Basic Excel: Recalculating A Sheet

By Author: Chris Le Roy
Total Articles: 92
Comment this article

Microsoft Excel is an extremely dynamic application that by default automatically recalculates any changes you make to your Microsoft Excel worksheets. This capability in Microsoft Excel is called automatic calculation. Sometimes though you may find that due to the complexity and the size of your worksheet, you may want to control when the Microsoft Excel application recalculates your workbook or you may find that you just want a single worksheet to be recalculated.

To control when the Microsoft Excel application will recalculate the worksheet, you must first turn the default automatic calculation function to manual. The first step in doing this is to select the Tools menu and then select the Options command from the drop down menu. At this point the Options dialog box will appear.

Then select the Calculation tab in the Options dialog box and then select the Manual radio button. Finally to complete the process, of turning the automatic calculation off, press the OK button.

Once you are in manual calculation mode, there are a couple of ways you can force the Microsoft Excel application to recalculate. ...
... The first is to open the Options dialog, select the Calculations tab and then use either the Calc Now or Calc Sheet buttons. If you press the Calc Now button it will recalculate the whole workbook but if you press the Calc Sheet option it will only update your current worksheet.

Alternatively, you can recalculate your worksheet using shortcut keystrokes only at any time. These shortcuts are ones that you need to know as you may find it is better to operate your spreadsheet in manual mode than in automatic calculate mode. To update the whole workbook simply press the F9 key. If you want to update the active worksheet all you need to do simply press Shift + F9.