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
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41 Responses to “How to use Excel Data Model & Relationships”
Data is Excel 2013 behaves so much like a OLAP cube when using with PivotTables. And this is actually wow. Consider learning not just DAX but MDX too 🙂 Happy Excel
@Chandoo.. Have a nice and safe time in US. Best Wishes. And when they are publishing your interview in Entrepreneur 🙂
I have been using PowerPivot in Excel 2010. My understanding was (via PowerPivot Pro blog) that Power Pivot would NOT be available in Excel 2013 in all versions; my recollection is that it was only going to be available in certain enterprise subscription editions. Thus, for individual users, it will no longer be available? For that reason I have moved some of my projects to Tableau, and do not expect to upgrade to Excel 2013.
Can you confirm the availability of Power Pivot for all Excel 2013 users , or will it be restricted and unavailable for some users?
@Buzz
I believe that Power Pivot is included with all MS Office installs in 2013.
Have a read of:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/excel-help/version-compatibility-between-powerpivot-data-models-in-excel-2010-and-excel-2013-HA103929426.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-001/excel-help/whats-new-in-powerpivot-in-excel-2013-HA102893837.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2013#Comparison (Note that Excel isn't listed as having Multiple editions)
This is something that Excel is doing very poorly: letting people know what's available with what. It also doesn't help that they have so many packages and versions.
Excel Professional Plus has Power Pivot and Power View. I went through this last week. Spent 4 days upgrading from 365 Home Premium ($99 for the 1-yr subscription) to an additional $7/month for Professional Plus.
Also, one page on Microsoft's site says that their Sharepoint Online Package 2 has Power View. NO! It's not true. Sharepoint Online Package 2 will INTERACT with a spreadsheet that has PP or PV, Package 1 will not.
Just this weekend I upgraded from Home Premium to Professional Plus and spent time with Power View and PowerPivot.
Up to that point I never saw myself in VLOOKUP Hell, and it may not be going away any time soon. I'm surprised to discover how many of my clients are still on Excel 2003. And then I have Mac users who don't have a lot of this great stuff available to them at all.
These are great features and I'm going to dive into the Data Models. Unfortunately, I suspect, for me, the practical use may be limited to blogposts because I can't teach Power View in my workshops or send a client a spreadsheet that has a Power View in it.
Hi OZ,
I think the Microsoft would only upgrade the excel to a certain level instead of making it so powerful that it might threat their BI product. You know these "powerful" stuff can be easily done with a entry level crystal reports version.
Glad to listen to ur opinion on it.
I spent quite some time and energy on Excel and used it a lot, but now I am focusing energy on BI software like crystal reports.
We both know that based on the technology today. All the time we spend on the Macro and advanced function of Excel can be done easily with other softwares which costs only hundreds of bucks.
@Thondom
I don't think Excel tries to be the solver of all problems
It is a generic tool
Which for about 95% of people will do what they want 95% of the time
There will always be specifics where specific custom software will do better than Excel
It is the commonness of Excel which means that I can send a model to you and it will work , most of the time, that is its strength, of course combined with its flexility in being able to be adapted to suit most needs
Hi Hui,
You are right.
But,
for the business and individual, who spend too much resource on Excel to meet their BI requirements and other processing requests.
Should they open their eyes to other ways to do it, in this age? Especially for many people try too much time to process stuff with thousands lines of macro programming.
It is just as when human being created gun fire, the martial arts would not be that effective.
Ppl need to be prodent when they choose their solution.
Hi guys, I just came across your conversation. I have an example of BI vs. Excel stuff. Here in Russia there is an ERP-system called "1C". It became a defacto standart for accounting, planning and BI / analytics. It is positioned as a flexible and powerful system and it really is.
But its reporting abilities aren't user-friendly (or maybe just not me-friendly).
Many reports require programming and all those SQL things, so that is common for a company to have a couple of programmers who develop and code those reports.
So the common solution is to export data to Excel and then process it to be more suitable for further analysis or reporting.
Well, it's obviously not a rule of thumb that special BI software can outperform Excel in day-to-day routine.
Hi Chandoo, thanks for publishing great Excel information. Pardon the ignorance as I havent used Data Model nor PowerPivot. But having seen your video clip on PowerPivot, how does Data Model differ from PowerPivot - the "process" seems familiar? Have a great day! And Excel to new heights! Regards,
@Tris, one main difference is that Data Model is part of Excel Home Premium. You've got to upgrade to ProPlus to get PowerPivot and Power View.
Also, keep in mind that Data model only lets you combine tables. If you want to create powerful measures (for example show % improvement over last year sales), then PowerPivot is the way to go. For a tour of PowerPivot, visit http://chandoo.org/wp/2013/01/21/introduction-to-power-pivot/
Excellent posting, some pride themselves for having sheets with thousands of formulas or complicated formulas, but in the end the important thing is to work as little as possible.
@Nolberto let's not gloat yet. Some people are forced to have thousands of complicated formulas when they don't have the fancy tools. I'm sad for the 2003 users who have to use SUMPRODUCT when the rest of us have SUMIFS available.
