As part of Speedy Spreadsheet Week, I have emailed a few renowned Excel experts and asked them to share their tips & ideas to speedup Excel. Today, I am glad to present a collection of the tips shared by them.
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Hui
About Hui:
Hui (Ian Huitson) has been writing & contributing to Chandoo.org for more than 2 years. Many of you know him from Formula Forensics & Data table related articles on Chandoo.org. See about Hui page for more about him.
In no particular order:
- Minimize the use of Volatile Functions
- Organize your workbook layout and data methodically
- Where possible use fixed values or Named formulas instead of lookups even if the values only change rarely, flag those for manual checking
- Don’t Start equations with a + that actually adds 0.4% calculation time
- Minimize use of the Data Table command to running summaries only at the end of a project
- Review the logic of the model and all if’s or lookup choices for necessity or alternatives
- Use negatives instead of multiple positives where appropriate in conjunction with If’s and Lookups
- Learn about Conjunctive Truth Tables, they Rock for reporting
- Array formulas can do the work of dozens of normal cells, but use cautiously
- Use Named Formulas and UDF’s instead of multiple Helper Cells/Rows or Columns
- Minimize of us Conditional Formatting
- Minimize use of linked workbooks especially if over network drives
- Take an advanced Excel course like the ExcelHero Academy
- Minimize the use of Excel 2007
Links:
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by George
About George:
George runs Excel Unusual, where you can learn about using Excel for engineering, simulations & games. In his work, he builds complex spreadsheet models all the time. So I asked him to share a few tactics with us. He wrote 2 articles in response to my request.
Links:
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Gregory
About George:
Gregory runs Excel Semipro, where he shares Excel tips & ideas. I asked him to contribute to the Speedy Spreadsheet Week. This is what he says,
Tips by George:
To speed up my worksheet files, I have one primary rule: do not use the OFFSET function, which is volatile and can slow things down considerably. In newer spreadsheets I use Tables and The imposing INDEX function to keep ranges automatically updated. In Excel 2003 I use an event-based approach, with named ranges, the worksheet deactivate module, and VBA to keep lists and ranges updated.
Links:
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Luke
About Luke:
Luke is one of the Excel Ninjas at Chandoo.org where he contributed more than 1000 posts. I asked Luke to share some optimization tips based on his vast experience of using Excel & helping others. This is what he suggests:
- In VB, whenever I see a line like Selection.something that’s usually an indicator that I’m using extra lines. Either I need to apply the method directly to the object instead of selecting it, or I need to use a With statement.
- With Event macros, don’t forget the all-important lines of Application.EnableEvents = False and Application.EnableEvents = True so that you don’t cause multiple events to be triggered.
- See a section of code that you’re repeating? Probably need to make this a separate Sub or Function that you can then reference from the main code.
- When building your formula page, think top-down. Cells near the top of worksheet should be referenced in formulas that are below, not vice-versa. XL likes to calculate left to right, top to bottom. Scattering cell references around makes it work harder.
- When using large amounts of data that you want to be charted, sometimes I’ll build a formula sheet within the workbook with data, and then just build another workbook that uses a data query (referencing the formula results) to generate the charts.
- This might be more along the lines of auditing a worksheet, but sometimes it’s hard to see how I’ve laid out my constants and formulas, and using a worksheet map helps bring things into focus (related: create a worksheet map)
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Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Narayan
About Narayan:
Narayan is one of the Excel Ninjas at Chandoo.org where he contributed more than 1000 posts. I asked Narayan to share some optimization tips based on his vast experience of using Excel & helping others. This is what he suggests:
Period-to-Date and Cumulative SUMs
There are two methods of doing period-to-date or cumulative SUMs. Suppose the numbers that you want to cumulatively SUM are in column A, and you want column B to contain the cumulative sum; you can do either of the following:
You can create a formula in column B such as =SUM($A$1:$A2) and drag it down as far as you need. The beginning cell of the SUM is anchored in A1, but because the finishing cell has a relative row reference, it automatically increases for each row.
You can create a formula such as =$A1 in cell B1 and =$B1+$A2 in B2 and drag it down as far as you need. This calculates the cumulative cell by adding this row’s number to the previous cumulative SUM.
For 1,000 rows, the first method makes Excel do about 500,000 calculations, but the second method makes Excel do only about 2,000 calculations.
Subtotals
Use the SUBTOTAL function to SUM filtered lists. The SUBTOTAL function is useful because, unlike SUM, it ignores the following:
Hidden rows that result from filtering a list. Starting in Excel 2003, you can also make SUBTOTAL ignore all hidden rows, not just filtered rows.
Other SUBTOTAL functions.
Using SUMPRODUCT to Multiply and Add Ranges and Arrays.
