In this article, we will learn what it means to freeze a column in Excel and various ways to do that.

First, let us start off by understanding what it means to freeze column and row in Excel. Freezing helps lock a particular set of rows and columns on screen as you scroll through an Excel sheet. A frozen row or column remains fixed while you scroll through the data. 

How to freeze a column in Excel

Let’s start with the simplest of all, freezing the first column in Excel. Consider the following sample sheet and follow the following steps: 

1. Go to the “View” tab
   
   
   
2. Click on the “Freeze First Column” option. For old excel versions this option will be under “Freeze Panes”
   
   
3. Excel will freeze the first column. Now if you scroll left to right you’ll see the first column is frozen.
   

This is how you freeze a column in Excel.

Alternatively, you can also use the shortcut “Alt+W+F+C” by pressing it one after the other to freeze the first column. 

How to freeze multiple columns in excel

You can also freeze multiple columns at the beginning of an Excel sheet. Consider the same sample data set.

Let’s say you want to freeze columns A and B. Here are the steps for the same:

1. Select column C header or the first cell in column C i.e. C1
   
   
   
2. Go to the “View” tab and select “Freeze Panes” option.
   
   
   
3. This will freeze first 2 columns as excel freezes all the columns towards the left of the selected cell or column.
   So when we selected C1, it froze columns A to B.
   

This is how you can freeze multiple columns in Excel.

To do this quickly, you can also use the shortcut “Alt+W+F+F” by pressing it one after the other.

How to freeze a row in Excel 

Similar to freezing the first column, you can also freeze the first row in Excel. Consider the same sample data as above and follow the following steps: 

1. Go to the “View” tab
   
   
   
2. Click on the “Freeze Panes” option and select “Freeze First Row”
   
   
   
3. This will freeze first row in excel. As you can see the first row is now fixed as we’re scrolling from top to bottom.
   
   
   

How to freeze multiple rows in Excel

Similar to freezing multiple columns, you can also freeze multiple rows in Excel.
Let’s say you want to freeze rows 1 and 2. Here are the steps for the same:

1. Select row 3 or the first cell in row 3 i.e. A3
   
   
   
2. Go to the “View” tab and select “Freeze Panes” option
   
   
   
3. This will freeze top 2 rows as excel freezes all the rows above the selected cell.
   

And you’re done! This is how you can freeze multiple rows in excel.

How to freeze panes in Excel

Freezing panes means freezing a group of rows and columns together in an Excel sheet.

Let’s say you want to freeze the first 2 columns i.e. A & B and the first 2 rows, i.e. 1 and 2. Follow these steps: 

1. Select the cell C3 (The cell below the number of rows you want to freeze and to the right of the number of columns you want to freeze in your Excel sheet) 
   
   
   
2. Go to the “View” tab and select “Freeze Panes” option
   
   
   
3. Done. Now the first 2 columns and first 2 rows are frozen as you scroll vertically or horizontally.
   
   
   

How to unfreeze rows and columns in Excel

Now that we have learnt all about how to freeze a row in Excel and how to freeze a column in Excel, let’s learn how to unfreeze them as well.

To unfreeze the frozen rows and columns, follow the following steps: 

1. Go to the “View” tab
   
   
   
2. Click on the “Unfreeze Panes” option
   

You can also select the “Unfreeze First Row” and “Unfreeze First Column” options from the same menu if you had initially frozen only a single row/column. 

What to do if commands to freeze rows and columns are not working? 

If any of these steps to freeze a column in Excel are not working, check for the following mistakes: 

• You might be in the “cell editing” mode. Instead, you have to select the cell. Use keys “Enter” or “Esc” to get out of the edit mode. 
• Your workbook protection is enabled. In order to freeze rows and columns, remove the protection and then proceed with these steps.
   

Important things to note: 

• You can only freeze rows and columns at the beginning of the Excel sheet and not in the middle. This means that freezing multiple rows and columns should begin with the top row and top column. 
• You can only “Freeze Panes” once in a single Excel sheet. You can not create multiple “Freeze Panes” in one sheet.
• If you want to freeze any hidden rows or columns in your sheet, make them visible before freezing. Otherwise, they will continue to remain hidden. 
  
  

Conclusion 

This was all about how to freeze column and row in Excel.

Hope this helped you understand the various ways to freeze a column, row or panes in Excel. Feel free to leave any questions or feedback for us in the comments section and our team would be happy to get back to you. 

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• Hiding column in excel
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• How to count characters in excel using len formula