Learn all about doc size, how to manage doc size to keep your doc running smoothly, and how to scale down doc size when needed.

If your doc has grown too large, you may begin to run into performance issues. You will receive warnings as your doc approaches the size limit for your plan, and the formulas in your doc may be disabled once your doc has exceeded that limit.

Whether you’ve already reached the size limit or just want to avoid it, this article can help. We’ll explain how to identify the primary doc size offenders and provide guidance on scaling down your doc.

ℹ️ Performance issues aren’t always due to doc size. If you are unsure about the cause of performance issues in your doc, please take a look at this overview article on improving doc performance.

Identify the main culprits in your doc

The first step to scaling down your doc: figuring out what’s taking up so much space. While there’s no perfect science to identifying the main culprits in doc size or determining what can be downsized, this section will guide you through our typical approach.

First, check the in-doc statistics to find hot spots

Follow the steps below to start narrowing things down.

Click on the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of your doc, select Doc settings, then select Statistics
Check the Rows, Pages, Tables & views, Buttons & controls and Formula stats.
- Rows: If your row count is 10,000 or more, then it’s possible rows are the primary contributor to doc size. In this case, we recommend deleting unnecessary rows or archiving less critical rows to another doc. Refer to the section below on diving into each of your large tables to learn more.
- Pages: If your page count is over 500, then it’s possible that pages are a primary contributor to doc size. In this case, we recommend deleting unnecessary pages or moving less critical pages to another doc. Refer to the section below on page management to learn more.
- Tables & views: If your table and view count is over 100, then you may have more tables or views than your doc can handle. Jump to the section below to learn about different methods for reducing table and view count.
- Buttons & controls, and Formulas: If the combined count of all these is 1000 or more, these objects may be the primary contributor to doc size. In this case, we recommend deleting the unnecessary objects, simplifying or commenting out formulas not needed, etc.
If none of these apply, then proceed to the next section to continue tracking down the issue.

open doc statistics (reduce doc size).gif

Attachments do not affect doc size and have their own limits—read more here.

Next, use the doc map to identify your largest tables

The next step is to investigate the size of the individual tables in your doc.

Click on the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner of your doc, select Doc settings, then select Doc map.
Within the Tables section, click on the sort icon and sort the tables by size.
Now take a look at your largest tables. For each large table, repeat the steps in the next section.

doc map - sort tables by size (refresh).gif

Dive into each of your large tables

Repeat the steps below for each of your large tables.

Hover over the table in the list, and click on Details. This will open the table in your doc and reveal additional details about the table in the right-hand panel.
First, check whether this table is a Pack table or a native Coda table.
If it is a native Coda table, we need to next identify what exactly is making the table so large.
- Rows: Perhaps the most common contributor to a large table size is the number of rows. You can see the row count of the table at the top of the right-hand panel. If the row count of the table is over 10,000, then you likely need to find a way to delete or archive rows. Check out the “Rows” section below for more guidance on this.
- Views: Also within the right-hand panel, you should see a list of connected views for the table, as well as the total number of these views. If the number of views is over 100, then you may need to reduce the number of views in order to manage your doc size. Learn how in the section below.
- Columns: If row count or view count don’t seem to be an issue, the large table size could be due to the size of columns in your table. Scroll past the list of views to the Columns section. Use the sort tool at the top-right of the column list to sort by Size. If you have any individual columns over 5 MB or if the total number of columns is over 50, this may require a closer look. We’ll cover how to scale down columns in one of the sections below.
If it is a Pack table, then you can work on downsizing by changing exactly what data is synced in. Jump to the section below for more details on this.

open doc map, see table connections (refresh).gif

Start downsizing

If you already know the source of your doc size issues, you can find some suggested solutions for scaling back below. But if you’re unsure what’s contributing to your doc size, we recommend using the previous section to identify the main culprits, then find the appropriate solution below.

Scale down a table

Once you’ve identified an oversized table in your doc, there are several ways to go about reducing the size. If you haven’t yet, we recommend following the steps in the first section of this article to identify what exactly is causing the table to be so large.

