How to Freeze Rows and Columns in Excel

Go to the View tab, open Freeze Panes, and pick one of three commands: Freeze Top Row locks row 1, Freeze First Column locks column A, and Freeze Panes locks everything above and to the left of whatever cell you have selected. To undo any of them, go back to View > Freeze Panes > Unfreeze Panes. The trick that trips people up is the third option, since it depends entirely on which cell was active when you clicked it.

Freeze the Top Row or the First Column#

These two commands ignore your current selection and always freeze the same fixed area, which makes them the fastest option when you only need one edge locked:

1. Open the workbook and go to the View tab.
2. Select Freeze Panes (in the Window group) to open the dropdown.
3. Choose Freeze Top Row to keep row 1 visible as you scroll down, or Freeze First Column to keep column A visible as you scroll right.

A thin line appears under row 1 or beside column A marking the freeze boundary. You can only run one of these two at a time from this shortcut - picking the other replaces the first, since each locks a fixed edge rather than adding to it.

Freeze Panes to Lock Rows and Columns Together#

To pin down more than one row, more than one column, or a row and a column at once, use the general Freeze Panes command instead, which reads your selection rather than a fixed default. Per Microsoft’s own instructions, Freeze Panes “freezes the rows above and the columns left of the selected cell”:

1. Click the cell that sits directly below the rows and directly to the right of the columns you want to stay put.
2. Go to View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.

For example, to lock the header row and the first column together, select cell B2 before running the command. To lock the top four rows and the first three columns, select cell D5. There’s no way to freeze a block from the middle of a sheet outward - the frozen area always starts at row 1 and column A, so anything you lock has to include everything above and left of it too. If you need to compare two unrelated regions without that restriction, the Split button next to Freeze Panes divides the window into separate scrollable panes instead of anchoring anything to an edge.

How to Unfreeze Panes#

Once any freeze is active, the same menu command changes its label automatically:

1. Go to the View tab.
2. Select Freeze Panes, which now reads Unfreeze Panes at the top of the dropdown.
3. Click it to release every frozen row and column at once.

There’s no way to unfreeze just one row out of a multi-row freeze - Unfreeze Panes clears the whole lock, and you set up whatever new freeze you need afterward. The freeze state saves with the workbook, so a sheet you froze before saving stays frozen the next time it’s opened, on your machine or anyone else’s.

Freeze Panes Options at a Glance#

Command	What it locks	Depends on selected cell?
Freeze Top Row	Row 1 only	No - always row 1
Freeze First Column	Column A only	No - always column A
Freeze Panes	Every row above, and every column left of, the selected cell	Yes - pick the cell first
Unfreeze Panes	Removes any active freeze	No

Fixing Common Freeze Panes Mistakes#

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Wrong rows or columns got frozen	The wrong cell was selected before running Freeze Panes	Unfreeze, click the cell just below/right of the area you want locked, then reapply Freeze Panes
Freeze Top Row does nothing visible	Row 1 was already scrolled out of view, or the sheet was already frozen elsewhere	Scroll back to the top first, and unfreeze any existing freeze before setting a new one
Can only lock the top row, not a row further down	Freeze Panes always anchors to row 1 and column A	Select a cell that also includes the earlier rows/columns in the frozen block, or use Split instead
Freeze disappeared after reopening the file	The workbook wasn’t saved after the freeze was applied	Reapply Freeze Panes and save the file

Freeze Panes is a per-worksheet setting, not a workbook-wide one, so a large workbook with several tabs needs the command run again on each sheet where you want headers pinned. It pairs well with other structural cleanup on the same sheet - locking headers in place before you remove duplicate rows, build out a VLOOKUP column, or lock the header cells themselves against accidental edits makes a long sheet far easier to work through without losing track of what each column means.