Freezing the model by selecting manual recalculation

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When your model is complete and you're ready to analyze the data, in some cases it's helpful to "freeze" the model so that it doesn't continue to recalculate every time you make a change.  If you are only calculating a simple average of a relatively small data set, the automatic recalculation of the model may not be problematic.  However, if you wish to sort the results for graphing or perform other manipulations of the output data, it may be necessary to keep the recalculation from occurring.

Also, in extremely complex models and in models with many thousands of iterations, recalculation can consume a large amount of system resources and can also be time consuming.

One approach for freezing the model is to set Excel so that it does not automatically recalculate the spreadsheet.  You do this by selected "TOOLS - OPTIONS" from the menu bar, then selecting the "Manual" option under the Calculation tab (see below).

This will keep your spreadsheets from updating automatically.  In order to force recalculation manually, press the F9 key.

When you are finished working with your Monte Carlo model, be sure to reset the Calculation option back to "Automatic" or it could create confusion in working with your other spreadsheets.

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