Reduce the number of tables

Once you’ve determined that you need to reduce the number of tables & views in your doc, you have a few options for how you proceed:

Search for duplicate tables: Use the doc map to first sort the tables by Size, and then search for tables that may be duplicates, such as tables with the name “Copy of [table name].” These tables may have been accidentally duplicated or they may no longer be necessary, and can therefore be deleted.
- Check whether these duplicate “Copy of” tables are tables within canvas columns. If so, this setup may not be sustainable. Instead, consider using subtables to achieve similar results with a more scalable approach.
- Consider whether these duplicate “Copy of” tables should really be separate tables with duplicated data, or whether they should be connected views.
Sort tables by last modified date: Within the doc map, sort the tables by Last modified, then scroll to the bottom of the list to find the most “stale” tables. Consider whether these tables are still necessary in this doc, or if they can be deleted or even copied out into a separate doc.

💡 Check out this guide on managing table count for a more detailed walkthrough and some best practices.

Delete unnecessary views

Once you’ve determined that you need to reduce the number of tables or views in your doc, the next step is to determine which views can be deleted. Use the doc map to identify views that have similar names, such as “[table name] 2”, “[table name] 3”, and “[table name] 4.” Or for example, “Q2 Tasks: In Progress” and “Q2 Tasks: Complete.” The similar titles may indicate that these views are serving similar functions and don’t actually need to be separate. Instead, consider the strategies below:

Use the filter bar: Instead of having multiple views with hard-coded filters, reduce to one view with a filter bar. Filter bars allow for quick filtering by the chosen criteria, plus they’re personal so each user can filter as needed without changing the view for others.
Group by the filtered criteria: For instance, imagine you have a table of Tasks, with one view for completed tasks (Status = Completed), another view for in-progress tasks (Status = In Progress), etc. Instead, you can just have one single view and group the table by the status columns. Then the rows of the table will be grouped based on your status, and you can even collapse the groups as needed to reduce noise. Bonus: Collapsing of groups is per-person, so you can collapse and uncollapse groups without changing how others see things.

💡 Want to learn more about managing view count? Check out this guide.

Reduce row count

To reduce the number of rows in your table, we suggest any of the following methods:

Delete unnecessary rows: There may be rows that you simply no longer need.
Sort rows by last-modified: Add a Last Modified column to your table, then sort the table by this column, from oldest to newest. Take a closer look at these older rows, and consider deleting any that are no longer necessary.
Set up a row archiving system: Create a system that allows you to easily archive unneeded rows in a separate doc, keeping your original doc at a reasonable size. Check out this guide for instructions.

💡 Curious to learn more? Check out this guide on managing row count.

Reduce the number of columns

Once you’ve determined that your table either has too many columns or has columns that are especially large, you can follow any of the strategies below to help downsize:

Delete unhelpful columns: Check out the base table and open the full list of columns (including hidden columns). Look for columns that might have error symbols, columns with duplicate names, or columns that simply don’t seem necessary. Delete any columns that are no longer useful.
Use summary rows to reveal under-used columns: If you’re struggling to identify unnecessary columns, you can add a summary row to the bottom of the column that reveals the Percent Blank for that column. Columns with a high percentage of blank cells can often be deleted.
Look for oversized columns: Using the doc map, you can sort a table’s columns by size. Consider whether any of these large columns can be either reduced by removing data (e.g., do you need a canvas column or multiple objects, or would a text column be enough), or deleted entirely.

Scale down Pack sync tables

If you’ve identified large Pack sync tables - including Cross-doc tables - in your doc, try the tactics below to scale down the tables to a more manageable size:

Filter the sync by date or status: Consider adding sync criteria, so that older or unnecessary rows are filtered out and not included in the sync. For instance, maybe you don’t include any rows with a “Date completed” value that’s over 1 month old. Or you exclude any rows where the “Status” is completed or cancelled. You can set up this type of sync filtering by opening the sync settings for the Pack table, then using the Add criteria button.
Note:
- This type of filtering is distinct from Coda’s native filter feature. While Coda’s filter tool only hides certain rows from view, adding sync criteria actually reduces the amount of data being synced into Coda, therefore improving doc performance.
- For Jira & Salesorce Packs, if you have a large query, your best options are to limit your query using JQL in Jira and custom reports or SOQL in Salesforce.
Reduce the number of columns being synced: Another way to reduce the size of a Pack sync table is to remove any unnecessary columns from the sync. You can do so via the sync settings of the table, as described here. Consider unsyncing any columns that aren’t necessary to your work in Coda.

