Compress Excel File (XLSX), Free and In Your Browser
Reduce Excel file size without uploading it.
Drop .xlsx or .xlsm files here
or click to choose · several files at once · nothing is uploaded
Have a .csv file? Use the CSV compressor instead.
Images at ~80% quality, max 2000px, thumbnail removed, maximum ZIP compression.
Settings apply to the next files you drop.
What we reduced
Every result shows where the space came from, so you can see what changed in your workbook:
- Images: photos and screenshots in the workbook, re-encoded and downscaled (Balanced and Maximum modes only).
- Pivot cache: the saved copy of your pivot table's source data, if you tick the option.
- Empty cells: formatted cells with no value past your last used cell, if you tick Trim.
- Thumbnail: the small preview picture some Excel versions store inside the file.
- ZIP: an .xlsx is a ZIP archive; we repack it at maximum compression.
How to compress an Excel file in 3 steps
- Drop your file (.xlsx or .xlsm) on the box above, or several files at once.
- Pick a mode: Balanced for most files, Maximum for the smallest result, Lossless if images must stay pixel-identical.
- Download the smaller workbook, or all files as one ZIP.
Real example
We built four test workbooks and compressed each in all three modes. These are the measured sizes:
| Test file | Original | Lossless | Balanced | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image-heavy report (5 photos, 50 formula rows) | 40.4 MB | 40.3 MB | 21.4 MB (47% smaller) | 3.6 MB (91% smaller) |
| Pivot table on 60,000 sales rows | 1.4 MB | Already optimised | Already optimised | 1011 KB (28% smaller) |
| 200 data rows + formatting to row 60,000 | 2.8 MB | Already optimised | Already optimised | 11 KB (1.6M empty cells trimmed) |
| .xlsm with a VBA macro + 30,000 formatted rows | 619 KB | 594 KB (4% smaller) | 594 KB (4% smaller) | 13 KB (98% smaller) |
Measured on October 9, 2026 in Chrome. Lossless and Balanced keep the pivot cache and empty cells unless you tick those options; Maximum turns them on. Every output kept the same formulas, values and (for the .xlsm) a byte-identical macro project, and opened in LibreOffice without errors. With the "Under 10 MB" target in Balanced mode, the image-heavy file went to 7.6 MB (images stepped down to 50% quality).
Why is my Excel file so large?
- Large images
- Photos pasted straight from a phone or camera are stored at full resolution, even when shown small. This tool re-encodes and downscales them (Balanced/Maximum).
- Pivot cache
- Each pivot table stores a full copy of its source data so it works without a refresh. This tool can remove that copy; Excel rebuilds it when the pivot is refreshed. It does not change the source data.
- Formatted empty rows and columns
- Formatting a whole column or thousands of blank rows writes every one of those cells into the file. Trim removes formatted cells with no value beyond the last used cell. It doesn't remove blank cells inside your data.
- Unused styles
- Copying between workbooks can pile up thousands of cell formats. This tool drops formats no cell uses. It keeps every format that is in use.
- Embedded objects
- Embedded PDFs, Word files or OLE objects are stored whole inside the workbook. This tool doesn't touch them; delete or link them in Excel instead.
How to reduce Excel file size manually
- Compress Pictures: select a picture, open Picture Format → Compress Pictures, untick "Apply only to this picture" and choose a lower resolution.
- Save as .xlsb: File → Save As → Excel Binary Workbook. Binary files are often much smaller for large data, but some other apps (including Google Sheets) handle them less well.
- Clear Formats on unused ranges: select the rows below your data (Ctrl+Shift+↓), Home → Clear → Clear Formats, do the same for columns to the right, then save.
- Turn off "Save source data with file": right-click a pivot table → PivotTable Options → Data, untick it and tick "Refresh data when opening the file".
Compress an Excel file for email
If your Excel file is too large to email, check your provider's limit first. The limit covers the whole message, so aim a little lower:
| Provider | Attachment limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | 25 MB (personal accounts; work accounts set by admin) | Gmail Help |
| Outlook | 20 MB in the Outlook app for Outlook.com/Gmail accounts; 10 MB default for work (Exchange) accounts; 25 MB per message on Outlook.com web | Microsoft Support |
| Yahoo Mail | 25 MB total per message | Yahoo Help |
Limits checked on October 9, 2026. To compress an Excel file to under 10 MB (or 20 / 25 MB), choose a Target size above the drop zone and the tool lowers image quality until the file fits, or tells you why it can't.
Google Sheets file too large? Compress before you import
Google Sheets limits a spreadsheet by cell count, not megabytes: up to 20 million cells, including Excel and CSV imports (Google raised this from 10 million in September 2026; checked on October 9, 2026 in Google Drive Help and the Workspace Updates blog). Formatted empty rows and columns count toward that limit, so trimming them helps.
- In Google Sheets, open File → Download → Microsoft Excel (.xlsx).
- Drop the file above with "Trim empty rows & columns" ticked; the result shows the cell count before and after.
- Back in Google Sheets, use File → Import and upload the smaller file.
Also worth doing in the sheet itself: delete tabs you no longer use, delete (not just clear) empty rows and columns, and replace IMPORTRANGE-heavy sheets with pasted values where the data no longer changes.
Private by design
- Files are processed in your browser in a background worker; nothing is uploaded, so you can compress an Excel file without uploading it anywhere.
- Largest file we tested: 40.4 MB. Bigger files work if your device has enough free memory.
- Formulas, values, sheet structure and macros (vbaProject.bin) are never changed.
- Old binary .xls files are not supported; open them in Excel and save as .xlsx first.
Frequently asked questions
Use Balanced or Lossless mode: they only recompress images and repack the file, and never touch formulas, values or sheet structure. Lossless leaves images untouched too, so the workbook is identical apart from the removed preview thumbnail.
Often, yes, if the size comes from images. Choose the "Under 10 MB" target size and the tool lowers image quality step by step until the file fits; if the file is mostly cell data, it tells you so instead of failing silently.
Each pivot table saves a full copy of its source data, called the pivot cache, so it can work without a refresh. Ticking "Remove pivot table cache" drops that copy and sets the pivot to refresh when the file opens, so Excel rebuilds it from your data.
The tool has no size cap, but everything runs in your browser's memory, so very large files depend on your device. We tested files up to 40.4 MB in Chrome; a 40.4 MB image-heavy workbook became 3.6 MB in Maximum mode. For 100 MB+ files, a desktop browser with plenty of free memory works best.
Open this page in Safari, Chrome or Firefox on your Mac, drop the .xlsx file on the box and download the result. Nothing needs installing, and the file is processed on your Mac rather than uploaded.
Yes. The macro project (vbaProject.bin) is copied byte for byte and the file keeps its .xlsm format. In our macro test file the VBA project was identical before and after in every mode.
Yes. Select or drop several .xlsx and .xlsm files together; each one is compressed in turn with its own result card. When they are done, use "Download all (ZIP)" to save them in one archive.
Google Sheets limits spreadsheets by cell count (20 million cells), not megabytes. Download the sheet as .xlsx, compress it here with "Trim empty rows & columns" on, then import it back; also delete unused tabs and empty rows and columns.
Built and maintained by the CSV Tools Online team. Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded. Last updated: .
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Compress an Excel file