How to Compress a Word Document – 13 Ways

Many users, when working with a Word text editor, do not think about the file size of this document and how much space it takes on the computer. In most cases, the Word file size is relatively small compared to other types of formats: video, audio, high resolution images, etc.

These types of file formats are usually larger than a document created with Microsoft Word. But, there are situations when the size of a particular file is very important.

To reduce the file size, you need to compress the Word document in order to reduce the space occupied by the file on the disk of the device: computer or phone, or under other circumstances.

Such an operation is necessary in the following cases:

• There is not enough free disk space on your PC or mobile device.
• When sending a file to a recipient, there are restrictions on the size of the attached file.
• Due to the slow Internet on the device, because larger files take a long time to open online.
• When using a limited Internet connection, more traffic is consumed during the file transfer process.

The file size is greatly influenced by the graphic objects inserted into the Word document: images, photographs, rumples, clip art, or illustrations.

The user is faced with the task of how to compress a Word document so that it weighs less. How to reduce the size of a Word document?

To solve this problem, you need to apply two main approaches:

• Change various properties of a Word file on the computer.
• Compress Word document online.

In the first case, all the necessary actions are performed on the PC itself without going online. The second option involves using an internet connection to send the file to a remote server for processing.

In this guide, we will show you how to reduce the size of a Word document: we will try using several methods to compress the size of a Word document on a computer, or reduce the size of a Word document online.

The instructions were prepared in Word 2019, they are suitable for other versions of the program: MS Word 2016, MS Word 2013, MS Word 2010, MS Word 2007. There may be some differences in the application interface of different versions.

How to reduce the size of a Word document by changing the DOC format to DOCX – 1 way

In most cases, computers use modern versions of Word, which save files with “.docx” extensions. In versions of Microsoft Word 2003 and earlier, the file format used was “.doc”.

Even though quite some time has passed, “DOC” files are still in use. There are certain differences between the formats, including that a similar file saved in the “DOCX” format will be smaller than a “DOC” file.

This is easy to verify if you look at the properties of both identical files in Explorer.

Therefore, in order to reduce the size of the original file with the “.doc” extension, it is necessary to save it in “.docx”. You can do this in a variety of ways, including in the Microsoft Office application starting with Word 2007 or later.

Do the following:

1. Open the DOC file in Word.
2. Enter the “File” menu, click on the “Export” item.
3. Click on the “Change File Type” button.
4. Select Use Word Document Format.
5. Click on the “Save As” button.
6. Choose where to save the file.

As a result, you will get a smaller Word file.

Editing images before pasting into Word – 2 way

The biggest influence on the size of a document is the graphical objects inside the file. As a rule, various types of images are of considerable size, especially graphics in high quality.

Therefore, before inserting pictures into a Word document, it makes sense to take care of image optimization in advance. You need to change the properties of the image using a program – a graphic editor or an online service .

You can change the resolution or aspect ratio of the image. After processing, you will have a picture of less weight than the original. Insert the finished image into a Word document.

This method will reduce the final file size compared to inserting unoptimized images into a text document.

How to compress a Word document with pictures – 3 way

It is not always possible to optimize images before inserting them into a document. The user can receive a ready-made document with graphic objects. Therefore, it is necessary to find the answer to the question: how to reduce the size of a Word document with pictures.

Do the following:

1. In the window of an open Word document, enter the “File” menu.
2. Click on “Save As”.
3. Choose a location to save the file.
4. In the Explorer’s “Save As” window, click on the “Tools” button.
5. In the drop-down menu, click on the “Compress pictures …” item.
6. In the Image Compression window, select an appropriate image compression ratio.
7. Click on the “OK” button.
8. Save the Word file to your computer.

How to compress a single image in Word – 4 way

Sometimes, you only need to reduce the size of one picture in a document. In this case, use the suggested course of action.

Go through the following steps:

1. Select an image.
2. On the Format tab, click the Compress Images button.
3. In the Compress Pictures window, click the OK button.

Removing additional fonts in Word – 5 way

The following method is suitable if additional custom fonts are used in the Word document, which make the file somewhat heavier.

