Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Determining the Size of a File.

Determining the Size of a File

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 10, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

One of the nice things about writing macros is that you have the ability to do just about anything you can do using the regular Basic language. For instance, you may want to open and process some file within a macro. Before doing so, you might want to know how large that file is. You can figure this out using the FileLen function in VBA. It returns the length of a specific file, in bytes. You don't even have to open the file first; just provide a file name, and FileLen does the rest. The following is an example:

lFLen = FileLen("TargetFile.txt")

This code determines the length of the TargetFile.txt file, and assigns that value to lFLen. The value returned is a long integer.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (820) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Determining the Size of a File.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Automatically Saving Changes to Defaults

Have you ever started a new document only to find that the settings in Word seem to be different than what you expected? ...

Discover More

Displaying the "Last Modified" Date

Want to know when a workbook was last modified? Want to put that date within the header of your worksheet? Here's how to ...

Discover More

Creating a Hyperlink to a Specific Page

Most people add hyperlinks in a document to reference pages on the Web. You can, however, create hyperlinks to other Word ...

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)

Accessing Paragraphs in a Macro

Need to process a document, paragraph by paragraph, in a macro? It's easy to do once you understand that Word's object ...

Discover More

Converting Numbers to Text

Got some numbers you need spelled out? Here's a handy macro that can convert numbers like "123" to words like "one ...

Discover More

Understanding Document Variables

When working with macros, you may want to create a variable that will remain constant from one instance of the macro to ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is nine minus 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.