Notification when Recalculation is Done

Jim has a large worksheet with many data tables that can take several minutes to recalculate. He wonders if there is a way to set an audible alert to notify him when the recalculation is completed.

This can only be done using a macro. You could, if desired, use a macro to do the actual calculation, in this manner:

Sub MyCalc()
    Application.Calculate
    Beep
End Sub

Whenever the macro is called, all open workbooks are calculated and, when complete, a "beep" is heard on the computer speaker. The volume, duration, and quality of the beep will vary wildly from system to system, so you may want to display a message box right after the beep:

Sub MyCalc()
    Application.Calculate
    Beep
    MsgBox "Calculation completed"
End Sub

Another benefit of adding the message box is that if the recalculation is completed while you are away from your system, then you'll have the visual cue when you return.

A better solution, however, might be to set up an event handler that will be triggered whenever a calculation is complete. Right-click on a worksheet tab, choose View Code, and add the following to the resulting code window:

Private Sub Worksheet_Calculate()
    Beep
    MsgBox "Calculation completed"
End Sub

Note that there is no express command to calculate the worksheet. That is because the event is automatically triggered after calculation of the worksheet is completed. Since this is a worksheet-level event, it is only triggered for the single worksheet. If you would like to have the same process occur whenever any worksheet in the workbook is completed, you could, instead, add the following to the ThisWorkbook module:

Private Sub Workbook_SheetCalculate(ByVal Sh As Object)
    Beep
    MsgBox "Calculation completed"
End Sub

Finally, there is another enhancement that you could add to whichever approach you choose. Anyplace you see the Beep command in the above code, you could replace the line with the following:

    Application.Speech.Speak "Recalculation completed"

This uses the speech capability of Excel to tell you that the recalculation is completed.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12857) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021.