Formatting on empty cells beyond the data
Extra. Off by default.
Clears formatting from empty cells past your data.
Fills and borders past your data disappear.
Why it takes space
Formatting whole rows or columns, or pasting a formatted block, gives every empty cell it touches a record of its own, often down to row 1,048,576, the last row a sheet has.
Excel counts those cells in the sheet's used range, so Ctrl+End jumps far past the last value, and every record takes space in the file.
What ShrinkExcel does
On each sheet, ShrinkExcel finds the last row and the last column that hold a value, a formula or text. Beyond them it removes every empty cell record, whatever its format, and every row that carries only a format.
Cells inside the data keep their formatting, empty or not. Row heights, hidden rows and outline levels stay, and so do formats set on whole columns.
It does not touch conditional formatting or data validation, wherever they apply.
What you will notice
A fill, border or number format on empty cells past the last value disappears. Shading or borders drawn below a table for later use go with it.
On a sheet with no values at all, every formatted empty cell counts as beyond the data. A blank form or template sheet loses its cell formatting, apart from formats set on whole columns.
Excel's used range shrinks toward the data, so Ctrl+End lands nearer the last value.
In a check in Excel for Mac on 2026-09-24, three workbooks shrunk this way kept the same values as their originals.
Doing it in Excel
Excel's Inquire add-in has a Clean Excess Cell Formatting command. Inquire comes with only some Windows editions of Excel, and not with Excel for Mac. To turn it on, open File > Options > Add-ins, choose COM Add-ins, select Go and check Inquire. Then use Inquire > Clean Excess Cell Formatting.
Without Inquire, select the first empty row below the data and press Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow, or Command+Shift+Down Arrow on a Mac, to extend the selection to the last row. Choose Home > Delete > Delete Sheet Rows. Do the same for the empty columns to the right with Delete Sheet Columns, then save. Pressing Delete clears only the contents and leaves the formatting.
To use it, switch it on under Advanced settings on the front page before you drop a workbook.