what is the maximum document size Word can handle?

[scraggs]

i am trying to edit a 40mb word file and it says that i am out of memory or
disk space. i have 1gig of memory and plenty of free disk space. what is the
problem?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The maximum size for a text file in Word is 32 MB. This limit does not
include graphics.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Well 30MB is a theoretical limit: that is for text and excludes graphics or
any other objects. I'd guess that this is an occasion where that error
message may be true rather than just a wild guess. However, corruptions can
trigger the error, so check that your document is not corrupt.

 

[Ivan T. Mi Privaci]

I agree with Suzanne. I had a document of 100 MB and while Word did not
hang or issue warnings, I lost random sections of my report once I got to
about 102.4 MB. It would be a h-u-g-e benefit to users if the file size
limit was explicitly stated like "Your file is now 30MB. Please be aware
that the maximum file size Word can handle is 32 MB. You should think about
slippint this document into smaller parts before you continue." I had to
look in lots of different places before I even discovered an arbitrary limit
of 32MB. This would also be useful in other MS products such as Excel and
Powepoint.

Ivan T. MiPrivaci

 

[macropod]

Hi Ivan,

32Mb isn't the maximum file size - just the maximum number of characters (2^25). An embedded 10Mb image, for example, would only
count as 1 character.

If you want to get a character count, simply insert a NUMCHAR field anywhere in the document.

 

[macropod]

Hi Ivan,

I just remembered that the NUMCHARS field doesn't count spaces. You can get a closer approximation to the total character count
(excluding for the field itself) via a formual field coded as:
{={NUMWORDS}+{NUMCHARS}-2}
where the field braces (ie '{ }') are created in pairs via Ctrl-F9.

This still won't count the 2nd and subsequent spaces in a multi-space sequence, but it'll be close enough for most purposes.

Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

Hi Ivan,

32Mb isn't the maximum file size - just the maximum number of characters (2^25). An embedded 10Mb image, for example, would only
count as 1 character.

If you want to get a character count, simply insert a NUMCHAR field anywhere in the document.

--
Cheers
--
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]

I agree with Suzanne. I had a document of 100 MB and while Word did not
hang or issue warnings, I lost random sections of my report once I got to
about 102.4 MB. It would be a h-u-g-e benefit to users if the file size
limit was explicitly stated like "Your file is now 30MB. Please be aware
that the maximum file size Word can handle is 32 MB. You should think about
slippint this document into smaller parts before you continue." I had to
look in lots of different places before I even discovered an arbitrary limit
of 32MB. This would also be useful in other MS products such as Excel and
Powepoint.

Ivan T. MiPrivaci