You can fit a lot of data in an Excel sheet. With thousands and thousands of rows and columns, it can be quite unwieldy.
One little feature that makes managing all that data easier is the ability to freeze rows and columns so that no matter where you scroll in the spreadsheet, those rows or columns are always visible.
How to freeze the first column or top row in Excel
With this method, you will have to choose whether to freeze the row or the column. Unfortunately, you can't do both.
- Open your Excel spreadsheet and go to the View tab.
- Click the Freeze Panes button.
- To freeze the top row, click Freeze Top Row in the dropdown menu. To freeze the first column, click Freeze first column in the dropdown menu.
How to freeze a selection of columns and rows in Excel
If you prefer to freeze a combination of rows and columns, it's possible, but it's a bit more complicated:
- Open your Excel spreadsheet and go to the View tab.
- Select the cell directly below the row you want to freeze and the cell to the Correct From the column you want to freeze. If you want to freeze rows 1-4 and columns 1-3, then you will select cell D5. If you want to freeze the top row and first column, you'll select cell B2.
- Click the Freeze Panes and once again, click the Freeze Panels option in the dropdown menu.
How to unfreeze columns or rows in Excel
- Open your Excel spreadsheet and go to the View tab.
- Click the Freeze Panes button.
- Click Defrost Panels in the dropdown menu.
To see each of these processes in action, watch this video showing the function in Excel 2016
What are your favorite tips or tricks to make handling large amounts of data in Excel easier? Let us know in the comments.
