Microsoft KB Archive/51840

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{| The information in this article applies to:
 * width="100%"|
 * Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 3.01, 3.02, 4.0, 5.0, 5.1, 6.0

SUMMARY
When adding text and making changes in a Microsoft Word for the Macintosh document, the document's size (in terms of disk space) gradually increases then suddenly decreases, even though information is not lost from the document. These changes in file size are a result of the Fast Save feature.

MORE INFORMATION
To disable the Fast Save feature, do the following:

Word version 6.0

 * 1) From the Tools menu, choose Options.
 * 2) Choose the Save tab.
 * 3) Clear the Allow Fast Save check box.

Word version 5.0

 * 1) From the Tools menu, choose Preferences.
 * 2) Click the Open and Save icon.
 * 3) Click on Allow Fast Saves to remove the X. By default, this option is on.

Word version 4.0

 * 1) From the Edit menu, choose Commands.
 * 2) Highlight Fast Save Enabled in the list of commands.
 * 3) Click the Add button. Option has now been added to the Edit menu.
 * 4) Click the Cancel button.
 * 5) From the Edit menu, choose Fast Save Enabled to remove the check.

NOTE: Unless Fast Save is disabled, Word adds changes and edits to the end of the file. Periodically, Word will do a full save to incorporate the changes into the document. It will also remove the changes from the file on the disk, which will usually make the document smaller. No information is lost from the document. For example, imagine while editing a 150K document, the document slowly increases in size. At one point it reaches 180K. After another Save, Fast Save forces a full Save, which causes the document to shrink to 140K.