In cases like weighted average calculations, where you need to multiply a range of numbers by another range of numbers and sum the results, using the comma syntax for SUMPRODUCT can be 20 to 25 percent faster than an array-entered SUM.
{=SUM($D$2:$D$10301*$E$2:$E$10301)}
=SUMPRODUCT($D$2:$D$10301*$E$2:$E$10301)
=SUMPRODUCT($D$2:$D$10301,$E$2:$E$10301)
These three formulas all produce the same result, but the third formula, which uses the comma syntax for SUMPRODUCT, takes only about 77 percent of the time to calculate that the other two formulas need.
Dynamic Ranges
These are most often created using the OFFSET and COUNTA functions , as in the following :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
Sometimes , when data is stored in the form of records , so that all columns have data to the same extent , there may be several dynamic ranges ; say we have ORDER_ID in column A , CUSTOMER_ID in column B , and the AMOUNT in column C. Thus there may be several dynamic ranges as follows :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$B$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$B:$B)-1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$C$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$C:$C)-1,1)
These can be simplified to :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$B$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$C$1,0,0,COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1,1)
These can then be optimized by storing the COUNTA value in a cell , and using the cell reference within the OFFSET formula :
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,0,0,Sheet1!$F$1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$B$1,0,0, Sheet1!$F$1,1)
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$C$1,0,0, Sheet1!$F$1,1)
Where Sheet1!$F$1 contains the formula : =COUNTA(Sheet1!$A:$A)-1
For more, refer to MSDN.
Resetting the USED RANGE
Pressing CTRL END will take the cursor and place it on the cell which Excel thinks is the last used cell in the worksheet.
Suppose you do this , and the cursor lands on D27 ; now navigate to any cell which is as far away as you can imagine , say AA3456 ; enter any character , even a space will do ; then clear the cell contents by pressing the DEL key.
Pressing CTRL END will now take the cursor to AA3456.
To reset the USED RANGE , go to the Immediate Window of the VBA Project , and enter the following statement :
Application.ActiveSheet.UsedRange
Your used range should now be reset to its earlier value of D27 ; pressing CTRL END will now take the cursor to D27.
Refer to this Stackoverflow discussion for more.
Excel Speeding up & Optimization Tips by Jordan
About Jordan:
Jordan runs Option Explicit, an Excel VBA blog. He shared these tips with us,
- When reading and writing to ranges, use .value2 (this is noticeable for large, iterative calculations)
- Ensure that ALL spreadsheet errors are handled. The most common errors I see ignored are #Ref errors and #Div (for dividing by zero). Use Go To Special… to find these errors and either delete them or use IFERROR to handle them. In my opinion, Excel errors are one of the biggest contributing factors to slow spreadsheets.
- When using INDEX, include the row or column number even if you don’t need it. For example, if I’m pulling data from only one column, I need only write =INDEX(A1:A10, 1) to pull the first item. However, =INDEX(A1:A10, 1, 1) appears to be a hair faster. Try it.
- Cut down on Lookup functions. In many instances, the lookup table has already encoded information in the correct order. Instead of looking up, say, Stage 2, just use INDEX on the desired column and pull from row 2.
Thanks to Hui, George, Gregory, Luke, Narayan & Jordan
Many thanks to all of you for sharing these ideas & tips so that we can speed up Excel. If you found these tips useful, say thanks to the contributors.
More on Excel Optimization & Speeding up:
Read these articles too,
- Optimization & Speeding-up Tips for Excel Formulas
- Charting & Formatting Tips to Optimize & Speed up Excel
- Optimization Tips & Techniques for Excel VBA & Macros
- Excel Optimization tips submitted by our readers
Want to become better in Excel? Join Chandoo.org courses
Excel SchoolLearn Excel from basics to advanced level. Create awesome reports, dashboards & workbooks. |
VBA ClassesLearn VBA & Macros step-by-step. Build complex workbooks, automate boring tasks and do awesome stuff. |
49 Responses to “Introduction to Slicers – What are they, how to use them, tips, advanced techniques & interactive reports using Excel Slicers”
Great article!
If you want to learn a bit more about using slicers in VBA, head over here:
http://jkp-ads.com/articles/slicers03.asp
Hi
I downloaded cube-formula-slicer-selection.xlsx.
Why is 'Report Connections' grayed out?
Great article!! Thank you very much... This post is one of the most helpful for my job!
Great Introduction. Thanks very much.
Wow! trying to use this on the reports that I have now. I really liked that Quantity and Amount Bar graph used on the pivot-multi tab, but for the life of me, I can't seem to replicate it from scratch. Help please?
