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How to Freeze Rows & Columns in Google Sheets (3 Quickest Methods)

Google Sheets is a powerful tool to organize datasets and prepare reports. It allows you to freeze rows and columns. You need to go to the main menu and click the “View” tab, then select the “Freeze” option from the popup.

Have you ever been lost while scrolling down a large dataset?

It is pretty frustrating to remember the column header name every time you scroll down.

If you are searching for a solution to keep a certain number of rows and columns visible while scrolling down or to the right of the spreadsheet, then welcome to this article.

Freezing rows and columns is an excellent practice to improve readability and keep an eye on crucial cells.

Let us discuss how to freeze rows and columns in Google Sheets. It is a quick guide full of useful tips and tricks, so read until the end.

Here are the topics discussed in this article. You can click on the respective links to jump to that particular section.

Download the Example Google Sheet

Though it is pretty straightforward to freeze rows and columns in Google Sheets, we would suggest you download the following Google Sheets and practice the methods discussed in this article.

Download Here!

The file contains an example dataset we used to demonstrate freezing rows and columns in Google Sheets.

If your Google Sheet is ready with the required dataset, you can skip downloading the above file.

How to Freeze Rows in Google Sheets

There are multiple ways to freeze rows and columns in Google Sheets. Let us discuss them one by one.

You don’t need to be an expert at Google Sheets to freeze rows.

METHOD #1 – Freeze rows in Google Sheets using the Freeze Pane

This is the quickest method compared to others. Let’s see why!

  • Open the Google Sheet
  • Select any cell
  • Go to the empty box at the upper-leftmost corner of the table. Refer to the following image
  • You will see two thick lines: the first one across the bottom and the second one on the right side of the box
  • Hover over the thick line at the bottom, and you will see a hand icon appears
  • Click and drag that thick line beyond the row you wish to freeze

Refer to the above GIF, where we have locked the first two rows. Now, once you scroll down, you will notice that the first two rows are intact and do not disappear as usual.

METHOD #2 – Freeze rows in Google Sheets using the View Menu

This method allows you to visually select from the predefined options to freeze panes.

Here is what the options look like,

The first three of them will be the same all the time, and the fourth one depends upon the cell selected by you. For example, as you can see from the above image, we have chosen the cell “A2”, so the fourth option is “up to row 2“.

Now, let us look at the steps to freeze a row using the View Menu.

  • Open the Google Sheet
  • Select the cell from the row which you wish to freeze. Let us select the cell “A2” to freeze the table’s first two rows. Refer to the following image
  • Now, hover to the main menu
  • Click on the “View” tab
  • Select the “Freeze” option from the popup
  • Next, you have two options to freeze the first two rows of the table: “2 rows” and “Up to row 2

    (You can choose any one of them, and the results will be the same)

Now, if you scroll down, the first two rows are intact and won’t disappear as usual.

Freezing up to two rows can be done using the predefined options.

However, if you wish to freeze any row beyond the second one, make sure to select the proper cell and then choose the fourth option, as discussed above.

METHOD #3 – Freeze rows in Google Sheets using the Selection Method

This is the last method to freeze rows in Google Sheets. It also doesn’t require any lengthy workaround and is relatively straightforward.

Let’s begin,

  • Open the Google Sheet
  • Select the entire row you wish to freeze, as shown below

    (Make sure to click on the row number to select the whole row. In our case, the row number is “2”)
  • Right-click to see more options
  • Select the “View more row options” from the popup
  • Choose the first option, “Freeze up to row 2

Now, you can scroll down and see that the first two rows won’t disappear.

How to freeze columns in Google Sheets

All the methods discussed above for freezing rows apply to columns in Google Sheets with a bit of adjustment.

Let us discuss them one by one in the following sections.

METHOD #1 – Freeze columns in Google Sheets using the Freeze Pane

It is the quickest compared to the other two methods discussed below. Here are the steps:

  • Open the Google Sheet
  • Select any cell
  • Hover to the upper-rightmost corner of the table to see an empty box, as shown below
  • You will notice two thick lines running across the bottom and right side of the screen
  • To freeze columns, we need to click on a thick line on the right side of the box
  • Drag that thick line beyond the column you wish to freeze

Note that for the sake of this article, we have locked the first two columns of the table that represent the Employee ID and Full Name.

Try scrolling to the right of the table, and you will notice that the first two rows remain intact and won’t disappear as they usually do.

METHOD #2 – Freeze columns in Google Sheets using the View Menu

The Freeze option selected using the View menu displays four choices to users. Refer to the following image.

The first three remain the same, and the last one depends upon the cell selected by the user.

