How to Add Solver in Excel

Excel is one of the most important and powerful tools in the office. This spreadsheet program comes in handy in the formatting, organization and calculating of data. It is mainly applied in human resource management, performance testing, business analysis and operations management. Due to its functionality, it has many features and add-in programs that aid in data manipulation and computation.

One of these add-in tools, solver, generally comes in handy for what-if analyses. It finds optimal values, be it minimum or maximum, for formulas in the objective cell with regard to other formula cells in the worksheet. However, do you know how to add solver to Excel? Excel can take some time to grasp, given its many functionalities and manipulation methods. This article aims to help you in your quest to grasp Excel; therefore, we hope that you will know how to add solver to Excel and use it by the end of our discussion.

How to Locate Solver in Excel

You can easily define and solve a problem using this tool in a few steps. However, you will first need to know how to add solver to Excel and then find it. 

1.After clicking on your template, head to the Data tab on the same line as home, insert, page, layout, formulas, review, view and tools tabs.

2.Click on the data tab to reveal a list of options. Look for the what-if analysis function, which will take you to the solver. It will be on your right.

3.The next step is to click the arrow at the far end of the words, which will reveal two tools: goal seek and solver.

How to Use Solver in Excel

1.Since, we are interested in the solver, click on it. You will end up with the following table:

2.Here, you are expected to input the set objectives and define the parameter value you would like to find, which can either be minimum or maximum. You can also easily manipulate the subject to the template using the options at the side of the table. Resetting all would be a good option if you notice a flaw.

How to Choose a Solving Method in Excel

1.Ensure that you choose your preferred solving method by clicking on the select a solving method box. Remember that, as illustrated in the screenshot, smooth nonlinear solver problems are better handled by the IPOPT Nonlinear engine, while linear solver problems should be subjected to the LP Simplex engine.

2.Once everything is set and done, click on solve.

Conclusion

We hope that you now know how to add solver to excel. Remember that this is an important add-on tool you will need when manipulating data. Also, do you know that you do not need to struggle on your own to grasp Excel? Well, you should view and subscribe to WPS academy to better understand how this data spreadsheet works. We have many resources to help you in your journey to becoming an Excel guru.

Do not forget to download and use WPS for free to edit documents in different formats such as Excel, PDF, Word and Excel. You will not regret it!