# Big reference table slowing down app **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask for Help\ **Created:** [September 29, 2023, 1:02pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626 "2023-09-29T13:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IlseB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ilseb/32/44063_2.png) [@IlseB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/IlseB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:02pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/1 "2023-09-29T13:02:34Z")
I have a big table that sometimes needs to be queried as part of the users app experience, ie: - when the user views a contact’s profile, it needs to show historical events linked to the profile previously i added these legacy events into the app as a glide table, and the table slowed down so much i had to remove it. please can you guide me on the best way to implement? (i was thinking creating an external db to reference but perhaps big table or big query might be a better solution? i need to choose whether i stay on pro and do an external table, or, upgrade to business and use big table/big query any advice appreciated ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/2 "2023-09-29T13:06:34Z")
Big Tables are the way to go, as rows are only downloaded to the client device as they are needed for display. ---
**Author:** ![IlseB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ilseb/32/44063_2.png) [@IlseB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/IlseB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/3 "2023-09-29T13:08:07Z")
and if my legacy table is created as a big table… would it make sense to archive all old events to the same table - or do you suggest a different alternative for a “growing legacy/archive table” ---
**Author:** ![gvalero](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/gvalero/32/1037_2.png) [@gvalero](https://community.glideapps.com/u/gvalero)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/4 "2023-09-29T13:11:45Z")
Hola! How big is your GT: 30k, 50k or 120k rows? How many columns? How long does it take to respond a query and show the data on your APP? Bye ---
**Author:** ![IlseB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ilseb/32/44063_2.png) [@IlseB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/IlseB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:12pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/5 "2023-09-29T13:12:55Z")
and my last question @Darren_Murphy , what do you suggest as the next best alternative if my client doesnt have the cashflow to upgrade to $249 per month on business? ---
**Author:** ![IlseB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ilseb/32/44063_2.png) [@IlseB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/IlseB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:14pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/6 "2023-09-29T13:14:58Z")
about 50k, with 20 columns. the last time it slowed my landing page down to take atleast 10seconds… but i was trying to present a graph on it… perhaps if i limit it to a list on another page other than opening page of the app it will be better? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:16pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/7 "2023-09-29T13:16:37Z")
> [@IlseB](#): > > and if my legacy table is created as a big table… would it make sense to archive all old events to the same table - or do you suggest a different alternative for a “growing legacy/archive table” When you say your legacy table is a “big table”, I assume you mean a very large regular table, as opposed to an actual Glide Big Table, right? If you are switching to Big Tables, then you should keep all the data that you still need to access via the App in the same table. With Big Tables, there is no difference in performance between 100 rows and 1 million rows. > [@IlseB](#): > > what do you suggest as the next best alternative if my client doesnt have the cashflow to upgrade to $249 per month on business? My suggestion then would be to offload/archive older data to some other place that isn’t referenced by the App. ---
**Author:** ![IlseB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ilseb/32/44063_2.png) [@IlseB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/IlseB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/8 "2023-09-29T13:17:50Z")
correct its just really big ---
**Author:** ![IlseB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ilseb/32/44063_2.png) [@IlseB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/IlseB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:19pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/9 "2023-09-29T13:19:18Z")
what is the best method in your opinion to offload data to another place… do you think i would be able to automate this based on date for example if a record has a date older than 6 months export it to somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![gvalero](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/gvalero/32/1037_2.png) [@gvalero](https://community.glideapps.com/u/gvalero)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/10 "2023-09-29T13:23:48Z")
> [@IlseB](#): > > but i was trying to present a graph on it… perhaps if i limit it to a list on another page other than opening page of the app it will be better? Right! But your problem starts when you try to open the chart by filtering the data or when the APP loads at first? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/11 "2023-09-29T13:23:56Z")
> [@IlseB](#): > > what is the best method in your opinion to offload data to another place… do you think i would be able to automate this based on date for example if a record has a date older than 6 months export it to somewhere? You’re currently on a Pro Plan, right? This limits your options because you don’t have access to the `queryTables` call. Just off the top of my head, an option might be: - Periodically export the whole table as CSV, and store it somewhere. - Set up an action somewhere in your App that targets and deletes the oldest row in the table that’s older than 6 months old. This can be done in such a way that it “piggy backs” on one or more other actions. So you’d essentially be crowd-sourcing the job of cleaning out old rows to your users without them being aware of it. ---
**Author:** ![IlseB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ilseb/32/44063_2.png) [@IlseB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/IlseB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/12 "2023-09-29T13:55:20Z")
> [@Darren\_Murphy](#): > > My suggestion then would be to offload/archive older data to some other place that isn’t referenced by the App. it was both… the app would take very long to get to the home page…and the home page took super long to load with the graph ---
**Author:** ![gvalero](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/gvalero/32/1037_2.png) [@gvalero](https://community.glideapps.com/u/gvalero)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:56pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/13 "2023-09-29T13:56:48Z")
Ok! I think I would use the Darren’s suggestion ---
**Author:** ![IlseB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/ilseb/32/44063_2.png) [@IlseB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/IlseB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2023, 1:56pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/big-reference-table-slowing-down-app/66626/14 "2023-09-29T13:56:54Z")
that sounds like a great interim plan… thank you