Opening a file in excel without recalculating NOW()

Question

In excel 2010, 2011, and 2013 (tried all three) opening a file as read-only still recalculates NOW(). Is there a way to instruct excel not to recalculate when opening a file?

Answer 1

Easiest way is to switch the automatic (Default) Calculation option to manual.

update: Open a blank new Excel workbook first, then set the manual calculation option as described above. Then go to File -> open and chose the file you want to open without any recalculating. This will overwrite the calculating option no matter which mode the file was saved in.