My Google Sheets document is running really slow because it has tons of data in it. The performance is getting worse every day and it’s becoming hard to work with.
I want to find a way to make the older entries (like anything from last year) become read-only or frozen so they don’t slow down the sheet anymore. But I still need to see all the data in one place, so I don’t want to split it into different sheets.
Does anyone know if there’s a way to turn old rows into static data that won’t affect performance? Maybe there’s some Google Apps Script code or a formula trick that can help with this? I’ve tried looking around but haven’t found a good solution yet.
Google Sheets gets painfully slow with large datasets - I’ve been there. A practical solution is to use query functions to effectively separate your active data from the older entries while keeping everything visible. I implemented a query that displays the current year’s data at the top, with historical data below. This way, the old data loads significantly faster as it is not subject to constant recalculation. Additionally, leveraging Apps Script can allow you to create a date filter that moves older rows to a different range within the same sheet, enabling different handling of calculations. This approach maintains a single-sheet view while ensuring that the sections you frequently use operate more smoothly.
Try protecting those old rows instead! Go to Data > Protect sheets and ranges, then select your year-old data. Won’t make them static, but it’ll stop accidental edits that slow things down. Also check for conditional formatting on old data - removing that made my sheet load way faster.
To improve performance in Google Sheets, consider converting your older formula-driven entries to static values. This method significantly reduced lag for me. I regularly selected rows with dates older than a year, then used ‘Paste Special > Values Only’ to replace formulas with their results. If you’re familiar with Google Apps Script, you can automate this process to target specific dates, ensuring your current data remains dynamic while older entries become static, thereby enhancing the overall speed of your document.