In the end, I think the important thing is clean, trustworthy data--however you arrive at it. People survived more than 300 years with slide rules and paper. No PowerPivot for the Wright Brothers.
hi chandoo,
i added 2 column into sales, 1st column vlookup customer ID to CUST sheet to get the male or female, then 2nd column vlookup Product ID to Product sheet to get the product name, then after that i make pivot table out of sales sheet.
but then the result is really different from yours
the purposes is just try to do the vlookup vs add to data model to see if they get same result
thanks
Hi Koi,
We are using gender vs. category in the report. Can you try with that? I am sure the results will match.
ups sorry, didnt see that you're filtering using slicer..then it is good now the result are same with less effort 🙂
thanks
Hi Chandoo, .I am interested to know whether we can build a star schema or snow flake data models through relations in Excel? (trying to correlate with Qlikview)
Hi there,
You can create a Star schema for sure. Snow-flake is possible too. As long as all relationships are one to many (or one to one) anything is possible.
What if customer.profession change its value after sometime?
Supposed we have monthly data for Sales. What if one customer is a doctor in Feb, then a pilot in October, for example?
How to build data model for such that situation?
Thank you.
[...] Introduction to Excel 2013 Data Model & Relationships [...]
Hello ,
I find this option similar to that of MS Access.
In MS Access as well we have relationship concept and once you create a relationship, you can start creating number of queries based on that.
But MS Access is not so user friendly and basically its database. Good that we are getting those options/functions in Excel.
Thanks for sharing this info.
Regards,
Raghavendra Shanbog
What is star schema and snow flake.??? Can we have next article on that if it is useful for us???
Hi there, can anyone help? I tried testing this out in Excel using two tables. When I go to the Data tab the Relationships button does not appear at all. I am using Microsoft version 14.0.4760.1000, Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010. Does this version have this capability? Or is there an add-in required?
[…] even a layperson can perform if they have the almighty Excel 2010 and PowerPivot installed. Or Excel 2013′s Data Model, which lets you mash up data from Excel Tables and serve them up directly as PivotTables with not a […]
Chandoo/Hui,
The dates grouping feature does not seem to work in Data Model. Is that true or am I making a mistake somewhere?
I don't think this is really for "lookups"...
Try creating a pivot with sale ID and customer name in row fields. It will give you ALL customer names per sale ID.
You'd need to use RELATED function in a new column in powerpivot if you want something equivalent to "vlookup"
Please explain the difference between data model and power pivot, the functions of both of them are different and similar
thanks
[…] Handling large volumes of data in Excel—Since Excel 2013, the “Data Model” feature in Excel has provided support for larger volumes of data than the 1M row limit per worksheet. Data Model also embraces the Tables, Columns, Relationships representation as first-class objects, as well as delivering pre-built commonly used business scenarios like year-over-year growth or working with organizational hierarchies. For several customers, the headroom Data Model is sufficient for dealing with their own large data volumes. In addition to the product documentation, several of our MVPs have provided great content on Power Pivot and the Data Model. Here are a couple of articles from Rob Collie and Chandoo. […]
I need to use a slicer to allow a user to select vendor by name. In the background, I need to obtain the vendor ID to link to multiple datasets where the name may not be spelled consistently. Any advice?
@Bernadette
You can use the technique described here:
http://chandoo.org/wp/2016/05/11/apply-conditional-formatting-using-slicers/
I'd suggest try that and then if you have troubles ask the question in the Chandoo.org Forums http://forum.chandoo.org/
Attach a sample file to simplify the response
I've tried this in Excel 2016. It works great.
I can even create Cube Formulas on the Data model after I've inserted the pivot table.
Just for the fun of it, I tried to see if I could do Cube Formulas without creating the pivot table in advance. I can define Cube members, but it seems as if the measure part is playing tricks on me.
I can't get a Cube Value for Chocolates sold to Male customers.
With the Pivot created the formula looks like this (and works fine)
=CUBEVALUE("ThisWorkbookDataModel";"[Customer].[Gender].&[Male]";"[Product].[Category].&[Chocolates]";"[Measures].[Sum of Quantity]")
Does anyone know how I can solve this, or am I asking the impossible?
I want to see the video on this topic
What if customer.profession change its value after sometime?
Supposed we have monthly data for Sales. What if one customer is a doctor in Feb, then a pilot in October, for example?
How to build data model for such that situation?
Thank you.
In such case, you need to make relationships based on two columns. This kind of feature is not supported in Excel. You can use Power Query to merge tables based on multiple columns and return a consolidated giant table to Excel for reporting.
Is it able in MS Access?
I have never used access before.
thanks chandooo your article is very helpfull for troubling peoples' especially in office environment under boss pressure.
Here is an introduction to PowerPivot.
The link above is broken
Hi. This has really taken my interest.. I have huge data tables to work with...and I use vlookup to fetch certain data. I have different data in different sheets...
Like customer sales (customer code, product code,qty, piece rate, total amount, branch code) data in one sheet
Branch details in another (branch code, branch address, state , region)
Customer Geographical Data in third sheet (region, region name)
Product details in fourth sheet (product code, product description and related)
Now I use a vlookup to get branch name, state and product name respectively into my main sheet.
Now what I want is
customer code, product code,qty, piece rate, total amount, branch code) data in one sheet, branch address, state , region, region name, product description
Can't his be done thru data model... I tried but it's not working... Eitherway, I will gonthru thr session on e again and give a try... Any help, is appreciated. Thankyou
Dear All,
i am striving to do reverse relationship in Power pivot ,
example : -
1 - Data sheet
2. - Source data
step to stops - import first data sheet in power piovt and then source data , made relationship with both sheet , after created relationship i am able to do put related formula in source data sheet only (=releted('Source data'[Amount]), if i go to put formula in data sheet , parameter of Source data are not visible ,
could someone educate me how can i do , and utilize related formula in data sheet.