How to unfreeze excel

Freeze panes to lock rows and columns

To keep an area of a worksheet visible while you scroll to another area of the worksheet, go to the View tab, where you can Freeze Panes to lock specific rows and columns in place, or you can Split panes to create separate windows of the same worksheet.

Freeze rows or columns

Freeze the first column

Select View > Freeze Panes > Freeze First Column.

The faint line that appears between Column A and B shows that the first column is frozen.

Freeze the first two columns

Select the third column.

Select View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.

Freeze columns and rows

Select the cell below the rows and to the right of the columns you want to keep visible when you scroll.

Select View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.

Unfreeze rows or columns

On the View tab > Window > Unfreeze Panes.

Note: If you don’t see the View tab, it’s likely that you are using Excel Starter. Not all features are supported in Excel Starter.

Need more help?

You can always ask an expert in the Excel Tech Community or get support in the Answers community.

Freeze Panes in Excel

If you have a large table of data in Excel, it can be useful to freeze rows or columns. This way you can keep rows or columns visible while scrolling through the rest of the worksheet.

Freeze Top Row

To freeze the top row, execute the following steps.

1. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Freeze Panes.

2. Click Freeze Top Row.

3. Scroll down to the rest of the worksheet.

Result. Excel automatically adds a dark grey horizontal line to indicate that the top row is frozen.

Unfreeze Panes

To unlock all rows and columns, execute the following steps.

1. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Freeze Panes.

2. Click Unfreeze Panes.

Freeze First Column

To freeze the first column, execute the following steps.

1. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Freeze Panes.

2. Click Freeze First Column.

3. Scroll to the right of the worksheet.

Result. Excel automatically adds a dark grey vertical line to indicate that the first column is frozen.

Freeze Rows

To freeze rows, execute the following steps.

1. For example, select row 4.

2. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Freeze Panes.

3. Click Freeze Panes.

4. Scroll down to the rest of the worksheet.

Result. All rows above row 4 are frozen. Excel automatically adds a dark grey horizontal line to indicate that the first three rows are frozen.

Freeze Columns

To freeze columns, execute the following steps.

1. For example, select column E.

2. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Freeze Panes.

3. Click Freeze Panes.

4. Scroll to the right of the worksheet.

Result. All columns to the left of column E are frozen. Excel automatically adds a dark grey vertical line to indicate that the first four columns are frozen.

Freeze Cells

To freeze cells, execute the following steps.

1. For example, select cell C3.

2. On the View tab, in the Window group, click Freeze Panes.

3. Click Freeze Panes.

4. Scroll down and to the right.

Result. The orange region above row 3 and to the left of column C is frozen.

Magic Freeze Button

Add the magic Freeze button to the Quick Access Toolbar to freeze the top row, the first column, rows, columns or cells with a single click.

1. Click the down arrow.

2. Click More Commands.

3. Under Choose commands from, select Commands Not in the Ribbon.

4. Select Freeze Panes and click Add.

6. To freeze the top row, select row 2 and click the magic Freeze button.

7. Scroll down to the rest of the worksheet.

Result. Excel automatically adds a dark grey horizontal line to indicate that the top row is frozen.

Note: to unlock all rows and columns, click the Freeze button again. To freeze the first 4 columns, select column E (the fifth column) and click the magic Freeze button, etc.

How to freeze panes in Excel to lock rows and columns

by Svetlana Cheusheva | updated on August 12, 2022

The tutorial demonstrates quick ways to freeze panes in Excel. You will learn how to quickly lock header row or/and the first column. You will also see how to freeze several panes at a time to make Excel always show certain rows or/and columns when you scroll down or right. These tips work in all modern versions of Excel 365, 2021, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 and 2007.

As you probably know, the current versions of Excel allow using more than a million rows and over 16,000 columns per sheet. Hardly anyone will ever use them to the limit, but if your worksheet contains tens or hundreds of rows, the column headers in the top row disappear when you are scrolling down to view lower entries. The good news is that you can easily fix that inconvenience by freezing panes in Excel.

In Microsoft Excel terms, to freeze panes means to always show certain rows and/or columns at the top of a spreadsheet when scrolling. Bellow you will find the detailed steps that work in any for Excel version.

How to freeze rows in Excel

Typically, you would want to lock the first row to see the column headers when you scroll down the sheet. But sometimes your spreadsheet may contain important information in a few top rows and you may want to freeze them all. Below you will find the steps for both scenarios.

How to freeze top row (header row) in Excel

To always show the header row, just go to the View tab, and click Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row. Yep, it’s that simple : )

Microsoft Excel gives you a visual clue to identify a frozen row by a bit thicker and darker border below it:

How to lock multiple Excel rows

Do you want to freeze several rows in your spreadsheet? No problem, you can lock as many rows as you want, as long as you always start with the top row.

Note. If some of the rows that you wish to lock are out of view when you apply freezing, they won’t show up later, nor will you be able to scroll up to those rows. See how to avoid frozen hidden rows in Excel.

How to freeze columns in Excel

You lock columns in Excel in exactly the same way as you lock rows. And again, you can choose to freeze the first column only or multiple columns.

Lock the first column in a worksheet

Freezing the first column is as simple as clicking View > Freeze Panes > Freeze First Column.

A little darker and thicker border to the right of column A means that the left-most column in the table is frozen.

