How to Freeze Top Rows in Excel

When working with large volumes of tabular data in Excel, for reasons of convenience, it may be necessary to fix a certain section of the table - the header or data, which should always be in front of your eyes, no matter how far the table is scrolled.

Working with Excel 2003

This function is available in every version of Excel, but due to the difference in the interface and the location of menu items and individual buttons, it is not configured in the same way.

Freeze a row

If you need to attach a header to a file, i.e. top line, then in the “Window” menu you should select “Freeze Areas” and select the cell of the first column of the next line.

To fix several rows at the top of the table, the technology is the same - the leftmost cell next to the rows being fixed is highlighted.

Freeze a column

Fixing a column in Excel 2003 is done in the same way, only the cell in the top row of the next column or several columns after the one being frozen is selected.

Freeze an area

The Excel 2003 software package allows you to record both columns and rows of a table at the same time. To do this, select the cell next to the ones being assigned. Those. To freeze 5 rows and 2 columns, select the cell in the sixth row and third column and click “Freeze Regions”.

Working with Excel 2007 and 2010

Later versions of the Excel software also allow you to fix the file header in place.

Freeze a row

To do this:

When you need to fix not one, but another number of lines, you need to select the first scrollable line, i.e. the one that will be immediately behind the assigned ones. After that, in the same item, select “Lock areas”.

Important! The function of fixing table sections in Excel 2007 and 2010 has been significantly improved. In addition to the fact that it is now located not in the “Window” section, but in the “View” section, the ability to separately fix the first column or first row has been added. In this case, it does not matter in which cell the cursor is located, the required row/column will still be fixed.

Freeze a column

To freeze a column, in the “Freeze Regions” section, you must check the option to freeze the first column.

If you want to keep several columns of the table visible when scrolling, then, by analogy with the previous point, select the first scrollable column and click the “Freeze areas” button.

Freeze an area

The two options mentioned above can be combined by making sure that when scrolling the table horizontally and vertically, the necessary columns and rows will remain in place. To do this, select the first scrollable cell with the mouse.

Afterwards, fix the area.

Those. if, for example, the first line and the first column are fixed, this will be the cell in the second column and the second line, if 3 rows and 4 columns are fixed, then you should select the cell in the fourth row and fifth column, etc., the operating principle should be understandable.

Important! If there are several sheets in the file, then you will have to freeze and unfreeze parts of the table on each one separately. When you press buttons that fix columns, rows and sections of the table, the action is performed only on one sheet that is active (i.e. open) at the moment.

Unpin

It happens that you need to fix part of a table only for the duration of filling it, but this is not necessary for subsequent use. Just as easily as a row or column is committed, it can be uncommitted.

In Excel 2007 and 2010, this function is located in the same “View” section and the “Freeze Panes” item. If there is any fixed area - a column, row or an entire area, then the “Unfreeze areas” button appears at this point, which removes the entire fixation of table elements on the sheet.

It will not be possible to partially remove the fastening. To do this, you will first have to undo the fixing everywhere, and then fix the necessary sections of the table with a new one.

Conclusion

Pinning elements is a useful feature that makes working with large tables much easier and simpler. This function can be configured simply - all possible options in the program for fixing table sections are placed in one menu item, the names of the buttons correspond to the functions, and explanations are given next to the buttons, as a result of which even an inexperienced user will not make mistakes in formatting tabular data.

Still have questions after reading the article? together we will find the answer.

Microsoft Excel has a wide range of different functions. With its help, the user can create tables, analyze data based on the created summary data, build charts and graphs, and calculate values ​​using the necessary formulas and functions. And besides all this, using Excel, you can also view large tables.

If you have a lot of data recorded in rows and columns, all you need to do is capture the columns and rows. Then you can scroll through it and always see, for example, the header.

So, let's figure out how you can freeze the required area in Excel.

First row and column

Let's take the following example, in which the names for all the columns are labeled. Go to the “View” tab and click on the button "Freeze Areas". From the drop-down menu you can select an item with the appropriate name.

Button "...top line" will allow you to fix the row numbered “1”. As a result, when scrolling through the data, it will always remain visible.

