You know how scary all those rows and columns can be if you’ve ever worked with a vast Excel chart. When there are more than 10 or 15 different labels and numbers, it can be hard to remember what you learned from the first few cells. There is an easy way to lock those little information boxes that look like rectangles, though.
I play a game called “freezing,” and it’s about as simple as the word “surface-level.” You can “freeze” specific rows and columns so that the cells in them stay put on the page while you scroll.
How to freeze a row in Excel
Step 1: Pick which row(s) you want to freeze. These rows will stay with you as you move around the worksheet. Pick the row that is right below the one you want to freeze. So pick row 4 if you want to freeze rows 1 through 3.
Step 2: Next, go to the top of the screen and click on the ribbon menu. From there, choose the View tab.
Step 3: Choose Freeze Panes from the drop-down menu that shows.
If you only want to freeze the top row of your worksheet, you don’t need to choose any rows first. To do this, go to the View tab, click Freeze Panes, and then click Freeze Top Row.
Step 4: To get your rows no longer frozen, Select Freeze Panes again from the View tab, and then select Unfreeze Panes from the drop-down menu.
How to freeze a column in Excel
Step 1: Pick which sections you want to keep. After that, choose the column right next to the one or more columns you want to stop. Say you want to freeze columns A, B, and C. It would help if you chose column D.
Step 2: Next, go to the top of the screen and click on the ribbon menu. From there, choose the View tab. After that, pick Freeze Panes.
Step 3: Choose Freeze Panes from the drop-down choice that you see.
You can also click on the View tab, select Freeze Panes > Freeze First Column, and then click on Freeze Panes again if that’s all you want to do.
Step 4: Click the View tab, then select Freeze Panes > Unfreeze Panes to unfreeze frozen pages.
Freezing rows and columns with keyboard shortcuts
You can use keyboard shortcuts to freeze rows and columns in Excel as well. Here is a short list of the most-used commands:
Step 1: Freeze all rows and columns: Press Alt+W+F+F, one key at a time. This command stops moving the rows and columns before the marked cell in Excel once you have chosen a cell.
Step 2: Press Alt+W+F+R to freeze the top row. This command will always freeze the first row in your worksheet, no matter which cell is chosen.
Step 3: Press Alt+W+F+C to freeze the first column. This command will always freeze the first (leftmost) column in your worksheet, no matter which cell is chosen.
In Google Sheets, how do I freeze rows and columns?
You can play around with Google’s spreadsheet programme, which has freeze and unfreeze buttons like Excel. To get to these choices, follow these steps:
Step 1: In Google Sheets, open a new chart.
Step 2: Pick the row or column that you want to loosen or freeze. After that, go to the top of the page and click View > Freeze.
Step 3: Pick the number of rows or columns you want to freeze. Just go to View > Freeze > No rows or columns to get out of the freeze.
How do you freeze rows and columns in MacOS Numbers?
The spreadsheet program made by Apple doesn’t let you freeze and unfreeze as quickly as Excel or Google Sheets, but you can still freeze header rows, header columns, or both. How to do it:
Step 1: Open a table in Numbers and click anywhere in it. After that, click Table at the top of the page.
The second step is to pick whether to freeze the header rows, columns, or both. You can also pick how many rows or columns to freeze by clicking on Header Rows and Header Columns.
