Excel File Too Large - Unable to Open

Anonymous
2017-02-11T09:58:37+00:00

Hi,

I have an excel file that seems to be 'ballooning' in size. I am unable to open it now and when i start the task manager the memory Excel is using is huge and keeps rising.

Please can anyone help with this problem?

Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-02-12T02:29:40+00:00

    Hi Alex,

    We would like to ask some questions to know the best possible resolution.

    • What is the file size?
    • Are you able to open other Excel files?
    • Did you receive any error messages when you tried to open this Excel file?
    • Which Windows version is installed on your computer?

    We look forward to your reply.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-02-12T09:59:59+00:00

    Hi there,

    The file size is 14.9 MB. I am able to open other excel files. No error message received, just the file taking hours to open and then crashing once i try to edit or save it. I am currently using Windows 10.

    Thanks,

    Alex

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-02-15T10:47:40+00:00

    I have 64 bit windows and 4.00 GB RAM.

    When i try to open the excel file it rockets up to around 450 MB RAM used.

    I do have many rows, columns, calculations and formulas but i cant believe it is any more than the average excel user.

    The biggest problem when you say open and delete data is the fact the file just wont open. It gets to 5%, RAM climbs to 400 MB and there is no more progress. Otherwise i would just open it and copy the last worksheet into a new document.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-02-15T17:19:49+00:00

    Good, with 64 bit Win your machine can use all of that 4GB (if it was 32bit it would actually only be able to use a little over 3GB).

    I have to assume you have 32 bit Office, which means each application can only use a maximum of 2GB. Since it is only using 450MB, that is only a quarter of the maximum it can handle. No problem there.  I have a tiny page spreadsheet with almost no data (very little) and no graphics that uses 4.3 MB, so your sheet using 10x that much is not unreasonable.

    It sounds like Excel is choking on the combination of calculations and rows of data.  And as you point out, if you can't get it open, you can't fix it.

    So, what else can you try ... ?

    1. Open the file and walk away, just let it "do its thing" for as long as it takes, maybe several hours or over night (make sure to change your "Power off" options that put machine into sleep or shutdown mode when it is not used)
    2. Try to start Excel in Safe mode. This will suppress addons freeing up a small amount of RAM and CPU. If you are really lucky it may be just enough
    3. Find a friend, or school machine, or work machine, with more RAM (say 8GB) AND 64 bit Office to try and open the sheet
    4. Try installing 64 bit Office on your machine.  Simply uninstall from control panel and dig down into the MyAccount site to find the 64 bit installer

    This page tells you how to set the sleep and shutdown options to "never": https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2843-power-plan-settings-change-windows-10-a.html )

    Shortcut to Start Word in Safe Mode or Excel in Safe Mode, Hold <CTL> key when clicking on icon

    https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Work-with-Office-safe-modes-dedf944a-5f4b-4afb-a453-528af4f7ac72

    Get 64 bit Office

    Office is designed specifically to allow you to uninstall and re-install with minimum repercussions (it was done as a trouble shooting solution). Uninstall from the control panel will leave your customizations in place to be picked up by the new installation.

    You can get 64 bit Office by following the instructions for the "offline" installer or "downgrade" installer. It is just another option in exactly the same place.

    How do I use the Office 365/2016 offline installer? Downgrade to Office 2013 - Down Grade - Back out

    https://support.office.com/en-us/article/How-do-I-use-the-Office-2016-offline-installer-f0a85fe7-118f-41cb-a791-d59cef96ad1cOffline installer

    Looking for help with a one-time purchase of Office 2013 or Office 2016?: Download the install files for a one-time purchase of Office 2013 or Office 2016

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/wiki/office\_365hp-office\_install/retrograde-upgrade-office-3652016-to-2013-download/fbdf55d9-9b62-4ac0-95af-56a9f848c2b2- installer options, including downgrade

    https://support.office.com/en-US/article/How-do-I-reinstall-Office-2013-after-an-Office-2016-upgrade-a6ca92f4-cbb4-4609-9fdb-f8d3dd6812f3How do I reinstall Office 2013 after an Office 2016 upgrade?

    http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/office-365-office-2016downgrade-rights/ Downgrade Office 365/2016 to Office 2013

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-02-12T21:46:44+00:00

    15 MB should not be "too large".

    Do you have 32 or 64 bit Windows?

    Do you have 32 or 64 bit Office?

    How much RAM do you have installed?

    How much RAM does excel use when you open the file.

    Even if you have 64 bit Windows, Office installs 32 bit by default.  32 bit Office applications are limited to using only 2GB of RAM. Obviously the file size itself is no where near 2GB, but your formulas may be written in a way that use up RAM approaching that limit.

    First thing you can try is starting Excel in Safe Mode. This will free up a little RAM by not loading any addins.  Then close the file immediately.  If that works, make 2 additional copies of the file (so you have 3 in total).  Keep one as untouced "original".  Open one and delete roughly the first half of the data. Close and Save.  Open the other and delete the second half of the data.  At least this way you can work with the data.   Or is there some other way you can reduce the amount of data rows involved in calculations.  Maybe there is some "old" data you can archive and delete/

    Or, assuming you have a relatively new computer with 64 bit Windows and 32 bit Office, you could try installing 64 bit Office. This will make some more RAM available to the application, hopefully avoiding the crash problem.  Or you could find a friend with 64 bit Office installed to see if it will help.

    Either way you should look into "optimizing" your calculations.  Excel often allows you more than one way of achieving a result.  Some are more efficient than others, but this difference does not show up until you have spreadsheets with "complex" computations and lots of data.  By tweaking your calculations you may be able to resume using the data as it is.

    I have a large collection of articles with tips on how to optimize spreadsheets. Of course many of the tips are repeated in multiple articles.  Here is a wiki with those links:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/wiki/msoffice_excel-msoffice_custom/optimize-excel-spreadsheets-and-macros/6338eeb0-7c41-4583-be88-7705f5efeb4a?tm=1486709548388 – Wiki with all of these links in it

    What Version of Windows Am I Running (Win 10 - XP)

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/which-operating-system

    What Version - 6 Ways to Learn the Exact Version of Any Application You are Using

    http://www.7tutorials.com/6-ways-learn-exact-version-any-application-you-are-using

    What Version of Office am I running? What version of Word

    http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/what-version-of-office-am-i-using-HA101873769.aspx

    https://support.office.com/en-US/article/What-version-of-Office-am-I-using-932788b8-a3ce-44bf-bb09-e334518b8b19

    http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/management/what-version-of-word-do-i-have.html

    http://www.7tutorials.com/6-ways-learn-exact-version-any-application-you-are-using

    Most people are using 1 of 3 Office versions: 2003, 2007 or 2010.  There is a major split between in the user interface between 2003 which is the “old” Menu system and 2007 which uses the “new and improved” Ribbon.

    I will provide simple guidelines on how to quickly identify which version of Office you are running.

    Office 365 Version and build numbers

    https://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/library/mt592918.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396#BKMK_ByDate

    The table provides a list of the version and build numbers for each update channel release. The table is ordered by release date, with the most recent release date listed first. To see this information organized by version number, refer to the table that follows this one. The version and build number in bold text indicates the most current version and build number for that particular channel.

    Understanding 64-Bit Office 2010

    http://blogs.technet.com/b/office2010/archive/2010/02/23/understanding-64-bit-office.aspx

    **Microsoft Office 2010 Engineering**The official blog of the Microsoft Office product development group

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