5 TIPS FOR USING AI TO OPTIMIZE EXCEL WORKBOOK PERFORMANCE (SPEED)

As Excel workbooks grow in size and complexity, they often suffer from significant performance degradation, leading to slow calculation times and frequent freezing. AI is now becoming a important tool in diagnosing these performance bottlenecks, suggesting more efficient formula structures, and automating the cleanup of "bloated" files to restore peak operating speed.

5 Tips for Using AI to Optimize Excel Workbook Performance (Speed)

Here are five tips for using AI to optimize Excel workbook performance:

• DIAGNOSING VOLATILE FORMULA BOTTLE NECKS: AI can scan your entire workbook to identify "volatile" functions such as OFFSET, INDIRECT, or TODAY which force Excel to recalculate every time any cell is edited. By asking an AI assistant to "Audit my workbook for calculation bottlenecks," it can pinpoint specific cells that are draining processing power and suggest non-volatile alternatives (like INDEX or XLOOKUP) that only recalculate when their specific inputs change.

  
  

• REPLACING BULKY FORMULAS WITH DYNAMIC ARRAYS: Traditional models often rely on thousands of individual formulas copied across rows and columns, which drastically increases file size and memory usage. AI can analyze your data structure and suggest replacing these with a single Dynamic Array formula (e.g., FILTER, SORT, or UNIQUE). This "spilling" logic allows one formula to do the work of thousands, significantly reducing the metadata Excel has to track and speeding up overall responsiveness.

  
  

• AUTOMATING THE REMOVAL OF EXCESS FORMATTING: Excessive "conditional formatting" and "ghost" formatting in empty cells are leading causes of workbook bloat. AI tools can detect the "Last Used Cell" and compare it to the actual data range. You can prompt an AI script or assistant to "Identify and clear all formatting and objects outside the used data range," which can often reduce file sizes by 50% or more and eliminate the lag experienced when scrolling or saving.

  
  

• OPTIMIZING DATA LOADING VIA POWER QUERY AI: Instead of storing millions of rows of raw data directly in a worksheet which slows down every calculation AI can help you write optimized Power Query scripts to summarize data before it ever hits the grid. By using AI to "Refine this query to load only the necessary columns and pre-aggregate the data," you move the heavy lifting to the Power Query engine, keeping the main Excel interface light and fast.

  
  

• IDENTIFYING REDUNDANT CALCULATION CHAINS: In large models, the same calculation is often performed multiple times across different sheets, creating a "calculation debt." AI can audit the logic of your workbook to find these redundancies. It can suggest creating a single "Calculation Sheet" where complex values are computed once and then referenced elsewhere, ensuring that Excel doesn't waste CPU cycles re-processing identical logic in multiple locations.

AI is turning the art of Excel optimization into a precise science. By shifting from manual troubleshooting to AI-driven diagnostics, users can instantly identify the hidden causes of workbook lag whether they are volatile functions, redundant calculations, or unnecessary formatting. These AI-driven strategies not only improve the immediate speed of the file but also ensure that Excel models remain scalable and efficient as data volumes continue to grow.