For example, I have selected the cell “B2”, and the Google Sheet displays the fourth option as “Up to column B“, as shown below.

Now, let us understand how to freeze a column in Google Sheets.

  • Open the Google Sheet
  • Click on the cell “B2”
    (We have selected this cell because we wish to freeze the first two columns [A and B] of the table)
  • Hover to the main menu and click on “View” tab
  • Select the “Freeze” option from the popup
  • A new popup will be displayed. Here, the options to freeze columns start at the fifth position. Refer to the following image
  • Now, you can choose from “2 columns” and “Up to column B“. Both of them lead to the same results and let you freeze the first two columns of the table

Note that if you wish to freeze a column beyond the second one, make sure to select the proper cell from the respective column and choose the fourth option.

For example, let’s say we wish to freeze column 5 of the table. We will select any cell from the fifth (“E”) column and select the option “Up to column E” from the View menu.

METHOD #3 – Freeze columns in Google Sheets using the Selection Method

This is the last method on this list. It is as simple as the methods discussed above.

Let’s begin,

  • Open the Google Sheet
  • Select the entire column you wish to freeze

    (You need to click on the column name. In our case, as we want to freeze the second column, our column name is “B”)
  • Right-click to see more options
  • Select “View more column actions” option from the popup
  • Click on the first option, “Freeze up to column B

All of the above methods are easy to follow. You can choose as per your preference. We suggest using either the first or third method if you are in a hurry.

How to Unfreeze Rows in Google Sheets

You need to follow similar steps to unfreeze rows in Google Sheets.

For the first method, after you freeze a specific row, simply use your mouse cursor to hover over the thick line at the end of the locked cell until you see the hand icon. Then, click and drag that line to the top of the table, as shown in the following GIF.

Whereas, for the second method of using the View Menu, you will have an option named “No rows” when you click on the “Freeze” option of the “View” tab. Refer to the following image.

Click on this “No rows” option to unfreeze the row.

Similarly, for the third option, it is also easy. Select the entire locked row and right-click to see more options. Then, choose the “View more row actions” followed by the “Unfreeze rows” option, as shown below.

How to Unfreeze columns in Google Sheets

As discussed in the previous section, the steps to unfreeze rows and columns remain the same. But let us look at the quickest method to unfreeze the columns. It is, without any doubt, using the drag-and-drop technique.

All we have to do is hover over the thick line on the right side of the locked column, as shown below.

Then, click on it and drag it to the far left side of the table, as shown in the following GIF.

This method allows you to unfreeze columns within a few seconds. However, if you face any difficulties while using it, use the other two methods discussed in the previous section to unfreeze rows in Google Sheets.

FAQs

Q. Can I freeze rows and columns at the same time?

Yes, of course. You can freeze a row and a column in Google Sheets simultaneously using the methods discussed above in this article.

Note that you need to ensure to freeze the row first and then the column or vice versa for this to work.

Q. Is it possible to freeze multiple rows or columns in Google Sheets?

You can freeze any number of rows and columns in Google Sheets. The only condition is that you cannot freeze rows or columns beyond your screen size.

Simply put, the rows and columns visible on your screen when you first open your Google Sheet can only be locked at the position.

Consider the following example. As you can see, depending upon my screen size and display resolution, I can see up to 24 rows and up to column N. So, when it comes to using the freeze rows and columns feature in Google Sheets, I can freeze up to 24 rows and column N.

Q. What to do when frozen rows and columns are not visible on every page after printing the spreadsheet?

It is due to print settings.

By default, Google Sheets will display frozen rows and columns across every printed page. But, in your case, if it is not visible, then follow the steps below.

  • Hover to the main menu
  • Click on the “File” button
  • Select the “Print” option from the popup
  • A new dialog box will appear. Here, you can preview your print and adjust the settings
  • Go to the right side of the screen and click on “Headers & footers” dropdown
  • Scroll, and you will see “Row & column headers
  • Now, tick the box before “Repeat frozen rows” to display frozen rows across all the printed pages
  • Similarly, tick the box before “Repeat frozen columns” to show frozen columns across all the printed pages

Once these settings are done, click on the “Next” button at the upper-rightmost corner of the screen

Conclusion

You can freeze rows and columns in a few seconds using any of the methods discussed above.

The drag-and-drop method is the quickest of all. You don’t have to click anywhere and select any option. Simply hover your mouse over the thick Freeze Pane and drag it wherever you wish.

I hope this article taught you all the bells and whistles of freezing rows and columns in Google Sheets.

Comment below in case of any doubts, and I will try to answer all of your questions as soon as possible.