Applies to

Smartsheet

Issue: My sheet is slow to load

If you’re experiencing issues with a specific sheet not loading or saving as expected, Smartsheet may be timing out because it’s processing significant amounts of data. 

PLANS

  • Smartsheet

This behavior most commonly occurs in the following situations:

  • The sheet is approaching Smartsheet size limits.
  • The sheet is leveraging 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 include tips about how to optimize your sheets for faster load time. For specific maximums and recommendations about best practices 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 specific criteria that you specify.
     
  • 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

In a project sheet with a large number of predecessors and dependencies, any change causes all of the tasks in the sheet to adjust—which may slow 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 will be less useful or powerful. Follow the best practices here to maintain functionality and improve efficiency:

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