Google Sheets is rolling out a manual calculation setting that lets users decide when formulas and references update, instead of recalculating after every edit. The feature is off by default and can be switched on by any user through File > Settings > Calculation Settings inside a spreadsheet. Google says there is no admin control for it, so the choice sits with the person editing the file.
The rollout began September 21, 2026 and is gradual, with Google allowing up to 15 days for the feature to appear in both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains. It reaches all Google Workspace customers as well as Workspace Individual subscribers. Google did not disclose a price for the setting, and the notice describes no separate charge.
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The pitch is aimed at people working in heavy, formula-driven files. With automatic recalculation paused, someone pasting or changing large blocks of data in a spreadsheet full of multi-sheet lookups and aggregations can make all their edits without intermediate calculations firing after each action. Google also points to scenario modeling, where a user adjusts several assumption drivers in a financial or forecasting model one at a time and then recalculates once to see the finished state rather than partial results.
A third use case covers spreadsheets that rely on volatile functions such as random generators or live timestamps. Manual calculation freezes the data state so the numbers hold still while someone analyzes results or presents them to stakeholders. In each case the user triggers a sheet-wide update when ready to review the outcome.
The setting lands in a busy stretch for Sheets. Google doubled the cell limit from up to 10 million to up to 20 million cells, a change that became generally available on September 10, 2026, with the same 15-day visibility window and coverage extending to personal Google accounts. Earlier in September, Gemini in Sheets arrived on Android, handling data analysis and insights while complex edits, formatting, and formulas stayed on the web version.
Read together, the recent updates point in one direction: Google is tuning Sheets for larger and more calculation-heavy workbooks. The cell increase gave those files more room before Sheets pushed back, and the manual setting now gives their editors control over when the math runs. The notice does not say whether manual mode changes how shared files behave for collaborators who have not enabled it.
