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I have two excel files that are exactly the same (in terms of the content of the file) but differ by quite a margin on filesize. One file is 37.5Kb while the other is 56Kb. The only difference I can see is the filename's. I don't know why there is such a big difference. Is there some sort of history or something that is stored with the file that is not visible to the user? If so, how would you delete this?

Thanks for your help.

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Belongs on superuser.com – Ian Henry Aug 19 '10 at 15:41
Are your files on the same filesystem? If they are on different filesystems that don't have the same block size, that might be the reason. – vtest Oct 22 '10 at 13:12
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5 Answers

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Does the larger of the files contain formatting (conditional or otherwise) or formulae or even macros?

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Not as far as I'm aware. How can I check for macro's that may exist in the file? The two files are exactly the same with the same formula's in the same cells. – meme Aug 19 '10 at 15:47
Tools > Macro > Macros Should give you a dialog with a list of available macros. – Dan Iveson Aug 19 '10 at 15:57
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Yes, the Office applications keep all kinds of junk besides the current contents of the document. You can clean up the file with the Remove Hidden Data Add-in.

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Try creating a new, empty .xls file, copy the data you want from a larger file, and paste it into the new one.

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It's not about the data, I wanted to know why there was such a big difference in file size and what was causing it. The formatting of both spreadsheets is exactly the same. – meme Aug 19 '10 at 15:57
well, as others have said, Excel does not optimize itself continuously for file size, as you're seeing. There's more to an .xls file than data and formatting. – Beth Aug 19 '10 at 16:18
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Excel files can become 'fragmented' with constant editing. If you want to reduce the file size to a minimum, look at the following:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2252595_reduce-size-excel-files.html

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Excel does have a "Track Changes" feature under Tools/Track Changes on the menu bar; although it only keeps change records for a default of 30 days.

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