How to compress or optimize a Word file

This article will explain how to reduce the file size of your word document. This may lead to reduced image quality, so it's recommended that you keep a backup of your original document before compressing it.

These instructions should work for any recent version of Microsoft Word for Windows. Mac versions of Word may be similar.

Steps:

1. From Word, with the document you'd like to compress, select File in the top left and then Save As.
   
   

2. Over on the right at the top, select More options.

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3. At the bottom right of the Save as window, select Tools and then Compress Pictures.

   
   
   

4. You'll have a number of possible choices here and your options may look different from the image below. Setting the Resolution to 150 ppi usually works well. After making your choice, select OK and then save your file.

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5. In this particular example, the file went from about 25MB to 7MB.

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