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I just tried to use Excel for the first time in ages and somehow it has become completely unfit for purpose. Two series of data, one table of 300 cells containi

by kibwen 2y ago

I just tried to use Excel for the first time in ages and somehow it has become completely unfit for purpose. Two series of data, one table of 300 cells containing one automatically extrapolated formula that multiplies the value of the cells in the series. A trivial spreadsheet use case that was solved 40 years ago. Changed the values in one series, and the table just... didn't update. Clicked into the cells and the formulas are right, they're referring to the right cells, it just doesn't update. I edit the cell and hit enter without changing anything. That cell updates, the other 299 don't. What? What?! How is such a fundamental feature of the spreadsheet so utterly broken?? You expect me to go and manually verify that all dependent cells have updated every time I change anything anywhere? Microsoft, you have failed at your most fundamental purpose, zero points awarded. So yeah, I have some pretty strong feelings about Microsoft right now.

PapaPalpatine 2y ago
> I just tried to use Excel for the first time in ages … I edit the cell and hit enter without changing anything. That cell updates, the other 299 don't. What? What?! You sure that wasn’t an operator error? Sounds like a pretty basic feature to not have working.
- kibwen 2y ago
  Trust me, I assumed I did something wrong. 20 minutes of investigation later, I exhausted every other reasonable possibility other than that the software is simply broken. Fun fact, the key combo to manually recalculate all cells is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F9. That fixed it, but I'll never, ever trust Excel for anything again.
Khaine 2y ago
There is a setting in excel that disables auto calculation. This is useful for people who are (ab)using excel with massive data sets and crazy calculations. It sounds like this setting may have been on
- kibwen 2y ago
  Trust me, it wasn't. It was the first thing I checked. It was set to automatic mode.
bandrami 2y ago
The irony is something like 99.999% of spreadsheets in use today have zero calculations. People think of Excel primarily as a way to lay out text on two axes. It's mind-blowing but I see people write out a series of expenditures down a single column and then pull out a desk calculator, add them up, and enter the sum at the bottom

by kibwen 2y ago

PapaPalpatine 2y ago

> I just tried to use Excel for the first time in ages … I edit the cell and hit enter without changing anything. That cell updates, the other 299 don't. What? What?! You sure that wasn’t an operator error? Sounds like a pretty basic feature to not have working.

kibwen 2y ago
Trust me, I assumed I did something wrong. 20 minutes of investigation later, I exhausted every other reasonable possibility other than that the software is simply broken. Fun fact, the key combo to manually recalculate all cells is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F9. That fixed it, but I'll never, ever trust Excel for anything again.

Khaine 2y ago

There is a setting in excel that disables auto calculation. This is useful for people who are (ab)using excel with massive data sets and crazy calculations. It sounds like this setting may have been on

kibwen 2y ago
Trust me, it wasn't. It was the first thing I checked. It was set to automatic mode.

bandrami 2y ago

The irony is something like 99.999% of spreadsheets in use today have zero calculations. People think of Excel primarily as a way to lay out text on two axes. It's mind-blowing but I see people write out a series of expenditures down a single column and then pull out a desk calculator, add them up, and enter the sum at the bottom