The values each chart saves
Extra. Off by default.
Removes the copy of values each chart saves.
Other apps may show the chart empty until Excel saves the file.
Why it takes space
Every chart series saves a copy of the values it last drew, beside the reference to the cells it plots. A chart over thousands of rows repeats all of those values inside the file.
Excel draws a chart from its cells and ignores the saved copy, even a copy that disagrees with them. It writes a fresh copy each time it saves.
What ShrinkExcel does
ShrinkExcel drops the saved copy from each series whose reference names only cells on this workbook's own sheets.
A series keeps its copy when it plots another workbook, a defined name or anything other than plain cell ranges. Every series in a pivot chart, or in a chart that holds embedded data, keeps its copy too.
The chart's type, formatting and cell references stay as they were.
What you will notice
In Excel, the charts look the same. Excel draws them from the cells, and writes the copy back the next time it saves the file.
Programs other than Excel, and file previews, may draw from the saved copy instead. Until Excel saves the file again, they may show such a chart empty. We have not tested which ones do.
In a check in Excel for Mac on 2026-09-24, three workbooks shrunk this way kept the same cells, and once Excel saved them their charts held the same values as the originals.
Doing it in Excel
Excel has no command that removes the values a chart saves.
To use it, switch it on under Advanced settings on the front page before you drop a workbook.