[…] http://chandoo.org/wp/2015/06/24/introduction-to-slicers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email… […]
This is awesome! I will favorite this page in my blog, http://www.exceltoxl.com
Since I've known slicers about 2-3 yrs ago, I've pretty much used them in every damn report I do. Everyone that sees it for the first time is like "This is the best thing ever. Did you do that using excel or something else?" 😀 My bosses are so used it that when they see a report from someone else that doesn't have slicers they send it to me to redo it :).
Couple of tips:-
Tip 1:
If for lack of space or say you want ability to search within a filter due to numerous values being present but still want it to connect to multiple pivot tables or charts then
1. Setup a pivot table with just the report filter
2. Create a slicer with the same field and tie that to all the pivot tables/charts that you want.
3. Just place it some out of sight.
Now you have a dropdown with all your values with search option plsu it is also connected to all your charts and pivot tables.
TIP 2:
In Excel 2013, slicers can be used with just plain tables as well. Not limited to pivot tables.
Congrats!
Nice content : )
Very comprehensive. Explained in an extremely simple way. I have been using Slicers for a while, but still learnt new things from this post. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes.
Awesome Explanation !!
I have joined this blog recently. Brilliant tools are available that I started using in my day to day work. Brilliant site. Thanks heaps.
[…] Read the full article here: Introduction to Slicers – What are they, how to use them, tips, advanced techniques & interact… […]
Oh wow. I've only just started using Excel 2010 and had no idea this even existed. It makes dynamic charts so much easier!
You are my Hero! I am working with PowerPivot due to the huge amount of data I have and could not use my usual tricks to get the scatter chart title to change. For some reason the CUBE function wouldn't work (who knows why, I don't have time to dig into it now) but your "dummy" solution did.
thankyouthankyouthankyou!
Clare
On a normal PivotTable filter, you can choose whether to allow multiple items to be selected or not. Is that possible with slicers (in Excel 2010)? I've had a look through the options and not found a way to do it yet!
Hi Stevie... this is not possible with slicers.
Just hold down control when you're choosing them...can then either click another (without control) and it will show only the new one, or click the filter with the red 'x' to revert back to all options.
Not a limitation that can be placed on the slicer but still a potential workaround depending on your needs.
Very comprehensive note on slicer. I haven't yet used ms excel 2010, but learnt Slicer tool very well
How should I apply Slicer in excel 2010 version, not able find options
as directed, could you please tell me that step by step
@Arif
In Excel 2010 slicers could only be applied to Pivot tables/Charts not Regular tables
@Arif
In Excel 2010 slicers could only be applied to Pivot tables/Charts not Regular tables
I have a longitudinal line graph with the count of exams scored at each level(1-4). I need a longitudinal line graph that shows the percentage for each level. I made my pivot with the count in the field settings with a calculation of % of row total. This works great until you add a slicer fo that you can look at one level at a time. When I do this, it shows as 100% because it seems to lose the rest of the row calculations. How can I set it up to show the percent. I do not have the option of adding it to my data table. I am using straight Pivot, not PowerPivot.
@Mary
I'd suggest asking the question in the Chandoo.org Forums http://forum.chandoo.org/
Attach a sample file with an example of what you are after, even hand drawn
Hi, thanks for these tips. Is it possible to link a slicer to *different data sets*? All my data sets have a "year_opened" and "month_opened" fields, and I'd like do a single filter and update everything at once. Is that possible?
Hi,
Can someone tell me how to format a date field in a slicer to tell July 2016 instead of 07/31/2016?
Thanks in advance.
Great post - easily explainable for non excel whiz.
Thanks for the slicers post. I'm knew to this feature so don't be to harsh on me 🙂
In the example bar chart graph: "Quantity breakup by Customer Profession and & Product category" you get a different picture depending on which area is chosen "East, Middle, North, South, West". That part I get. But the graph itself doesn't specify which region you are in.
Is it possible to put the filtered criteria into the Chart title. For example if I chose West, the title would read "Quantity breakup by Customer Profession and & Product category - West".
Is that possible? Just curious. Thanks
It is possible...I have this on a number of my reports.
1) create a pivot table with just the column your slicer is set on
2) assign the slicer to that pivot table
3) create a string in cell B3 (or wherever):
="Quantity breakup by Customer Profession & Product Category- "&A3
(assuming that A3 is the cell that the chosen region appears in)
4) click (once) on the graph title, then in the formula bar type =B3
As you change the slicers, B3 will update as will the chart title.
Couple of tips:
1) if you need to have a new line for the title, use CHAR(10) e.g.
