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Project Large File Size

Anonymous
2012-06-14T20:33:44+00:00

I have an MS Project 2010 file, with about 500 tasks.  It exploded at some point, to a size on my disk of nearly 40Mb.  As an experiment, I made a copy of the file (still large, using Save as immediately upon opening).  I then deleted EVERY SINGLE TASK.  File only went down in size a couple of K.

What in the heck is going on?  I see in threads all over the net where folks have a problem with "bloat" but I don't see anything from MS on how to address it.  I am unable to share my file via email, etc, any longer.

Note: I have no graphics in the file, and, as I noted, above, at one point, I had a 40Mb file with NO tasks at all.

Pretty crazy.

Ideas?

Pat

Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-06-18T10:00:18+00:00

    Hi - using MS Project 2013, I simply opened my original file (project.mpp circa 10MB) and saved it as project.1.mpp - this reduced it to 2MB.

    Whether this cleared-out historical data and started afresh with a new filename, I don't know - but it worked for me!

    good luck

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  2. Dale Howard [MVP] 29,860 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-06-18T21:11:15+00:00

    Pat --

    Open the 40 Mb file that includes the 500 tasks, change nothing, and immediately click the Save button.  Close the project.  Does that reduce the file size?  This is one of the recommended methods for reducing file bloat in Microsoft Project files.  Let us know and we will try to help you.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-11-23T22:26:04+00:00

    Unbelievable! Works like magic!

    Must be a bug in MS Project.

    Thanks naw79!

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  4. John Project 49,710 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2015-11-24T01:41:45+00:00

    AlaaJuna,

    You might want to take a look at the Wiki article noted below. Method 1 is the method you used and the article explains why that works. And no, it's not a bug.

    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/32054.ms-project-clearing-file-corruption-andor-bloat.aspx

    John

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  5. Anonymous
    2012-06-14T23:48:38+00:00

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