Word File size increasing drastically while saving it.

Question

Hello,

We are currently using Word 2016. 

We are receiving the word file in an email and when they are downloaded they are around 8 MB and when they are opened and save AS to another location the file size increases drastically to 42 MB. In most of the cases the file is not even edited. 

In some of the cases the file that is received maybe in in older format so when it opens it shows compatibility view and when saved it is saved in .docx format which is the latest version of word which I believe saves file in a compact format but does not look like it. If the same file is saved in 97-2003 word then the file size reduces to 5MB.

I tried saving the file while having Compatibility option check in or converting directly to .docx version without compatibility option not checking in and in both the cases the file size increases drastically from 8MB to 42MB. Please note that there are no pictures in the file only text. In one of the file the track changes are on but not in other files.

I tried office 365 support but they were not able to help. Ticket # 7364375.

Any help that you could provide will be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks.

Answer 1

Thank you for the update regarding the Online Repair. You can try to manually uninstall Office your device then manually reinstall it through the office.com/myaccount. However, be sure that you have the copy of the product key before uninstalling the Office suite.

If you have any questions, feel free to post it here and we'll be happy to assist you.

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Answer 2

Hello,

Here is reply to your questions: 

• Are you experiencing the issue with a specific sender only?  - No, not necessarily
• Is it saved from Outlook? - No, from Gmail.
• Are you receiving any error messages when saving the file? - No error message is received.
• What are the suggested troubleshooting provided by one of the Office 365 support? -Nothing they tried to do some research on how the file sizes are increasing but were unable to replicate the exact same thing. They said it is an issue with the application and office 365 technical support are trained only on office installation and activation issues and the application related issues are answered by the answer desk, community forum and the professional support team.

Answer 3

Hello,

We would like to know more about your concern regarding the Word file. Kindly answer the questions below:

• Are you experiencing the issue with a specific sender only?
• Is it saved from Outlook?
• Are you receiving any error messages when saving the file?
• What are the suggested troubleshooting provided by one of the Office 365 support?

Answer 4

Hello,

Thank you for your suggestion. I tried online repair however I am still experiencing the same issue.

Answer 5

Thank you for the information you provided. For us to help you with your concern, we suggest that you try to run the Online Repair. It will uninstall and reinstall the Office suite or serves as a refresh for Office. Kindly check this article for the steps on how to run the said repair.

Please keep us updated for us to provide more help.

If you think this was helpful, do not hesitate to "mark it as answer" to help those who are facing the same problem.