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 think the idea behind the performance checking is great but typical of Microsoft, they do in a way that makes it virtually unusable and DO NOT let users turn it off which should be an option on all new features that interfere with general operation!!

The optimization has no idea how the spreadsheet is intended to be used and in so many cases the user has added extra formatting for a specific purpose, perhaps to mark pending changes or issues that need resolved - I personally use orange red and green to mark progress whilst making changes, items that need changing or are in progress and red for areas to delete. I usually mark these in Column A. The optimizer thinks these should be removed as they are excessive formatting!!

I am now building almost exclusively with dynamic arrays and have set formatting to allow for he expansion of these arrays so that they are formatted. The optimizer thinks these should be cleaned which means when the values change and the arrays spill, they will be un-formatted!!

Finally, when reviewing the suggestions made by the optimizer, it actually tells you which ranges need to be optimized. Great. But why not when I click on this range can it not highlight it on the sheet and then let me choose to optimize that particular range or mark it to be ignored. That would be really useful. But no, I have to do all the optimization or none. I can't choose selectively thus rendering the tool completely useless!!

Come on Excel team. You have created a great product and the dynamic arrays are awesome - don't wreck it by introducing half built tools (I'm being polite here as I do not think the intention was to make them better but I live in hope) and then forcing them on users!!

Listen to the users. Add a checkbox to allow this to be disabled - and preferably from a link on the optimization ribbon so that users then don't have to hunt around the options looking - eg "Disable further optimization checking on this file". And perhaps when the optimizer is more useful by enabling selective optimizations, more people will use it. As it is, who is going to risk giving it carte blanche to wreck a model!!

Answer 3

Absolutely right. It is very annoying that MS is not capable to turn this whole force check OFF.

I think we might need to vote this up in the microsoft feedback channel too.
there are several, but here is one link. You can search excel channel for word "performance"

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/52093f8d-fa00-ef11-a73d-6045bd7e894e

Answer 4

This is the best description of the situation. Thank you for providing it!

Answer 5

It seems to me that there are 3 types of Excel users:

1. The "experts" All the posts from users in this thread seem to be from expert users. I have been using spreadsheets for 45 years and would like to think I am part of this group. This thread has shown a myriad of use cases where the Microsoft development is counter productive. I have a few of my own but that is not really the relevant point. What is relevant is that "WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING" and "WE DON'T WANT THIS FEATURE TO RUN OUTSIDE OUR CONTROL"
2. The business users. Some may have some familiarity with Excel, but those of us on Group 1 often have to cater for users who would not know how to enter a formula. They do not need this feature. "IT IS NO USE TO THEM WHATEVER"
3. The users who think they know what they are doing but do not have the knowledge or experience of Group 1 users. The feature "MAY" be useful to them but could equally lead to a "CORRUPTION OF WHAT THEY HAVE DONE"

Microsoft have clearly misjudged the user base. The feature is dangerous in the hands of Groups 2 and 3 and should be optional for group 1.