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Im making a query that includes a bunch of importranges and each search takes a while.
The importranges are put together using { array signs }.
If I were to use an arrayformula to make an array of the importranges would that be less labor intensive for the sheet or does it not make a difference.
If you are worried about the spreadsheet recalculation performance I think that comparing a spreadsheet with a formula that use an array of IMPORTRANGE compared to another spreadsheet that puts each IMPORTRANGE as formulas in one or several sheets (unhidden) and then build the array using references to the ranges were the IMPORTRANGE results are displayed, the performance of the first spreadsheet will be better as it doesn't have to spend resources displaying values but I'm not sure what will perform better if the sheet or sheets holding those formulas are hidden.
It wouldn't make any significant difference.
Your real issue here (reading your other question as well) is the amount of IMPORTRANGE that you try to execute simultaneously.
In general it is not good practice to overload a spreadsheet.
In any case you need to keep in mind that each importrange updates every 30 minutes.
Reference: Set a spreadsheet’s location & calculation settings
Functions that pull data from outside the spreadsheet recalculate at the following times:
- ImportRange: 30 minutes
- ImportHtml, ImportFeed, ImportData, ImportXml: 1 hour
- GoogleFinance: may be delayed up to 20 minutes
