Excel Tutorials
Keep your header row visible no matter how far you scroll. This lesson uses the Event Planner workbook from Excel Foundations, free to download below.
Follow along in the same file used in the video. No email required.
Freeze Panes locks specific rows or columns in place so they stay visible on screen while you scroll through the rest of the sheet. It's most commonly used to keep a header row visible so you always know what each column means, even hundreds of rows down.
Freezing doesn't change your data or layout at all, it only affects what stays fixed on screen while scrolling. You can unfreeze at any time with no impact on the sheet itself.
Step-by-step, matching the video above.
This pays off most on any sheet with a header row across the top and labels down the left, like a budget, order list or roster. Freeze both, and you always know what a number means no matter how far you've scrolled, without rebuilding headers on every screen.
Usually this is your header row, the very top row of the sheet.
On the ribbon, click View.
In the Window group, click Freeze Panes to open the dropdown.
The top row stays fixed in place no matter how far down you scroll.
Usually column A, holding your row labels or IDs.
Same place as before, click View on the ribbon.
Open the same dropdown in the Window group.
Column A stays fixed in place while you scroll right.
To freeze the top 2 rows and the first column together, click cell B3, one row below and one column right of the split you actually want.
Click View on the ribbon.
Open the same Window group dropdown.
Excel locks everything above and to the left of the cell you clicked, not the cell itself.
Click View on the ribbon.
Everything scrolls normally again. Nothing about your underlying data changes either way.
The concept is identical, but Google Sheets uses its own View menu instead of a ribbon, and gives you a couple of extra options along the way.
Usually the top row, the same as Excel.
Click View in the top menu bar (Sheets doesn't have a ribbon).
A submenu opens with your options.
Pick 1 row, 2 rows, or Up to current row to freeze a custom amount based on wherever your cursor is.
Usually column A.
Same submenu as freezing rows.
Pick 1 column, 2 columns, or Up to current column.
Same submenu you used to freeze in the first place.
Removes the freeze completely, no impact on your actual data.
Split lives right next to Freeze Panes on the View tab, and looks similar, but does something genuinely different: instead of locking part of the sheet in place, it divides your window into separate panes you can scroll independently.
Click a cell where you want the divide, go to View, and click Split. Your window breaks into two or four panes, each with its own scrollbars.
Use Split when you want to compare two distant sections of the same sheet side by side, like row 5 and row 5,000, and scroll each independently. Freeze Panes only locks one section in place, it doesn't let you scroll two areas separately.
Click Split again on the View tab to remove the divide and return to one continuous window.
Freeze Panes locks everything above and to the left of whichever cell is selected, not the cell itself. Click one row below and one column right of where you actually want the split.
Split (also on the View tab) divides your window into separate scrollable sections, while Freeze Panes locks part of the sheet in place. They look similar but behave differently.
If a merged cell spans the row or column you're trying to freeze, Excel usually won't let you complete the freeze at that exact split point. Unmerge cells along the freeze line first.
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Freeze Panes locks specific rows or columns in place on screen so they stay visible while you scroll through the rest of the sheet.
Go to View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row.
Go to View > Freeze Panes > Unfreeze Panes.
No. It only affects what stays visible on screen while scrolling, it doesn't change, hide or delete any data.
Freeze Panes locks part of the sheet in place while the rest scrolls. Split divides the window into separate panes that each scroll independently, useful for comparing two distant areas of the same sheet.
A merged cell spanning the row or column you're trying to split on will usually block the freeze at that exact point. Unmerge cells along the freeze line and try again.
Every business starts with a spreadsheet. Updoot is where you scale past it, everything stays in view automatically.
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