Freezing columns in Excel is a useful feature that allows you to keep some columns visible while scrolling horizontally through a large worksheet. For example, if you have a table with data for different products and countries, you may want to freeze the first column that contains the product names so that you can easily see which product each row belongs to.
There are different ways to freeze columns in Excel depending on how many columns you want to freeze and where they are located. Here are some common scenarios and how to handle them:
Freeze the first column
If you want to freeze only the first column (column A) of your worksheet, you can use the following steps:
- Select any cell in your worksheet.
- Go to the View tab and click the Freeze Panes button in the Window group.
- Select Freeze First Column from the drop-down menu.
A thin line will appear between column A and column B indicating that column A is frozen. Now you can scroll horizontally and column A will remain visible.
Freeze multiple columns
If you want to freeze more than one column, starting from column A, you can use these steps:
- Select the cell in row 1 that is to the right of the last column you want to freeze. For example, if you want to freeze columns A and B, select cell C1.
- Go to the View tab and click the Freeze Panes button in the Window group.
- Select Freeze Panes from the drop-down menu.
A thin line will appear between the frozen columns and the rest of the worksheet. Now you can scroll horizontally and the frozen columns will remain visible.
Freeze columns that are not adjacent to column A
If you want to freeze columns that are not next to column A, such as column D and E, you will need to split your worksheet into separate panes first. Here are the steps:
- Select the cell in row 1 that is below and to the right of the columns you want to freeze. For example, if you want to freeze columns D and E, select cell F1.
- Go to the View tab and click the Split button in the Window group.
- Drag the vertical split bar that appears on top of the worksheet to adjust the width of the left pane until it covers the columns you want to freeze.
- Click any cell in the left pane and go to the View tab again.
- Click the Freeze Panes button in the Window group and select Freeze Panes from the drop-down menu.
A thin line will appear between the frozen columns and the rest of the worksheet. Now you can scroll horizontally in each pane separately and the frozen columns will remain visible in the left pane.
Unfreeze columns
If you want to unfreeze columns that you have previously frozen, you can use these steps:
- Select any cell in your worksheet.
- Go to the View tab and click the Freeze Panes button in the Window group.
- Select Unfreeze Panes from the drop-down menu.
The thin line that indicates frozen columns will disappear and you can scroll normally through your worksheet.
Note: If you have split your worksheet into panes before freezing columns, you will need to remove the split first before unfreezing. To do that, go to the View tab and click the Split button in the Window group again.
Conclusion
Freezing columns in Excel is a handy technique that can help you work with large worksheets more efficiently. By following these simple steps, you can freeze any column or columns you want and keep them visible while scrolling through your data. You can also unfreeze columns whenever you need to restore normal scrolling.