File Sizes in Word

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 31, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


1

If you have been a long-time Word user, you may have noticed that file sizes for Word documents have grown over the years. To examine how versions have affected file sizes, we did some testing. We created the exact same document in the last four versions of Word. In each case, the document contained only a single character: a space. The results are as follows:

Version File Size
Word 97: 19,456 bytes
Word 2000: 19,456 bytes
Word 2002: 24,064 bytes
Word 2003: 19,968 bytes

As you can see, the files are quite large when you consider that only a single character is being saved in the document. (The growth is really amazing if you look back to Word 6, where the size for the same file was only 9,216 bytes.) For most users, this growth in document file sizes from one version to the next won't affect them much. The size differences appear to be related to additional features introduced with each new version, and the data that must be saved with the document for that feature.

It is encouraging to see that file sizes have been going down in recent versions. There was a large increase in file size from Word 2000 to Word 2002, and then the reduction in file size from Word 2002 through Word 2003.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (196) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Automating Copying Macros

You can manually copy macros from one workbook to another, but what if you want to automate the copying process? Here's ...

Discover More

Extra Document File Being Saved

You may be surprised sometime to save a document and find out that Word actually saves what appear to be two copies of ...

Discover More

Splitting Cells by Case

Excel provides several different ways that you can split apart the contents of a cell. One way it doesn't provide is to ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Can't Use AutoRecover with a Document

Having trouble getting Word to save your AutoRecover documents? Don't turn the feature off; try the techniques described ...

Discover More

Files Open in Word 2003, but not Word 2000

If you have some documents that open in Word 2003, but not in Word 2000, it may mean that you are running into some ...

Discover More

Creating Two Versions of the Same Document

You may often need to create two versions of the same document, one with everything and the other with a subset of what ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is nine minus 1?

2024-09-01 13:11:33

ES

and 12 073 octets for Word 2021


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.