2.34 FAQ-468 My Origin project file is very slow to work with. How can I improve this?

ProjectFile-Very-Slow

Last Update: 4/21/2022

If your project is slow to load, or Origin runs slowly while you have your project open, try the following:

A Large number of Windows in Project

If you have a large number of windows (especially graph windows) within a single Project Explorer folder, reloading them will take a lot of time.

Subfolder

• Move some of them into subfoders.

OR,

• Try other options for not displaying windows on this page.

ADDITIONALLY,

• If your current project folder has a large number of graph windows and you prefer not to hide windows, you can try reducing the value of system variable @NPP. In doing so, you can prevent partially-covered graph windows from repainting and thereby reduce demand for system resources. See this FAQ for instructions on changing the value of a system variable.

Turn off Sparklines

Sparklines are "thumbnail" graphs that can be displayed in the worksheet column. If you have a large project file with many workbooks, or manipulation/analysis will genearate a large number of worksheets/workbooks (e.g. Split Worksheet), and those workbooks contain sparklines (displayed or hidden), your system may perform poorly or become unresponsive.

Solution

• Follow this FAQ to remove sparklines from a project file.

Turn off AutoSave

If you have a big project file that periodically freezes, this may be caused by the Autosave feature.

Solution

• To turn off Autosave, select from menu Preferences:Options, on the Open/Close tab uncheck Autosave Project Every xx Minute(s).

Clear Result Log

Prior to Origin 8.6, logging for many functions was enabled by default when importing ( to display, click View: Results Log or press ALT+2), and thus these entries could accumulate over time. With Origin 8.6, the default was changed to not log such entries, but for older OPJ files that log might have already been very big. Clearing a big Results Log can greatly improve OPJ loading and saving speed.

Solutjion

• Follow this page to clear the Results Log.
  Note: If you are concerned about losing the Results Log content, copy content to a Notes window and save it with the project file.
• Beginning with Origin 2020b, Origin will ask to clear the Results Log if you reach 30,000 entries (see system variable @CRL).

Project from Old Version

• OPJ files created with some older Origin versions might have some redundant internal objects (empty operations) saved in the file. Later versions of Origin fixed this problem but, in particular, files created with version 8.5.1 may still contain many of these redundant objects.
  Solution
  Try deleting the empty operations in the OPJ file. Click Window:Script Window to open the Script Window, then type the following and press Enter:

  del -op

• Origin 2018 introduced a new Unicode-compliant project file type -- OPJU. If you have upgraded to a recent version of Origin and you have older project files of the OPJ file type, consider resaving the files to the new OPJU format as it can produce significantly smaller project file sizes and faster loading and saving times.

Delete Loose Datasets

Loose datasets have been found to accumulate in some projects over time and bloat the project.

Solution

• To delete all datasets that are not in a worksheet and are not used in any graph, click Window: Script Window and run the following:

del -as

See Also

• FAQ-1014 What Can I do to Reduce the Size of My Origin Project?
• FAQ-906 What should I do if my Origin is slow or sluggish？
• FAQ-930 Windows Freezes or Crashes when Origin Starts or While Origin is Running

Keywords:project slow, slowness, freeze, sluggish, OPJ, Project Explorer, hide windows, autosave, save, open, sparkline, results log