.
- Click Save.
4. Remove Tracked Changes and Document Properties
If you’ve used Track Changes or if the document has been heavily revised, it may contain a lot of hidden data: all the accepted/rejected changes, comments, and document properties (metadata like the author’s name, revision time, etc.).
How to Remove Tracked Changes and Comments:
- Go to the Review tab.
- In the Changes group, use the Accept dropdown to select Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking.
- In the Comments group, use the Delete dropdown to select Delete All Comments in Document.
- Save the file.
How to Remove Properties (Metadata):
- Go to File > Info.
- Click Check for Issues > Inspect Document.
- In the Document Inspector dialog box, leave Document Properties and Personal Information checked. You may also want to check Embedded Documents, Content Controls, Headers, Footers, and Watermarks and Invisible Content.
- Click Inspect, then click Remove All next to any items you wish to clear.
- Save the file.