Python in excel timeout error acts as 30 secs when typing 1800+ seconds

Question

So I'm trying to do long calculations in one cell with python in excel, but i bumped into the problem that, when I type 1800 seconds or more as the timeout delay in the settings, it automatically acts as 30 seconds. It's the same for all numbers higher than and equal to 1800. 1799 seconds works perfectly, but when going 1800 or more it doesnt work anymore. Does anyone know what the problem can be? I thought it could be that, because 1800 seconds is 30 minutes it thinks it is meant to be 30 seconds, but when i type 3600 seconds is also does 30 seconds. Is the AI correct and is it a limiation of the software or is it something else?

Answer 1

The issue you are facing is due to the fact that Excel has a 55-second timeout when fetching data from SharePoint, and it is not related to the calculation timeout setting. Therefore, increasing the calculation timeout setting will not solve the problem. The timeout value can be increased by using a registry key, as described in the Microsoft article "Unable to export to Excel from SharePoint". However, this will only affect the time it takes to fetch data from SharePoint, not the calculation timeout.

I don't know of any way to increase the calculation timeout beyond the maximum of 1,800 seconds (30 minutes) in Excel. It is possible that Excel is interpreting any value greater than 1,800 seconds as 30 seconds due to a limitation in the software.

I suggest breaking up your calculation into smaller parts that take less than 1,800 seconds each, or finding a way to optimize your calculation to reduce the overall time it takes to complete.

---

References:

• Unable to export to Excel from SharePoint