Scale down the number of pages

If you have over 500 pages in your doc, this could be contributing to your doc size issues.

Delete old or unnecessary pages: There may simply be some pages in your doc that were created by accident or are no longer necessary. Delete these pages to free up some space.
Split up your doc: You may have a doc that contains a lot of data but that data isn't necessarily dependent on each other. In such cases, it’s a great idea to split up your doc into smaller docs focused on each individual use case. You can conveniently copy pages into new docs. And with sync pages and Cross-doc, it’s easier than ever to keep separate docs feeling connected and bring the necessary info in from each.

Tip: Check out this resource for more guidance on knowing when to create a new page vs a brand new doc. For more info, check out this guide on managing page count.

FAQs

Can I see the total size of my doc?

Due to the fluid and complex nature of doc size, you can’t see the actual MB size in your doc. But check out the following FAQs to get a better understanding of the current size of your doc.

How do I understand what’s contributing to my doc size?

You can get a sense of what’s taking up space in your doc by following these steps:

Click the three-dot menu at the top right of your doc
Select Doc settings from the list
Click into Statistics

The Statistics panel will show you how many rows, pages, tables and views, buttons and controls, and formulas are in use in your doc.

You can also use the doc map to see the total size of each of your tables, and the size of the columns within each table. Learn more here.

How do I tell if my doc is getting too large?

Doc size is complex and dynamic. But one useful thing to consider is the formula calculation limit. If your doc size reaches a certain point, it will hit this calculation limit and calculations will be disabled. Within the Statistics panel of your doc, you may see a Formula calculation limit section*. This will show you how close your doc size is to hitting this limit.

*Note that if your doc is less than 50% of the way towards this limit, then the formula calculation limit section won’t appear. This means your should be in good shape as far as doc size goes.

Where can I learn more about the various limits on docs?

Glad you asked! Check out this article all about the different doc limits that exist, including doc size limits, attachment limits, version history limits, and more. Note that most limits do vary depending on your plan type.

Are there any doc size limitations on the Free plan?

Shared docs on the Free plan can have up to 50 objects, which include pages. Have a shared doc that’s close to - or has already gone over - the Free size doc limits? When this happens, you can either:

upgrade to a higher plan (Pro, Team, or Enterprise)
or downsize your doc to bring it back within the Free plan limits via the tips shared in this article.

For unshared docs on the Free plan, and for all docs on all other Coda plans, there are no doc size limits.

Are there any doc size limitations when using the Coda API?

On all plan types, docs with a size of 125MB or more will no longer be accessible via the Coda API. This limitation is set to preserve the performance of our API, and we have observed it to affect only a very small percentage of API users.

Note that both Cross-doc and Coda's Zapier integration use the API, so docs using those features will also need to be within this size limit.

If your doc has reached this size limit, we recommend you to remove unnecessary or unused content from the doc or otherwise reduce doc size via the steps outlined in this article.

If I'm concerned about doc size, should I use links or "open link" buttons?

The answer to this depends a bit on the scenario:

Page canvas: If you're debating between links or "open link" buttons in the page canvas, we recommend opting for "open link" buttons. Buttons take up slightly less space than links.
Tables: If you're debating between link or button column types in a table, we recommend opting for the button column type. While there isn't a significant size difference, button columns are slightly smaller than link columns - and this can add up over thousands of rows.
Canvas column: If you're debating between links or "open link" buttons within a canvas column, we recommend just using links instead of buttons. In testing, we've seen that buttons can take up 4x more space than a pasted link.

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