Word: Recommended Operating Limits

 Last reviewed: July 30, 1997
Article ID: Q36511
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.1

SUMMARY

The following tables show absolute and recommended operating limits for Word versions 4.0 and 5.0.

Note: An asterisk (*) indicates that an operating parameter is limited only by available disk space.

Word Versions 5.0 and 5.1

Operating                            Absolute        Recommended
Parameter                            Limit           Limit


Number of open windows               23              Limited by
                                                     memory
                                                     allocated to
                                                     Word

Number of open documents             30+(System 7.0) Limited by
                                     23 (System 6.0  memory
                                     and earlier)    allocated to
                                                     Word

Maximum file size                    16 million char 1 million char

Finder memory requirements           512K            1 MB
                                     Grammar: 1.5MB  Grammar: 2 MB
                                     Speller: 750K   Speller: 1 MB


Length of style names                254 characters  No recommended
                                                        limit

Number of styles in style sheet      Standard: 33    No recommended
                                     User-           limit
                                     Defined: 221

Number of words in user dictionary   Limited by      30,000
                                     memory          characters
                                     allocated to
                                     Word

Number of open Dictionaries          Limited by      No recommended
(including user and main             memory          limit
dictionaries)                        allocated to
                                     Word
Number of glossary entries 
in a glossary                        *               *

Length of glossary entry name        31 characters   No recommended
                                                     limit

Number of print merge fields         Limited by      No recommended
in a data document                   memory          limit
                                     allocated
                                     to Word

Number of Columns in a table         31              No recommended
                                                     limit

Number of rows in a table            Maximum         No recommended
                                     file size       limit
                                     divided by
                                     average row
                                     content

Maximum cell height                  Page height     No recommended
                                     less margins    limit

Maximum row height (points)          720             720

Maximum row height (inches)          10              10

Minimum column width                 0 (will not be  No recommended
                                     visible)        limit

Maximum column width                 22 inches       unknown

Word version 4.0

Operating                            Absolute        Recommended
Parameter                            Limit           Limit


Number of open windows               22                  *

Number of open documents             22                  *

Maximum file size                    16 million chars    1 million chars

MultiFinder memory                   384,000 bytes       512,000 bytes
requirements (minimum) 

Length of style names                254 chars           None

Number of styles in a                255                 None
style sheet 

Number of words in a user            64,000              1,000
dictionary 

Number of open dictionaries          5                   None
(including user and MS Dictionary) 

Length of a glossary entry name      32 chars            None

Number of glossary entries           *                   *
in a glossary 

Number of print merge                127                 None
fields in a data document 

Number of columns in a table         31                  None

Number of rows in a table            No limit            None

Maximum cell height                  Height of page      None

Minimum column width                 0 (not visible)     None
Note: This article will be updated as information becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

The information in this article is also available in Appendix D on page 757 of the version 5.0 "Microsoft Word User's Guide" or Appendix A on page 397 of the version 4.0 "Reference to Microsoft Word" manual.

The following are Word 4.0 operating limitations that are not documented on page 397 of the version 4.0 "Reference to Microsoft Word" manual: 

Operating                            Absolute        Recommended
Parameter                            Limit           Limit


Characters per line                  255             255

Maximum row height (points)          432             432

Maximum row height (inches)          6               6

Maximum page width                   22.75 inches    *

Maximum page length                  22.75 inches    *

KBCategory: kbref kbusage
KBSubCategory: kbtable kbproof
Additional query words: macword macword5
4.0 5.0 parameter limitations 5.10

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Last reviewed: July 30, 1997
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