How to stop Excel from automatically checking Workbook performance?

Question

Performance check??

The Excel sheet is the way I want it to look and don't want to change it for better performance. I just want Excel to stop prompting me.

Every time I open an Excel sheet, it wants me to do a performance check because of:

"Excess formatting and unneeded metadata cause large, slow workbooks. Check for improvements to performance"

So I find myself X-clicking away this message every time. Because there is no 'excess' of formatting. The Excel sheet simply is a nicely layouted workbook and we want it to be looking this way. We don't need Excel trying to outsmart us and giving this suggestion every time you open the workbook to remove information.

It is only very confusing for not-very-experienced users who also make use of my Excel sheet.

How and where can I set Excel in a way that is stops asking this unwanted question?

• The question mostly pops-up in the Web version of Office 365.
• I tried unchecking boxes in the performance check tool, in the desktop version, but to no result.

Would be lovely if someone has a workaround or knows which box needs to be un-checked.

And it would be awesome if a MS engineer helps giving priority to this problem, so that it can be switched of universally.

Answer 1

This thread shows that there are a significant number of people complaining about this. Unfortunately, this is only a user forum, we understand your problem, but we cannot do anything to fix it. Only the Excel developers can do this if they are instructed to do so.

As previously stated, this is simply a statistical problem, Microsoft must first recognize that this is a problem. Unfortunately, this is not so easy considering that more than 200,000 people work at Microsoft.

There is a feedback portal where you can cast your vote. There is already a feed on this topic, unfortunately with very few votes. I'm sure if we get as many votes as this post has been viewed, then Microsoft will react.

Anyone reading this, please follow these steps:

Click on this link:
https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/89bb523d-b197-ef11-95f6-0022484d7a88

1. Sign in
2. Click the Vote button

@HanzieV:

If you mark this reply as answer, it will be the first to appear when someone views this thread. I hope we can encourage as many people as possible to draw Microsoft's attention to this problem. Unfortunately, this is all we can do for you.

Andreas.

Answer 2

I get the message to Check Performance for virtually every spreadsheet I have. There needs to be a toggle for this.

Answer 3

I have exactly the same issue and am tired of "suggestions" - I have ADD and it just irritates me to have to do something "extra" - IS THERE A WAY TO STOP THE PROGRAM FROM AUTO-CHECKING.

That's all I want to know - YES OR NO.

Answer 4

NO

But I think it's fair to say that everyone on this thread apart from the members of the Microsoft team are in complete agreement that this "feature" should have an off switch. Actually ideally an on switch, so that users could opt in to using it rather than having to opt out. Or it needs to be controllable at the spreadsheet level so that the designer of the spreadsheet can have complete assurance that their end users won't be given this option and therefore the power to break and undo countless hours of development work.

Various reasons have been cited as to why it's not that simple. So the simplest solution would be to just give up on the feature. No-one asked for it. If they did they would have asked for it to be optional. It is just causing frustration.

Hope you're enjoying my sermon guys, now back to singing practice everyone :-)

Answer 5

I totally agree!