using windows 10 home on a ssd drive with libre office; when I update a spreadsheet in libre office my acer laptop says it is not responding until the file is saved which is taking 7 seconds to save, previously when using ms xl it saved very quicky, the file is 830 KB in size, that didn’t make any difference with xl so why is it taking so long in libre office, I appreciate 7 seconds isn’t?
Which format do you save to (this question sounds a bit like you don’t use LibreOffice’s native ODF format .ods but some other format)?
why is it taking so long in libre office,
There may be several reasons. A few I can think of, off the cuff…
Native vs. foreign file format
I suspect that you save the spreadsheet in Excel file format (xlsx). This means that Calc needs to translate the internal data before saving, instead of just writing the content straight to file.
When I save a spreadsheet in Excel file format, it takes 2-3 times longer than when I save to Calc’s native format (ods).
This observation is based on just a few simple tests. Depending on functionality used, size of data and the amount of RAM available, the factor can vary significantly. Saving to “foreign language” should always be expected to take longer.
Development strategies and optimizing
- The Microsoft development team has greater resources than the LibreOffice team, so more time can be allotted to optimizing.
- Excel may be optimized in conjunction with Windows (same software house delivering app and operating system) while for LibreOffice one specific objective is portability across platforms.
I wonder if an anti-virus is slowing it down? Microsoft products normally get a free pass but LO will be inspected. With a 1.6MB spreadsheet (.ods) it took less than 2 seconds to save to Acer local SSD. I would test it with AVG anti ransomware turned on except last time I did that it took a while to get everything back to normal and working properly.
Good point from @EarnestAl about antivirus. Didn’t think of that.
Another thing that comes to mind: If the spreadsheet has ever “visited Excel context”, there may be elements of translation, “residue”, which slows down the process. E.g.: A heavily formatted spreadsheet may have a huge list of styles. Some types of interdependent elements seem to take a long time to build the “storage structure” (i guess) before it is written to disk.
thank you keme, definitely saved as .ods format laptop has 1 tb ssd with 8 Gb ram
In that case, just accept that in Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Excel is faster than the competition. You have then sacrificed speed for portability/openness/independence/affordability (pick any number).
thank you, I appreciater your help
Please do not use the Answer field for comments that are not an answer to the original question, use add a comment instead, or click edit on your question to provide further details. Thanks.