Please note that such rows and columns will be underlined in the table with a black line.

If you select "...first column", then when you scroll the sheet to the right or left, column “A” will always remain in place.

In this case, this is not suitable, since the first column is located under the letter “C”, and the required line is numbered “3”.

Required row

In order to attach a header to an Excel table, which is located in an arbitrary place on the sheet, we will do the following. We select the row that is located immediately under the header, in our case it is 4. You can read a detailed article about selection methods. Now click on the button "Freeze Areas" and select the item of the same name from the drop-down menu.

As you can see, when scrolling through the table, the pinned header remains in place.

Required column

In order to fix the first column for the entered data, which is not in A, select the adjacent one - in the example it is D. Now click on the button "Freeze Areas".

You can make sure that when you swipe to the right, C stays in place.

Fast way

To anchor the first column and row in a table, select the cell that is immediately below their intersection: in the example, D4. Then click on the button we are already familiar with. Horizontal lines will appear to indicate the locked area.

How to remove

If you need to delete a frozen area in Excel, click the button "Freeze Areas". In the drop-down list you will see that now at the very top there is “Unlock…”, click on it.

As you can see, freezing the desired area in Excel is quite simple. Using these recommendations, you can fix the table header, its first row or column.

Thanks to Excel's powerful performance, you can store and work with data in millions of rows and columns. However, scrolling down all these numerous cells to line 26935, it is quite easy to lose the connection between the values ​​​​in these cells and their meaning. This is one of the reasons why Excel has prepared a special tool for us - Freeze(Pin).

This tool allows you to scroll through cells with information and see row and/or column headers that are frozen and cannot be scrolled along with other cells. So, which button should you press, and what pitfalls are there?

How to keep headers visible

If you have a regular table with one row in the header, then the steps are very simple:

1. Look at the top header row and make sure that row is visible. In this case, the line itself does not need to be selected.

The function in question has one feature: it fixes the upper visible line.

Whenever you freeze rows or columns, the command Freeze Panes(Lock Areas) becomes a command Unfreeze Panes(Unlock Regions), which allows you to quickly unlock rows or columns.

How to freeze multiple rows and/or columns

More and more often I see tables that have multiple rows in the header. These are complex structures, but they allow you to place more detailed text in the headings, thereby more clearly describing the data in the table.

In addition, the need to pin multiple rows arises when you need to compare a certain area of ​​data with another area that is located several thousand rows below.

In such situations the team Freeze Top Row(Freeze top line) will not be very useful. But the ability to pin an entire area at once is just the thing!

Here's how it's done:

As always, this is not the end of the story. Many novice users often complain that this technique does not work for them. This can happen if you have already pinned an area before.

If any of the rows or columns are already frozen, then instead of the command Freeze panes(Pin areas), you will see Unfreeze panes(Unlock areas). Take a look at the command name before you try to pin lines and everything will work as expected.

Use this small but very handy tool to ensure that area headers remain visible at all times. In this case, when scrolling the sheet, you will always know what data is in front of you.

The Microsoft Excel program is created in such a way that it is convenient not only to enter data into a table and edit it in accordance with a given condition, but also to view large blocks of information.

The names of columns and rows can be significantly removed from the cells with which the user is working at that moment. And scrolling the page all the time to see the title is uncomfortable. Therefore, the table processor has the ability to pin areas.

How to freeze a row in Excel when scrolling

As a rule, the table has one header. And the lines can be from several tens to several thousand. Working with multi-page table blocks is inconvenient when the column names are not visible. Scrolling all the time to the beginning, then returning to the desired cell is irrational.

To make the header visible when scrolling, we will fix the top row of the Excel table:

A delimiting line appears below the top line. Now, when you scroll the sheet vertically, the table header will always be visible:

Let's say the user needs to fix more than just the header. One or a couple more lines should remain motionless when scrolling the sheet.

How to do it:

1. Select any cell UNDER the row that we will record. This will help Excel figure out which area should be frozen.
2. Now select the “Freeze Regions” tool.

When scrolling horizontally and vertically, the header and top row of the table remain motionless. In the same way you can fix two, three, four, etc. lines.

