# Off Topic > The Water Cooler >  > [SOLVED] FastExcel 2.4... Is It Worth It?

## artiststevens

I'm thinking of purchasing FastExcel 2.4 and I wanted to know people's experiences with the add-in and whether or not it was worth purchasing. Thank you for any and all help.

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## MarvinP

Hi,

Excel does so much already, I've not needed any add-ins.  I'd worry that the non-Microsoft add-in would hurt instead of help...

I'd stick to trying to learn more of the features and functions built into Excel before needing an add-in.

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## artiststevens

Thanks Marvin,
I appreciate the response but I have a really large spreadsheet with many formulas and I'm trying to figure out a way to reduce it's size. I've tried many solutions but nothing has worked, so I wanted to get opinions on FastExcel.

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## FDibbins

I tend to agree with Marvin.  Before going the add-in route, I would see if there was something that could be done with the existing formulas to make them better

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## macropod

If you're worried about file bloat due to the complexity of the formulae you have so many of, consider replacing some of them with UDFs, or using a macro (possibly event-driven) to do their work.

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## MarvinP

After reading a little more about FastExcel, you might look at the VBA command of Calculate.  You can turn calculation off and this looks like things are much faster.  You can even only calculate a range of cells.   I wonder if his is what FastExcel does.  If it is you can do it using VBA.

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## artiststevens

I first wanted to thank everyone for their input. I've already turned off the calculations for the workbook. My real issue is with all of the formulas. They take up the majority of the file space. I wanted to purchase FastExcel because it's supposed to help with reorganizing and optimizing formulas. I'm not that familiar with VBA, so that's not an option either. Can anyone point me in the right direction for finding an Excel guru to hire? Thanks again for the help.

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## FDibbins

You could probably ask your questions here and get the help you want for nothing?  (as long as its not a HUGE project lol)

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## shg

I know nothing of FastExcel, but author Charles Williams is a wiz, and the cost is modest. Not knowing your level of expertise with Excel, the only potential downside I could foresee is that it requires a moderate competence to understand what it's telling you.

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## macropod

> I'm not that familiar with VBA, so that's not an option either.



Maybe it's time to get familiar... Sure you can hire someone to do the work, but only means you could become tied to that programmer for every enhancement you want and every new workbook you want to apply the same approach to. It's the old 'Give a man a fish' vs 'Teach a man to fish' addage all over again.

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## Tony Valko

Like shg, I have never used the FastExcel application but I know the author, Charles Williams, is highly regarded in the Excel community as the definitive efficiency expert.

Maybe see if you can get a trial version.

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## artiststevens

Thank you everyone for the help. All of your input has given me direction on how to proceed.

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## Tony Valko

Good deal. Thanks for the feedback!  :Cool:

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