How to freeze multiple columns in Excel

If you want to lock more than one column in a sheet, proceed in this way:

Note. Please make sure that all the columns you want to lock are visible at the moment of freezing. If some of the columns are out of view, you won’t see them later. For more details, please see How to avoid hidden columns in Excel.

How to freeze multiple panes in Excel (rows and columns)

Do you wish to lock multiple rows and columns? No problem, you can do this as well, provided that you always start with the top row and first column.

To lock several rows and columns at a time, select a cell below the last row and to the right of the last column you want to freeze.

For example, to freeze the top row and first column, select cell B2, go to the View tab and click Freeze Panes under Freeze Panes:

In the same fashion, you can freeze as many Excel panes as you want. For instance, to lock the first 2 rows and 2 columns, you select cell C3; to fix 3 rows and 3 columns, select cell D4 etc. Naturally, the number of locked rows and columns does not necessarily have to be the same. For example, to freeze 2 rows and 3 columns, you select. guess which cell? Right, D3 : )

How to unfreeze panes in Excel

To unfreeze panes, just do the following: go to the View tab, Window group, and click Freeze panes > Unfreeze Panes.

Excel Freeze Panes tips

As you have just seen, freezing panes in Excel is one of the easiest tasks to perform. However, as is often the case with Microsoft, there is much more beneath the hood. What follows below is a caveat, an artifact and a tip.

Caveat: Prevent hidden rows / columns when freezing Excel panes

When you are locking several rows or columns in a spreadsheet, you may inadvertently hide some of them, and as a result, you won’t see those hidden panes later. To avoid this, make sure that all the rows and/or columns you want to lock are within eyesight at the moment of freezing.

For example, you wish to freeze the first three rows, but row 1 is currently out of view, as shown in the screenshot below. As the result, row 1 won’t show up later and you won’t be able to scroll up to it. Though, you would still be able to get to the cells in a hidden frozen row using the arrow keys.

Artifact: Excel may freeze panes totally different from what you expected

Don’t you believe me? Then try selecting cell A1, or the top visible row, or the leftmost visible column, click Freeze Panes and see what happens.

So, please remember, the panes you are going to lock, both rows and columns, should always be in sight.

Tip: How to camouflage the Freeze Panes line

If you are not particularly fond of the dark freeze panes line that Microsoft Excel draws underneath locked rows and to the right of locked columns, you can try disguising it with the help of shapes and a little creativity : )

And this is all for today, thank you for reading!

Freezing Panes and View Options

Excel 2013: Freezing Panes and View Options

Lesson 17: Freezing Panes and View Options

Introduction

Whenever you’re working with a lot of data, it can be difficult to compare information in your workbook. Fortunately, Excel includes several tools that make it easier to view content from different parts of your workbook at the same time, such as the ability to freeze panes and split your worksheet

To freeze rows:

You may want to see certain rows or columns all the time in your worksheet, especially header cells. By freezing rows or columns in place, you’ll be able to scroll through your content while continuing to view the frozen cells.

To freeze columns:

To unfreeze rows or columns, click the Freeze Panes command, then select Unfreeze Panes from the drop-down menu.

If you only need to freeze the top row (row 1) or first column (column A) in the worksheet, you can simply select Freeze Top Row or Freeze First Column from the drop-down menu.

Other view options

If your workbook contains a lot of content, it can sometimes be difficult to compare different sections. Excel includes additional options to make your workbooks easier to view and compare. For example, you can choose to open a new window for your workbook or split a worksheet into separate panes.

To open a new window for the current workbook:

Excel allows you to open multiple windows for a single workbook at the same time. In our example, we’ll use this feature to compare two different worksheets from the same workbook.

If you have several windows open at the same time, you can use the Arrange All command to rearrange them quickly.

To split a worksheet:

Sometimes you may want to compare different sections of the same workbook without creating a new window. The Split command allows you to divide the worksheet into multiple panes that scroll separately.

After creating a split, you can click and drag the vertical and horizontal dividers to change the size of each section.

To remove the split, click the Split command again.

How to freeze columns in Microsoft Excel to compare data throughout your spreadsheet

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Freezing columns in Excel is an easy way to ensure that those panes remain visible as you scroll through the rest of the document.

This allows you to easily compare the data and text in a variety of spots in the worksheet.

You can freeze multiple columns at one time, and then unfreeze them when you’re ready to view the document without having the panes locked into view.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

How to freeze columns in Excel

1. In an open spreadsheet, select «View» from the top menu bar and then hit «Freeze First Column.» This will freeze column A.

2. If you want to freeze multiple columns, click in the first cell to the right of the last column that you want to freeze. Then hit «Freeze Panes» in the «View» menu.

3. Selecting a cell that’s below the first row will also freeze all prior rows. For example, if you select cell D5, you will freeze columns A, B and C; as well as rows 1, 2, 3 and 4.

4. The faint grey line that appears on the worksheet indicates that all the columns to the left are frozen. They’ll stay on the screen as you scroll throughout the document.

How to unfreeze columns in Excel

1. Once you freeze the columns, the «Freeze Panes» button turns into an «Unfreeze Panes» button.

2. To unfreeze the frames, select «View,» then select «Unfreeze Panes.»

3. You can now view your Excel document normally.