How do you get MS Word to always save with smallest possible file size?

Question

Many times a day I make MS Word files from large text files which I then format to fit pages properly then email to whoever.

The problem is that when I first save as a .doc the resulting file will be say, 2MB in size which is a very large file to email.

I have found that if I then re-open the .doc file and edit it (add and delete exactly one space, just to make it count as modified) then save it again, the file size drops by around half - 1MB.

Why do I have to go through this step? Is there a way to make it save with the smallest size the first time? The option 'allow fast saves' is NOT checked and I can't see any other relevant options.

Unfortunately, the recipients of my emails are confused by compression.

Ohh how I wish we could use OpenOffice instead. If it was up to me we wouldn't be using Windows at all.

Thanks for the answers, guys.

Ok I guess I have to say this: I don't want alternatives to this problem. Just if there is a way to do what I have asked in MS Word options. If not, no problem! But don't rack your brains looking for other ways. I have a million other ways that are more of a pain the rear-end than just re-opening the document as I outlined.

Answer 1

Not that I know of. The Word file format is strange and because it's proprietary nobody outside of Microsoft can really figure out what's going on.

OpenOffice.org, another office suite, can open and save Word files. As a result of the import process the file sizes are much smaller.

Answer 2

I assume your sending the document as an email instead of saving and sending as an attachment. Go to Tools>Options>E-mail Options>General and set HTML compression to high and uncheck the save smart tags. If you are just wanting to send the document, I suggest using something like adobe acrobat and saving in 5.0 or later reduced file size.

Answer 3

Hmmm sounds weird, but for your recipient's sake, if you like, put the MS Word doc in a Zip folder (compresses it)

Or you could Compress your drive (C:\ - possibly?)

Right-click your drive, click Properties and Check the Box that says "Compress drive to save disk space" - items in this drive will go BLUE from now on, unless you turn it off and restart (pretty sure!)

Good luck!

Answer 4

be conscious 2007 makes use of .docx format 2 save the report.....it reduces ur memory area......it somewhat is effective than all different be conscious's version.....ur report doesnt flow anywhr......its extra advantageous to apply wrd 2007 than 2003..nd the different version......