Eliminating Superfluous Formatting

The first step in eliminating superfluous formatting is to figure out where your worksheet's data ends-e.g., the bottom righthand corner of your data, if you will. Don't rely on Find & Select → Go To Special → Last cell, (pre-2007, Edit → Go To... → Special → Last Cell), as this might take you to the last cell containing formatting, not actual data. Having manually located the cell you knowto be your last cell containing legitimate data, highlight the rowimmediately following it. While pressing the Ctrl and Shift keys, press the down arrow on your keyboard to highlight all rows beneath that row and select Home → Clear → Clear All to clear them (pre-2007, Edit → Clear → All).

Nowapply the same logic to unwanted formatting lurking in your columns. Locate the cell in the last column containing data and click the column header of the column immediately to the right. Press Ctrl-Shift and the right arrowon your keyboard to highlight all other columns to the right and then select Home → Clear → Clear All under Edit options to clear them (pre-2007, Edit → Clear → All).

Don't be tempted to actually delete these rows or columns rather than clearing them, as doing so often causes the dreaded #REF! error in any cells of any formulas that might reference them.

Save your workbook and take gleeful note of the change in its file size by selecting the Office button → Prepare → Properties → Document Properties → Advanced Properties (pre-2007, File → Properties... → General).