turn on/off automatic calculation in only a few columns in Excel

Question

In excel I have a worksheet with over 30,000 rows. Sample data is shown in the image below. About a dozen of the columns have formulas which really slow down the work whenever I update a cell. I would like to use VBA code to turn off automatic formula calculation for only 5 columns (see columns in red in example). The formulas in the columns in yellow would run all the time. I would then like to create a macro that calculates the formula in the red columns whenever pressed.

I tried looking for some options in the formula ribbon but wasn't successful.

Area

Another conceivable solution: move some columns to another tab, and find VBA or some other way to control which tabs recalculate. Or possibly in another workbook: excel.tips.net/… – Peroneus

Answer 1

If you are creating a macro

Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Application.EnableEvents = False
Application.Calculation = xlCalculateManual

[YOUR CODE HERE]

Application.Calculation = xlAutomatic
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
Application.EnableEvents = True

But if you just want to enable and disable.. Go to the menu (from the ribbon) Formulas / Calculation Options and select Automatic or Manual as desired.

Gainsborough

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm trying to disable automatic calculation for 5 out of the 12 columns that have formulas. The macro would then automatically calculate the 5 columns that are disabled whenever pressed. I've modified my question to include a screenshot with some sample data. – Area

I am pretty sure there is an alternate way of doing whatever you intend to do. As far as I know, there is no way to stop-calc specific range of cells/rows/columns. – Stinkhorn

@ricardo Well a way to turn off calculations for certain cells would be to rewrite the formulas as custom UDFs then don't include application.volatile – Sussna

Answer 2

Why don't you simply write a macro that implements the formulas and then replaces the formulas with their results at the end. The cells would only be "dynamic" when the macro is running.

Citrin