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

Finding the Size of a Workbook

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 23, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Mike wonders if there is a worksheet function that will show him the size, in bytes, of a workbook without using a macro.

The size of a workbook in Excel can become very large, depending on the information it contains. Keeping track of the size is important and can be accomplished a couple of different ways.

If you don't want to use a macro, Excel keeps track of various pieces of information about a file in the Properties dialog box.

  1. Select the Properties option in the File menu. Excel displays the Properties dialog box.
  2. Click on the General tab. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The General tab of the Properties dialog box.

In the General tab, Excel displays the size of the file. You will also see other information about the file in this tab including the type of file and who created it. Obtaining the file size is simple using this process, but it does not allow you to see the workbook size on the worksheet itself. Unfortunately, there is no way around it; you will need to use a macro. The following is a good example of one you could use:

Function wbksize()
    myWbk = Application.ThisWorkbook.FullName
    wbksize = FileLen(myWbk)
End Function

To use this macro within a worksheet, just type the following in any cell:

=wbksize()

The file size is displayed in bytes.

Note:

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

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8028) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Finding the Size of a Workbook.

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. ...

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