Forum Discussion
Excel High CPU Behavior
Excel starts behaving crazy when CPU is high. It causes the workbook to freeze, become non-responsive or start doing funny things it has never done before. This has been an issue since I started working in Excel over 20 years ago. Surely there is a way for Excel Engineers to figure out a way for excel to safeguard itself when CPU is high to keep this from happening. I work in big sheets big data all day and it gets very frustrating.
There are some steps you can take to improve performance and mitigate these issues:
- Close unnecessary applications: Close any other applications or processes running in the background that might be consuming CPU resources.
Excel High CPU Usage: Why & How to Limit It.
- Disable unnecessary add-ins: Disable any add-ins in Excel that you don't need, as they can consume additional resources.
- Optimize your workbook: Make sure your workbook is optimized for performance. This includes minimizing the use of volatile functions, reducing the number of conditional formatting rules, and avoiding excessive calculations.
- Use efficient formulas: Avoid using volatile functions excessively, as they can recalculate frequently and impact performance. Use array formulas sparingly, as they can be resource-intensive.
- Split large workbooks: If you're working with large amounts of data, consider splitting your workbook into smaller, more manageable files to reduce the strain on Excel.
- Update Excel: Ensure that you have the latest version of Excel installed, as newer versions often include performance improvements and bug fixes.
- Increase hardware resources: If possible, consider upgrading your computer's hardware, such as increasing RAM or using a faster processor, to handle the demands of working with large datasets.
- Use Power Query and Power Pivot: Consider using Power Query and Power Pivot, which are powerful tools in Excel for handling and analyzing large amounts of data more efficiently.
By implementing these best practices, you can optimize Excel's performance and minimize the impact of high CPU usage.
