ID: Q36511
The information in this article applies to:
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.
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
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
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
Length of style names 254 chars None
Number of styles in a 255 None
Number of words in a user 64,000 1,000
Number of open dictionaries 5 None
Length of a glossary entry name 32 chars None
Number of glossary entries * *
Number of print merge 127 None
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
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 *
Last Reviewed: July 30, 1997