A volatile FUNCTION calculates the formula again and again (whenever there is any change in the worksheet). This can slow down the workbook considerably.

A very simple example of a volatile function is the NOW() function (to get the current date and time in a cell). Whenever you edit any cell in a worksheet, it gets recalculate. This is fine if you have a SMALL data set and less number of formulas, but when you have large spreadsheets, this could SIGNIFICANTLY slow down the processing.

Here is a list of volatile formulas:

Highly volatile: RAND (), NOW (), TODAY ()

Almost volatile: OFFSET (), CELL (), INDIRECT (), INFO ()

A volatile function calculates the formula again and again (whenever there is any change in the worksheet). This can slow down the workbook considerably.

A very simple example of a volatile function is the NOW() function (to get the current date and time in a cell). Whenever you edit any cell in a worksheet, it gets recalculate. This is fine if you have a small data set and less number of formulas, but when you have large spreadsheets, this could significantly slow down the processing.

Here is a list of volatile formulas:

Highly volatile: RAND (), NOW (), TODAY ()

Almost volatile: OFFSET (), CELL (), INDIRECT (), INFO ()