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So, if you\u2019ve been asking, \u201cWhy is my Word document so large?\u201d you now have your answer. Thankfully, you can reduce your Word document size using different methods.<\/p>\n
Some of these methods are better than others because they don\u2019t require many steps. Others are more effective because they compress Word documents to the smallest size possible.<\/p>\n
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\ud83d\udccc Also read: <\/b>Disk Cleanup Tips: How to Compress a Drive to Save Disk Space in Windows 10<\/a><\/p>\n This article shows you 9 reliable methods to reduce Word file size effortlessly.<\/p>\n Word documents are generally really small. Even a document with 1,000 pages could tally up to only 50 kb as long as they do not contain images. As mentioned earlier, including pictures in the Word document adds a bit of \u2018weight\u2019 to the file.<\/p>\n So, documents with few images can easily end up being quite large. In this case, if you want to reduce the size of your Word document, you can either remove the images or modify them somehow.<\/p>\n The easiest way to modify the images on your document in Word is to compress them. Microsoft Word makes the process easy as it is fitted with format options that reduce image size.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to compress images in Word :<\/p>\n This option will apply the compression setting you want to choose to the image that you clicked. But if you have more than one image in the document and want to compress all of them, uncheck the option.<\/p>\n That\u2019s how to compress a picture in Word . Go to the next method if your Word file is still large.<\/p>\n Adding images into Word documents generally involves using the copy-and-paste method or using the Insert menu in Word <\/a>. The former is more common and is the easiest to do since you only need to copy the image from an outside source and use the \ud83d\udccc Also read: <\/b>How to Fix Copy and Paste Not Working in Windows 10<\/a><\/p>\n However, copying and pasting isn\u2019t necessarily the best way to add images to Word if you want to manage the size of your document. Going through the Insert menu allows Microsoft Word to adjust the image resolution so that it can seamlessly fit into the document without increasing the file size by a lot.<\/p>\n The Insert option may be as quick as copying and pasting, but it is also quite straightforward. These steps will show you what to do:<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, the Insert option cannot save you in every situation. The resulting document size after any compression method still depends on the original image.<\/p>\n If the original picture is a high-resolution photo, the Insert and Compress features in Word can only drop the size to an extent. So, the smart thing to do is to first format the original image before importing it into your document.<\/p>\n Windows offers you several methods to manipulate image size. The easiest to use of these options is Microsoft Paint. It helps you to quickly reduce the size of an image with a few clicks before inserting it into your Word document.<\/p>\n These steps will show you how to reduce the size of a Word document by formatting image sizes on Microsoft Paint:<\/p>\n Now, when you insert this formatted image in your Word document, it won\u2019t \u2018weigh\u2019 as much as it would have with the original image.<\/p>\n One other important factor that affects the size of your Word document is the presence of embedded objects<\/a>. An embedded object in this context is an independent digital object that is included in your document.<\/p>\n The object is referred to as independent because modifying it does not affect its source. A good example is a Microsoft Excel table. So, if you embed said Excel table in your Word document, changing its cells does nothing to the original Excel file.<\/p>\n Similarly, when you change the content of the file in Excel, nothing happens to the embedded one in your document. This way, an embedded object is different from a linked object. But embedded objects come with extra baggage.<\/p>\n So, avoid them if you can. If not, convert them to text so that Word takes them in as native objects. To convert embedded objects in your Word document, simply use Pictures and Excel files are not the only objects that can be embedded in a Word document. Font embedding is a word-processing method that allows documents to retain the same font styles. This way, if the document is shared with someone without the fonts on their computer, they can still see the texts in the original font style.<\/p>\n However, documents with embedded fonts tend to be larger than documents without.<\/p>\n These steps will show you how to reduce a Word document\u2019s size by removing font embedding :<\/p>\n This should remove every font embedding in the Word document and reduce the document size.<\/p>\n You can also avoid embedded fonts by pasting content as plain text instead of allowing them to maintain their format. To do that, right-click the area where you want to paste text and select Keep Text Only under Paste Options.<\/p>\n One of the things that Microsoft Word has in common with other office software packages is the default page. This page contains the original formatting for Word documents, including font style, font size, and page setup.