Why is my file 3MB to large to open in google sheets??

I would look at the "size" of the excel sheet in terms of cell count and tab count, rather than mb. Spreadsheet files in general are small, compared to image files for example, so 3mb gives no indication of the physical size of the sheet.

 

Multiply the row count by the column count to arrive at the cell count for each "worksheet" in your workbook. Add them up.

 

Google currently supports sheets up to 5-million cells. 

 

It could also just be a conversion issue. Though a pure Sheet can grow to 5 million cells, I don't know what or if there are limits on conversion of excel files.

 

In the end, you may need to split your excel file into smaller files before converting. 

 

Good luck!

Lance

I have done as you suggested, i have 27 rows down the side and 21 along the top, so a total of 567 on each sheet, i have 366 sheets on the spreadsheet so a total of 207,522. 

I have also tried to open a master copy of a file i used back in 2018 (had no issues back then) and it will tell me the same thing (file to large, try and smaller one).

I don't have and problems with uploading to google drive it's only when i try and open with google sheets that i get the error message!

If it worked back in 2018 and on Jan the 1st this year, why will it not let me open it this time.

As the sheet i use its for a year i don't think i will be able to split the file down.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

thanks

Karl

I see. 366 tabs, that's a handful.

 

As a pure troubleshooting step, I suggest making 2 new copies of the Excel file, call one file FirstHalf, call the other file SecondHalf, and delete half the tabs in each sheet. 

 

Even half of 366 is alot of tabs, you might want to go right to Quarterly versions of the Excel files. 

 

Then see if you can open those in Sheets. 

 

Once / If you get them opened, you can rejoin them in Sheets into one document. I  understand that some formulas may break, but it should be reasonable to repair them after the split files are joined.

 

Karl, I understand that it used to work and now it doesn't. Google changes things from time to time, recently adding direct edit of Excel files for example. Did that new feature cause the sheet to break? Your guess is as good as mine. All you can do is hack at it until you get imported into Sheets and then continue forward in Sheets. 

 

Talk soon,

Lance

 

 

Did anyone figure this out? I have the exact same problem. I have uploaded a very small, nearly empty spreadsheet, but cant download or have colleagues open to work in it too, as the error message says the file is too large.

I have worked with much larger spreadsheets with teams of people in the past with no  problem.

Please help,

Do you have empty rows and columns in your tabs? If so make sure you delete them - delete the whole row or column, not just the contents. All those empty cells still count.