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Spreadsheet Freezer Help

Overview

When Spreadsheet Freezer is enabled for a spreadsheet, it creates an empty formula store for that spreadsheet. On user demand, the user selected formulas are added to/removed from the formula store and the ranges that originally hold those formulas are frozen/unfrozen.

By freeze we mean that the formulas are overwrote by their results.

By unfreeze we mean that the formulas results are cleared and the formulas are added again to their original cells.

Why

  • At this time, in contrast as other spreadsheet app do, Google Sheets doesn't include a setting to stop the spreadsheet recalculation.
  • It's common that users use calculation expensive formulas that later could be hard to find and fix or substitute for non expensive formulas

How-to

Spreadsheet Freezer functions are available through the Google Sheets Add-ons menu.

Add a formula to the formula store

To add a formula to the formula store that returns a single value to the formula store, like =NOW() , do the following:

  1. Click the cell that holds the formula
  2. Click Add-ons > Spreadsheet Freezer > Add formula.

To add a formula to the formula store that returns an array of values to the formula store, like =IMPORTRANGE(url,reference) , do the following:

  1. Select the range that holds the formula results. We assume that the active cell is the top left cell, so double check that this is the case for the current selection.
  2. Click Add-ons > Spreadsheet Freezer > Add formula.

Freeze my spreadsheet

To Freeze click Add-ons > Spreadsheet Freezer > Freeze.

Unfreeze my spreadsheet

To Unfreeze click Add-ons > Spreadsheet Freezer > Unfreeze.

Remove a formula from the formulas store

To remove a formula from the formula store when there is only one formula:

  1. Click Add-ons > Spreadsheet Freezer > Remove formula.
  2. Click the Yes button

To remove a formula from the formula store when there are two or more formulas you should know the index base 0 (the first formula index is 0) of the formula to remove from the formula store.

  1. (Optional) To know which are the formulas indexes, Click Add-ons > Spreadsheet Freezer > List formulas. This will add a new sheet with the default dimensions (1000 rows, 26 columns).
  2. Click Add-ons > Spreadsheet Freezer > Remove formula.
  3. Enter the formula index and click OK.

Remarks

  • The formulas saved on the document properties created by Spreadsheet Freezer are only accesible by the add-on when it's being used on the corresponding spreadsheet.
  • Spreadsheet editors could add, remove, list the formulas, freeze, unfreeze, enable / disable the add-on.

Tips

  • Before uninstalling Spreadsheet Freezer unfreeze your spreadsheets.
  • Always make a copy of your spreadsheet before making major changes.
  • If you handle large data sets and / or open references like A:A or 1:1 keep an eye on the number of cells of your spreadsheet

Questions

If you have questions about how to use Spreadsheet Freezer, please post them on Web Applications by using the following tags:

  • google-sheets
  • google-sheets-addons
  • spreadsheet-freezer

If you have inquiries that aren't about how to use Spreadsheet Freezer like a feature request please send it through Feedback.

Concerns

  • Most people don't like to read help stuff like this. If you read so far, please let us know through Feedback.