It was time to create a new Gantt chart for myself to keep my various projects under control, and yet again I had forgotten how to freeze the columns and rows in the way I like. So I created this post to help myself – and you!

What is “freezing” rows and columns?

When you freeze a row or column in an Excel spreadsheet, you make sure that it’s on display however much you scroll down or across your document.

So, if you have a row of dates as a heading along the top or a column of customer names down the side, and your document becomes longer or wider than the screen on which you are viewing it, you can keep those columns and rows visible, instead of having to scroll up and down and backwards and forwards to find your headings.

For example, in the Gantt chart that records my work projects, I need to be able to see the dates and client names all the time, however large my document becomes:

Where is the Freeze Panes button in Excel 2007 and Excel 2010?

To find the Freeze Panes button, you need to be in the View Tab, then the long Window area. Click on Freeze Panes and you’ll be given three options: Freeze Panes (note, this toggles between Freeze and Unfreeze, as we’ll discover later); Freeze Top Row; and Freeze First Column.

How do I freeze the top row or first column of my spreadsheet?

In a shock move, something that Microsoft Office gives you as a short cut is actually useful! If you click on that Freeze Panes button and select Freeze Top Row or Freeze First Column, it will automatically freeze that row or column for you. This is because the first row and column on a given spreadsheet are likely to be the ones where you’ve inserted your headers.

Click on one of these buttons and you’ll freeze just that row or column. Freeze the top row, scroll down thousands of rows, and that top row will still be on show. Hooray!

BUT: this will only freeze one of those two areas. Want to freeze the spreadsheet so it shows more than just the first row or column? Read the next three sections.

BUT (2): this will only allow you to freeze the row or the column. If you, like me, want to freeze both a row and a column, scan down to the section titled Can I freeze a row and a column at the same time?

How do I freeze a particular row of my spreadsheet?

Say, for example, you’ve got a double row of headers, or you’ve inserted a graph at the top of your spreadsheet that you want to be able to see as you scroll down. This is where you need to be able to select the point at which the spreadsheet freezes.

Here’s where it gets a tiny bit tricky (but you’ll save this post so you remember).

Click on the row BELOW the point at which you want to freeze the spreadsheet. Not the row you want to freeze, the one below it. In this example, we’re highlighting Row 3 in order to freeze Rows 1 and 2.

Once you’ve highlighted the correct row, by clicking on the 3 in the left hand margin in this case (you can see that it’s become darker, with a line around it), click on the Freeze Panes button and select the Freeze Panes option.

Your spreadsheet is now frozen at the bottom of Row 2. If you scroll down the page, you will notice that Rows 3 and onwards start to disappear, and a horizontal black line appears at the point of freezing.

Now you can scroll down as far as you like, and Rows 1 and 2 will always be visible at the top of the screen:

How do I unfreeze a row or column?

Once you go to do something else with freezing, you will notice that the Freeze Panes option has changed to read Unfreeze Panes. This is because you can only do one Freezing action at a time. If you decide that you want to freeze a column instead, or want to practise doing that, you need to click the Freeze Panes button then select the Unfreeze Panes option first.

Note: you don’t need to have anything highlighted to click this. It will unfreeze anything you’ve previously frozen.

Oh, and you can freeze a column and row at the same time, as we’ll learn in a few moments.

How do I freeze a particular column of my spreadsheet?

If you want to freeze a particular column of your spreadsheet, you do it in the same way as you froze the particular row.

But in this case, you need to highlight the column one to the RIGHT of the column you wish to freeze. In the example below, we want to freeze at Column B, so we highlight Column C (by clicking on the C at the top of the column). Again, click the Freeze Panes button then select the Freeze Panes option.

Now, if you scroll across the document, Columns A and B will remain visible, and a thick black line will mark where the freezing has taken place:

Can I freeze a row AND a column at the same time?

Sometimes you might want to freeze both the top row and the first column of your spreadsheet. For example, I want to be able to see my list of clients, however many dates come across the page, and my dates in the top row, however long my list of clients becomes.

We’ve already learnt how to freeze just the top row or just the first column (see above), but as you might have realised,  you can’t do both – if you go back to the menu to do the second one, it just tells you to Unfreeze the panes first.

Here’s  how you do it:

Highlight the cell ONE DOWN and ONE TO THE RIGHT of the row and column you want to freeze. It’s just like freezing rows or columns. In this case, think of the cell nestling in the angle formed where the row and column you want to freeze meet. Here, we want to freeze Row 1 and Column A so that they are always visible. So we highlight the point at which Row 2 meets Column B.

Using the same procedure to freeze the panes (Freeze Panes button, Freeze Panes option), we have now frozen Row 1 and Column A. If we scroll both down and across, Row 1 with the dates and Column A with the client names are still visible.

Yes, Column A will scroll and the top will slide up and disappear temporarily, and yes, the dates in Row 1 will disappear as we scroll across, but the basic principle holds good:  we can see Row 1 and Column A, however much we move around the spreadsheet.

We’ve learned how to freeze rows, columns and rows plus columns today. I hope you’ve found this useful.

If you have found this article useful, please share it using the buttons below, and leave me a comment!

Related posts: How to print out the header row on every page

This is part of my series on how to avoid time-consuming “short cuts” and use Microsoft Office in the right way to maximise your time and improve the look of your documents.

Please note, these hints work with versions of Microsoft Excel currently in use – Excel 2003, Excel 2007 and Excel 2010, all for PC. Mac compatible versions of Word should have similar options. Always save a copy of your document before manipulating it. I bear no responsibility for any pickles you might get yourself into!

Find all the short cuts here …