Issue: My sheet is slow to load

This behavior most commonly occurs in the following situations:

• The sheet is approaching Smartsheet size limits.
• The sheet leverages a significant number of advanced capabilities, such as conditional formatting, complex formulas (especially cross-sheet formulas), predecessors, or multiple inbound cell links.

The following sections of this article offer tips to optimize your sheets and improve load times. For specific maximums and best-practice recommendations for advanced capabilities, see System requirements and guidelines for using Smartsheet.

Reduce the sheet size

The larger a sheet is, the more processing power it takes for your browser to load and save the changes. Here are some ways to reduce sheet size:

• Delete or move rows to another sheet.

  You can use automation to move rows automatically based on your specified criteria.

• Break up the sheet into logical divisions, such as by month, and then use a row report to consolidate rows from the different sheets as needed.

Break a large project into smaller ones

Any change to a project sheet with many predecessors and dependencies can cause all tasks in the sheet to adjust, potentially slowing sheet performance. To remedy this, consider breaking the project into subprojects, each in its own sheet. Once you’ve broken the project into subprojects, use a row report to consolidate rows from the different sheets as needed.

Use a Portfolio Summary report, a dashboard, or both to create a high-level view of your projects.

Reduce the complexity of the sheet

Reducing complexity doesn’t mean that a sheet is less useful or powerful. 

Maintain functionality and improve efficiency by:

• Using @row or @cell to improve formula performance. 
• Knowing maximums and following best practices when you use:
  • Column formulas
  • Cell links
  • Conditional formatting rules