Dorothy, The percentage that was mentioned in the post you replied to is from one of the newer versions of FTM that tells the user how much the size of the file was decreased by using the compact operation. In other words, the file was decreased in size by 50.5%. What you are seeing in v16 is a progress bar that is telling you that the compact operation has completed when it reaches 99-100%. I hope this helps. Linda in Costa Rica Monroe County, New York Genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monroenys Monroe County, New York History http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monroenys -----Original Message----- From: Dorothy Petraitis Sent: Wednesday, 24 August, 2011 9:33 AM To: ftm-tech@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [FTM-TECH] FTM-TECH Digest, Vol 5, Issue 209 I am using FTM v.16, I compacted my file several times, it always shows 99-100%, then closes. I don't recall the last time I compacted. I am following instructions by first backing up. Is this how v. 16 works, or am I missing something. Dorothy Just another note about compacting. Yes, 50.5% is a LOT. However, it doesn't mean the file has been *completely* compacted. You need to keep doing it until the messages is: reduced by 0.0%. Then you know the file is compacted. I wouldn't be surprised if you had to compact your file 4 times before you reach 0.0%. I know, there's times I've had to. The folks at Ancestry alerted me to this. Lorraine Kingston, ON On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 Tom Herson wrote: Because I don't do it on a regular basis, I usually compact my file when someone mentions it, as Linda just did. I was surprised to see that the fle was reduced by 50.5% That's pretty scary. How could that be? Nothing seems to be missing with regard to the number of people, marriages, etc. Tom Herson Ithaca. NY