Invisible shapes stacked on copies of themselves
Extra. Off by default.
Removes invisible shapes stacked on copies of themselves.
A macro in another workbook that looks a shape up by name won't find it.
Why it takes space
Pasting from web pages, and some automation, leaves shapes behind on a sheet, often thousands of copies of one empty rectangle or text box placed exactly on top of each other.
They draw nothing, so the sheet looks normal. Each copy is still an object with its own name, which Excel stores in the file and loads when it opens it.
What ShrinkExcel does
ShrinkExcel reads the shapes on each sheet's drawing in order. A shape goes when it draws nothing and matches an earlier shape in everything but its id and name, position and size included. The first of each set stays.
A shape draws nothing when it has no fill, line or effect, of its own or from the theme, no text, and no macro or hyperlink. Pictures, charts, groups and connectors never go, and neither does a visible shape, however many copies of it there are.
ShrinkExcel leaves a workbook with macros alone, because a macro can look up a shape by its name.
What you will notice
The sheet looks the same, since every removed shape drew nothing and an identical one stays in its place. The Selection Pane lists fewer shapes.
Code outside the workbook that finds a shape by name, such as an add-in or a macro in another workbook, would not find a removed copy.
In a check in Excel for Mac on 2026-09-24, two workbooks shrunk this way held the same cells as their originals, and one went from 43,928 shapes to 75.
Doing it in Excel
Home > Find & Select > Selection Pane lists every shape on the sheet, hidden or not. Select the ones you do not need there and press Delete.
Home > Find & Select > Go To Special > Objects selects every object on the sheet at once. That includes charts and pictures, so check the selection before you delete it.
To use it, switch it on under Advanced settings on the front page before you drop a workbook.