what is the maximum document size Word can handle?

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.

--
Terry Farrell - MS Word MVP

"scraggs" <scraggs.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1FA58CC4-853A-4882-9CD8-051168AB481B@microsoft.com...
>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?

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




"Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:

> The maximum size for a text file in Word is 32 MB. This limit does not
> include graphics.
>
> --
> Suzanne S. Barnhill
> Microsoft MVP (Word)
> Words into Type
> Fairhope, Alabama USA
> Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
> all may benefit.
>
> "scraggs" <scraggs RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1FA58CC4-853A-4882-9CD8-051168AB481B@microsoft.com...
> > 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?
>
>

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]


"Ivan T. Mi Privaci" <Ivan T. Mi Privaci.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7023D85C-F7F1-495A-8ACA-918B53773555@microsoft.com...
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
> "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>
>> The maximum size for a text file in Word is 32 MB. This limit does not
>> include graphics.
>>
>> --
>> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> Words into Type
>> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>> Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
>> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
>> all may benefit.
>>
>> "scraggs" <scraggs.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1FA58CC4-853A-4882-9CD8-051168AB481B@microsoft.com...
>> > 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?
>>
>>

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]


"macropod" <macropod RemoveThis @invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:%23aTeAQO3IHA.2336@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> 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]
>
>
> "Ivan T. Mi Privaci" <Ivan T. Mi Privaci RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7023D85C-F7F1-495A-8ACA-918B53773555@microsoft.com...
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote:
>>
>>> The maximum size for a text file in Word is 32 MB. This limit does not
>>> include graphics.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Suzanne S. Barnhill
>>> Microsoft MVP (Word)
>>> Words into Type
>>> Fairhope, Alabama USA
>>> Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
>>> Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
>>> all may benefit.
>>>
>>> "scraggs" <scraggs RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:1FA58CC4-853A-4882-9CD8-051168AB481B@microsoft.com...
>>> > 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?
>>>
>>>
>