Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Understanding Manual Calculation.
When you change a value in any cell of a worksheet, Excel automatically recalculates all the other formulas within the worksheet. This means that Excel is always up to date, based on any changes you may have performed.
If you have an absolutely huge worksheet or a terribly slow computer (or both), then doing a calculation after every change can get very tedious. In these situations, you can actually spend more time waiting on Excel to finish calculating than you do on entering information.
The answer to this problem is to configure Excel so that all calculations are done manually. This is easy to do by following these steps:
Now, Excel does not calculate your worksheet automatically. Instead, you must press F9 whenever you want to update the results displayed within your worksheet.
You can also change the calculation setting in this manner:
Figure 1. The formulas area of the Excel Options dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (9999) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, and 2013. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Understanding Manual Calculation.
Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel 2013 Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!
Tired of the same old boring Excel look? You can add some life to your worksheets by introducing some animation. Here's ...
Discover MoreExcel lets you change lots of settings that affect the configuration of your system. At some point you may want to save ...
Discover MoreSome people like zero values displayed; others do not. Excel allows you to easily turn the display on or off for a single ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2014-10-01 03:28:44
Steven Piers
Perhaps you can add the option to press shift + F9, this will only recalculate the active sheet in stead of the total file.
2014-10-01 03:28:03
Steven Piers
Perhaps you can add the option to press shift + F9, this will only recalculate the active sheet in stead of the total file.
2014-07-28 08:58:57
Bryan
I've said it before (once on this tip, actually, before it was removed) and I'll say it again: if you have a slow worksheet, you can resort to manual calculation, but it would be far worth your time investment to do some research on the internet about how to speed up your worksheets. Sometimes something as easy as deleting empty rows can make the difference between insufferable and unnoticeable calculation lags.
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, and 2013. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
Comments