Go through the steps:

1. Open the File menu.
2. Click on the “Options” button.
3. In the Word Options window, click the Save tab.
4. Uncheck Embed fonts in file, and then click OK.

How to compress the size of a Word document – 6 way

This option is suitable if you have thumbnails of the active document saved in the Word file. This thumbnail is used in Windows for the File Explorer Preview feature.

Do the following:

1. Go to the “File” menu.
2. Enter the “Details” tab.
3. Click on the “Properties” button and then on “Additional Properties”.
4. In the “Properties:” window, in the “Document” tab, uncheck the box “Save thumbnails for all Word documents”.

The same can be done when saving a document on a PC. In the Save As window, uncheck the Save Thumbnails box.

How to reduce the size of a Word document – 7 way

The Word document stores various information about the properties of that file, including personal information and hidden settings. This information increases the file size.

Removing personal data will reduce the file size and increase your personal security, because other users will not be able to see this data.

This operation is performed in the following way:

1. On the “File” menu, click on “Details”.
2. In the Document Check section, click the Find Issues button.
3. In the drop-down menu, select “Verify Document”.
4. In the “Document Inspector” window, click the “Inspect” button.
5. After a while, a window with the results of the check will open. In the “Document properties and personal data” section, click on the “Delete all” button.

After this operation, the size of the Word file will decrease slightly.

Method of copying the original document – 8 way

You can use a simple method that will reduce the size of the document:

1. Copy the contents of your document.
2. Open a new Word document window.
3. Paste what you copied from the clipboard.
4. Save the new document to your computer.

The new file will be smaller than the original.

Source File Format Conversion – Method 9

Use the format conversion method. First, the original file will be converted to another text format – RTF, and then the RTF file will be converted back to MS Word format.

You need to do the following:

1. In the Word file window, go to the File menu.
2. Click on “Export” first, and then “Change File Type”.
3. Select RTF Text, click Save As.
4. Open the generated RTF file with Word.
5. Save the file in modern DOCX format.

As a result of these conversions, the new Word file will become smaller than the original.

Deleting Unsaved Copies of a Document – Method 10

In the course of work, the application creates previous copies of the document, which are saved. You can delete previous versions of a document to reduce the file size.

Do the following:

1. From the “File” menu, select “Details”.
2. Click on the “Document Management” button.
3. Select Recover Unsaved Documents.
4. The Open Document window displays unsaved copies of documents.
5. Select the file, right-click on it.
6. In the context menu, click on the “Delete” item.

Archiving a Word document – 11 way

Adding a Word document to an archive will significantly reduce the file size. Use an archiver to compress the file, such as WinRAR, 7-Zip, or the system’s ZIP archive tool.

Archives are often used to transfer data on the Internet.

How to compress a Word document online – 12 way

In some cases, you need to compress a Word document online for free. With this method, all operations take place not on a PC, but on the Internet.

You can use the services of the Wecompress.com online service, which compresses files in text formats and images.

It is preferable to use the presented service to reduce the size of Word files with images, because competitors compress the document more strongly, and the quality of the pictures is significantly reduced.

Go through the steps:

1. Open the service webpage: https://www.wecompress.com/en/ .
2. Drag and drop a file to the designated area, or add a document from your computer using the File Explorer functions.
3. After completing the processing process, download the finished file to your computer.

Compress the size of a Word document online – 13 way

Let’s look at the possibilities of another service: Youcomperss.com is a free online file compression tool. This site works with text, graphics, audio and video formats.

The service can be used to compress various types of documents. This web application compresses more than the previous resource. But, if there are pictures in the file, be prepared for the fact that the quality of the images in the final document may suffer.

Do the following:

1. Go to the website page: https://www.youcompress.com/en/ .
2. Click on the “Select File…” button to select it on the PC.
3. Next, click on the “Upload and compress file” button.
4. Click the download link with the file name to download the compressed Word document to your computer.

Article Conclusions

When working with text formats, the user may need to compress the Word document to reduce the file size. This should be done in case of insufficient space on the device or to optimize file transfer over the Internet. Take advantage of several methods, using the program’s built-in tools or online services that will help you compress the Word file and solve the problem of a large document size.