Note. This method of freezing rows is relevant for Excel versions 2007 and 2010. In earlier versions (2003 and 2000), the Freeze Panes tool is located in the Window menu on the main page. And there you must ALWAYS activate the cell UNDER the fixed row.

How to Freeze a Column in Excel

Let's say the information in the table has a horizontal direction: it is concentrated not in columns, but in rows. For convenience, the user needs to fix the first column, which contains the names of the rows, when scrolling horizontally.

To freeze multiple columns, you need to select the cell at the VERY BOTTOM of the table to the RIGHT of the column you are freezing. And click the “Freeze areas” button.

How to freeze a row and a column at the same time

Task: When scrolling, fix the selected area, which contains two columns and two rows.

We make the active cell at the intersection of the fixed rows and columns. But not in the pinned area itself. It should be immediately below the required rows and to the right of the required columns.

In the drop-down menu of the “Freeze Areas” tool, select the first option.

The figure shows that when scrolling, the selected areas remain in place.

How to remove a frozen area in Excel

After freezing a table row or column, the “Unfreeze Regions” button becomes available in the “Freeze Regions” menu.

Once clicked, all locked areas of the worksheet are unlocked.

Note. The Excel 2003 and 2000 Unfreeze Panes button is located in the Window menu. If you use tool buttons frequently, you can add them to the Quick Access Toolbar. To do this, right-click and select the proposed option.

Today we will talk about how to freeze columns in Excel. When working with various tabular data, there is often a need to see the row or column headings in front of you, throughout the entire process, at each moment in time, regardless of the given position of the scroll pointer. Luckily, the said application has a special feature that can help us.

Preparation

In order to solve the question of how to fix columns and rows in Excel, launch a table editor and open a file with the necessary data in it. Next, go to the desired sheet of the document.

Instructions

To begin with, we will tell you how to freeze a column if you are using the 2010 or 2007 version of the application. We will freeze the left column of the sheet. To do this, go to the tab called “View”. Expand it to allow you to secure areas. It is placed in a special group of commands, united under the name “Window”. We need the bottom line of the list. It is responsible for fixing the first column. Click on it with the mouse cursor or select it using the key with the letter “y”.

We go to the right

Now let's look at how to freeze columns in Excel, if only the first of them is not enough. Select the corresponding column. It should be located to the right of the outermost column of the group being pinned. For this purpose, left-click on the title of the described column, that is, the cell above the top line. When you hover the cursor over the required area, it changes appearance and turns into a black arrow. Expand the “Freeze Areas” list, which is located in the “View” tab; you can find it in the main menu of the editor. This time we select the top line. It is also called Freeze Regions. This item may not be on the menu. This is possible if the sheet already contains other pinned areas. If this is the case, the specified place in the list will be occupied by the function for disabling pinning of areas. Let's select it first. Then we open the list again and use the “Pin areas” function, which has returned to its rightful place. If you are using the 2003 version of the table editor, the menu here is arranged differently. Therefore, in this case, selecting the column that follows the dockable one, open the “Window” section. Next, select the line called. When you need to secure not only a certain number of columns, but also several rows, follow the steps described below. Select the first cell from the unfixed area, that is, the top, left one. At the next stage of the application version 2007 or 2010, we repeat the steps described above. As for the 2003 edition, here you need to select the “Freeze Panes” item in the “Window” section.

Additional features

Now you know how to freeze columns in Excel, but you also cannot do without adding new rows or columns to the document. So, we launch a document in which such modifications are planned and create the necessary table. We save the material by assigning it an arbitrary name. In the cell located on the right in the table, enter a value or text. Add a column using the mouse. Move the label that changes its size to the right. It is located in the lower corner of the table. This way the columns will be added. It is necessary to determine the location for placing new elements in advance. We highlight a suitable place. The number of selected cells must be equal to the number of empty columns that you plan to add. If you need to insert non-adjacent elements, hold down the CTRL key while selecting. Go to the “Home” tab, use the “Cells” group. Click on the arrow located next to the “Insert” function. So we figured out how to freeze columns in Excel.