Scroll down a long spreadsheet and your column headings disappear off the top of the screen. Suddenly you can’t remember which column is “Invoice Date” and which is “Due Date”.
Freeze Panes fixes that by locking rows or columns in place while the rest of the sheet scrolls.
Freeze the top row
This is the one most people need.
- Click the View tab on the ribbon.
- Click Freeze Panes.
- Choose Freeze Top Row.
A thin grey line appears under row 1. Scroll down and your headings stay put.
Freeze the first column
Handy for wide sheets where names or IDs are in column A.
- Click View.
- Click Freeze Panes.
- Choose Freeze First Column.
Freeze several rows or columns (or both)
What if your headings take up two rows, or you want to freeze the top row and the first column? This is where the plain Freeze Panes option comes in.
The rule is simple: click the cell just below and to the right of what you want frozen.
- Select the right cell (see examples below).
- Click View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.
| You want to freeze | Click this cell first |
|---|---|
| Row 1 and column A | B2 |
| Rows 1–3 | A4 |
| Columns A and B | C1 |
| Rows 1–2 and column A | B3 |
Everything above and to the left of that cell is frozen.
Keyboard shortcut
On Windows, press these keys one after another (not all together): Alt, W, F, F. This does the same as clicking View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.
For the other options, press Alt, W, F, then R for Freeze Top Row or C for Freeze First Column.
How to unfreeze panes
Click View > Freeze Panes > Unfreeze Panes. The option only appears when something is frozen.
If you want to freeze a different set of rows, unfreeze first, then freeze again.
Excel on a Mac
The steps are the same: View > Freeze Panes, or use the Freeze Top Row and Freeze First Column buttons that sit alongside it on the View tab.
Troubleshooting
The wrong rows are frozen. You probably had a different cell selected, or you were scrolled down the page when you froze. Unfreeze, press Ctrl + Home to go back to A1, select the right cell and try again.
Freeze Panes is greyed out. You might be editing a cell (press Esc), in Page Layout view (switch to View > Normal), or the sheet is protected.
I want headings on every printed page too. Freeze Panes only affects the screen. For printing, go to Page Layout > Print Titles and set Rows to repeat at top.
Wrapping up
For most sheets, View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row is all you’ll ever need. For anything else, remember: click the cell below and to the right of what you want to keep in view.
