The freeze panes tool is one of the most fundamental of all tools you need to learn when using google sheets.
With the freeze pane tools, you can easily lock columns or rows in place so that when you scroll, your headers always stay visible. You can use the tool to lock the top row, or freeze columns to always keep them visible as you scroll through your document.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you everything you need to know about how to freeze panes in google sheets.
Table of Contents
Locking Rows with Freeze Panes in the Toolbar
One of the simplest ways to lock rows or columns in google sheets is to use the freeze panes option in the menu toolbar.
Here’s how it’s done:
1. Go to the top menu and select View, then select Freeze. From here you can select which rows or columns you want to freeze. If you just want to freeze the top header row, select 1 row.
2. You can now see the top row is frozen. It has a thick grey bar underneath it which indicates it is locked here, and as you scroll it will stay there.
3. If you want to freeze a column, you do the same steps. Select View, Freeze and then select the number of columns you want to freeze.
4. If you want to freeze more than 2 rows or columns you can use the mouse. Click on the cell that you want to be frozen up too. In this example, I have clicked on cell C3
5. Navigate back up to the top menu and select View and then Freeze again. From here use the option Up to the current row.
This will freeze every row up to the cell you have first selected. If you want to freeze up to the current column you would repeat the steps and select that option.
Locking Rows with Freeze Panes Using the Mouse
If you want to learn a quick shortcut for freezing panes without using the menu, you can use your mouse and click and drag to speed things up.
Here’s how it’s done.
- In the top left corner click on the thick grey and continue holding down
- Drag the bar down as menu rows as you want locked
- If you want to freeze columns repeat the steps but click on the thick grey column bar in the top left corner
This is a quick and efficient way to lock rows or columns without having to manually select freeze in the menu.
How to Unfreeze Rows or Columns
The steps to unfreeze are very similar to how you freeze.
- Navigate up to the top menu and select View, and then Freeze
- From here select No rows or No columns. This will unfreeze rows or columns respectively.
Closing Thoughts
That is it! This basic tool is something everyone who uses spreadsheets needs to learn.
It’s very simple to do and being able to keep certain rows or columns from moving when you scroll through your spreadsheet will definitely help you as you work through a large file.
We hope you found these tips helpful!
More Google Sheets Tutorials:
Inserting Rows and Columns in Google Sheets
Merging Two Cells into One in Google Sheets
How to Split View