In which order does Excel process its formulae?
Solution 1:
Excel calculates cells toward the top left portion of the sheet before it processes those toward the bottom right. So yes, positioning your formulas based on their dependencies matter. In the image below, sheet B calculates faster than A.
(Source: Excel Slow to Respond – Avoiding Mistakes that Make Excel Slow Down to a Crawl)
If you're up for a bit of light reading, I suggest these articles:
- OzGrid.com: Speed up Slow Calculations in Excel
- MSDN Library: Recalculation in Microsoft Excel 2002
- Microsoft Support: How formula calculations are performed in Excel
- MSDN Library: Improving Performance in Excel 2007