="Quantity breakup by Customer Profession & Product Category"&CHAR(10)&A3
(this will have the region on a new line)
2) if multiple regions will be chosen, I've added in an IF statement
=IF(COUNTA(A3:A10)>1,"Multiple Regions",A3)
(I'm sure there are ways to concatenate the strings but for mine it could get up to 20 and that just gets ridiculous for the graph heading)
Just Wow
I am trying to create a duplicate dashboard using data in one workbook and creating a new workbook to place in a shared file for my coworkers. I have created a separate worksheet in the original workbook for the new pivot charts and slicers I want to use in the new workbook/dashboard. I don't want all of the source data in the new workbook, as it is very large. I am having trouble making new slicers work. They work in the original workbook, but when I copy them to the new workbook they don't work. Am I going about this the right way or is there an easier way?
Very good post! Helped a lot. Keep up the good work!
how can you prevent multiple selection in a slicer box? In short, in any slicer box, only one entry is allowed and not multiple entries.
Fairly new to forum's, hoping I'm not breaking a rule here, but I found this forum which seems to provide a solution:
https://wessexbi.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/just-one-slice-please/
I have 2 files. (1. .xlsx 2. .xlsm)
1 file contains all the pivot tables and charts. its also macro enabled.
2nd file contains the source data which is a .xlsx file.
but I am unable to run slicer on my 1st file.
can anybody help me out?
chandoo.org: one of my favourite Excel sites for years.
Slicers tutorial: excellent as usual.
Animated gifs: sorry, but REALLY distracting!! Especially with two on the same screen. Is there any way they can be activated only when we click on them, or something?
Hi Team,
I have inserted a slicer to a pivot table with 4 fields...I need to add another field for the same slicer...help me with this..
First of all I would like to say terrific blog!
I had a quick questio in whiich I'd like to ask if you don't
mind. I was intereested to know how you center yourself and clear your head
before writing. I've had a hard time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out there.
I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are generally lost simply just tryying to figure out how
to begin. Any recommendations oor tips? Many thanks!
Hi All
Im trying to connect a slicer to 2 pivot tables with different sources
Both data tables have been sorted and have duplicates
ie
Table 1
Name Week FTe
A 1 7.2
A 2 7.3
B 1 7.3
B 2 7.3
Table 2
Name Month Fte
A Jan 2.6
A Feb 3.2
A Mar 4.4
B Jan 2.2
B Feb 6.4
B Mar 2.2
etc
I have created 2 pivot tables and have sorted it out the way i want with charts etc
Now all i want is to connect the Name Slicer to be connected to both of those pivot tables but problem is they have duplicates and are from different tables/sources
how can i connect/add this to a data model and connect to my name slicer?
Im sure it maybe something simple but minds not with it
So in short 1 to connect 1 slicer to 2 different pivots from different sources but not all pivots (There are dups in both) - as shown in the example
Thank You
Hi H
This is how you can do it. Create a third table with all slicer options (in this case it would be Name column) with one row per unique value. Now add this table to your source list. Then link all two tables via this third table thru Data ribbon > Manage relationships feature. Finally add a slicer on this third table column and link the slicer to both pivot charts.
Please note that you need to construct the tables and charts after data model is created.
See this page for more explanation on how to use relationships - https://chandoo.org/wp/introduction-to-excel-2013-data-model-relationships/
Hi,
Using Cube Value with Slicers is great. I am new to cube value, but it is so powerful. I am stuck on an issue where I want to filter on a slicer for all values except 1 and the slicer has thousands of values. I get #N/A in the results, when trying to do this. Any ideas on how to do an exception calc or how to get around this with the multi select slicer functionality?
Thanks in advance.
Cyleste
@Cyleste... thanks for your comments and welcome to Chandoo.org. You can use DAX to calculate such things as Excel pivot tables alone cannot function like the way you want. You can use DAX formula EXCEPT() to achieve this. For example,
=CALCULATE(SUM(data[sales]), EXCEPT(ALL(data[filter_column]), VALUES(data[filter_column]))) can tell you the sum of [sales] column in the data table by ignoring slicer selected values.
Hope that helps.
Hi Chandoo,
Thank you for your quick reply. I am not familiar with DAX but it sounds like I won't be able to apply the calculation you provided after converting the power pivot to excel formulas via OLAP.
Cyleste
Thanks Chandoo, I like yours tricks & always I use slicers. Regards from México.
Hi Chandoo,
I have a lot of text in the slices (Pivot table). The text is not completely visible. What should I do?
Please Help
Thanks
Hi Girish,
Slicers are useful only for items with short text, for ex: categories, product names etc. For longer values, you are better off using form controls for interaction - Here is an overview of form controls Form Controls – Adding Interactivity to Your Worksheets
Thanks so much for this, it's brilliant! I think it's almost there - I've actually followed the steps on the example linked in my post. I just can't get it to filter properly; it just returns 0 when I add a date into Cell O2. Should I be doing it differently?
slicers dont work with non-admin roles in OLAP Pivot Tables