Activating the Excel Solver

Excel does not have the Solver feature turned on by default, so we have to tell Excel to turn it on for us. Let's perform the following steps to activate the Excel Solver:

1. Fire up Excel 2013 and create a new spreadsheet. Go to the FILE menu and select the Options button, as shown in the following screenshot:

   

   Figure 7.1

2. In the Excel Options dialog box, select the Add-Ins option.

   

   Figure 7.2

   Notice that the Solver Add-in option is under the Inactive Application Add-ins menu option, as shown in the following screenshot:

   

   Figure 7.3

3. Click on the Go… button, which is at the bottom of the dialog box.

   

   Figure 7.4

4. In the Add-Ins dialog box, check the box labeled Solver Add-in and click on the OK button.

   

   Figure 7.5

If you navigate to the DATA tab, you will have a new button labeled Solver, as shown in the following screenshot. Congratulations! You have activated the Excel Solver in just a few steps.

Figure 7.6