<\/p>\n If you are like most Word users, you may want to use different formatting styles. However, until you make your preferred styles the default, using them will cost you a few more bytes.<\/p>\n This is because using the default styles results in smaller documents on average. So, make sure you use default or modified styles in your documents.<\/p>\n This is especially effective for reducing document sizes when you apply them to headings and font sizes, as well as font colors and page setup. The fewer the changes to these styles, the better for smaller document sizes.<\/p>\n So far, we have spun this article around Word documents that you share offline. However, when you share a document online, there is a chance that previous changes are not implemented on the original file.<\/p>\n n other words, Word might still include the weight of previously formatted objects. For example, the impact of embedded objects may reflect on the file even though those objects are no longer there. The chances of this are small, but they exist.<\/p>\n So, ensure you always save every change to the document as soon as you can. This means tapping the A better option is to change AutoRecover settings. To change AutoRecover settings once again:<\/p>\n One other tricky formatting option that often increases the size of documents in Word is the Track Changes function<\/a>. This function is intended to help you track the changes you make to a document over time and possibly reverse them.<\/p>\n However, when the function is running, it adds a bit more weight to your document.<\/p>\n Thus, if you want to reduce the size of a document that is tracking changes, all you need to do is deactivate this function. You can opt for writing assistants such as Grammarly to make your work error-free instead.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udccc Also read: <\/b>Why is Grammarly not showing up in Microsoft Word?<\/a><\/p>\n Follow these steps to stop the Track Changes function in Word:<\/p>\n This deactivates the tracking function on your document and also reduces the document size.<\/p>\n When you compare Word documents (that is, documents with .docx extension) with PDF documents with the same content, you will find that the latter is always considerably smaller. The main reason for this difference is that the PDF format can publish document graphics in smaller resolutions. This is the result of optimization. Therefore, saving a copy of the document in PDF format is another way to compress a Word file . However, it\u2019s important to note that you will be blocking the document from edits when you export it as a PDF file.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udccc Also read: <\/b>How to Lock a Word Document and Protect It from Editing<\/a><\/p>\n These steps will show you how to compress a Word document by saving it as PDF:<\/p>\n
\n1. Compress the Images in Your Word Document<\/h2>\n
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![\"Select](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Compress-Files.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n 2. Don\u2019t Copy and Paste Images. Use the Insert Pictures Option<\/h2>\n
Ctrl + V<\/code>hotkey to paste it.<\/p>\n
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![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Insert-Picture-Word-File.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n 3. Format Images Before Inserting into the Word Document<\/h2>\n
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![\"On](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Word-resize-image.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n 4. Pay Attention to the Embedded Objects in Your Document<\/h2>\n
Ctrl + Shift + F9<\/code>. This converts the object into a picture. If the object is an Excel file that you want to display, copy and paste the content of the table directly into the document.<\/p>\n5. Turn Off Font Embedding<\/h2>\n
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![\"Make](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Embed-font-in-the-file.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n ![\"You](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Keep-Text-Only.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n 6. Use Default Word Styles for Formatting (or Adjust These Styles for Your Use)<\/h2>\n
7. Make Word Save Changes Faster<\/h2>\n
Ctrl + S<\/code> keyboard combination after typing for a while or turning on the AutoSave function.<\/p>\n\n
![\"Focus](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Customize-how-documents-are-saved.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n 8. Save a Copy of the Document Without Tracking Changes<\/h2>\n
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![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Accept-All-Changes.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n 9. Save a Copy of the Document in PDF Format and Optimize<\/h2>\n
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![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Windows-10-This-PC.png\")
\r\n <\/div>\r\n ![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.auslogics.com\/en\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Save-As-Desktop.png\")
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