Excel: shrink files - so it'll work

If you want to shrink a large Excel file, you can do it with a simple trick. We'll show you how it's done.

Shrink Excel files with many tables

• As of Excel 2007, you can save Excel files as a binary workbook in the "XLSB" format instead of "XLSX". This usually reduces the size of the file by around half.
• Another advantage is the integration of macros. They no longer have to save as a macro file. There is one disadvantage, however: You can only open the reduced file with Excel.
• Open the desired workbook in Excel and click on "File" in the top left and then on "Save As". Here you can choose the format "XLSB" (see picture).

In the next practical tip, we will show you how to bypass password protection in Excel.