Microsoft Excel 
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FREEZING ROWS AND COLUMNS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
When you lay out your data in rows and columns, 
it is most likely that your headings end up at the 
top or to the left of your data. If you have a large 
amount of data, you may find that when you 
scroll across or down to particular cells, the 
headings scroll out of view. This problem can be 
resolved by freezing the rows and/or columns that 
hold the headings. 
Try This Yourself: 
Same 
File Continue using the previous file 
with this exercise, or open the file 
E1324 Worksheet 
Techniques_11.xlsx... 
 
Click on the Maintenance 
worksheet tab, then spend a few 
moments examining the worksheet 
Depending on your screen, it is 
possible that you won’t be able to 
see all of the figures on the screen 
at once... 
 
Click in cell B6 to select the cell 
 
Click on the VIEW tab, click on 
Freeze Panes in the Window 
group, then select Freeze Panes 
Thin black lines appear above and 
to the left of the selected cell. This 
indicates that the areas above and 
to the left are frozen... 
 
Scroll to the right until Yearly 
Average in column L appears next 
to column A 
 
Scroll down until Overheads in row 
25 is below row 5 
 
Press  +  to move to cell 
B6 – this is our temporary home 
cell, as the cells above and to the 
left are frozen 
 
On the VIEW tab, click on Freeze 
Panes in the Freeze Panes group, 
then click on Unfreeze Panes to 
unfreeze the rows and columns 
 
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For Your Reference… 
To freeze panes in a worksheet: 
1. Click in the cell below and to the right of the 
area you want to freeze/unfreeze 
2. Click on the VIEW tab 
3. Click on Freeze Panes in the Window 
group, then select Freeze Panes 
Handy to Know… 
 If you want to freeze only the rows above the 
selected cell (leaving all columns unfrozen), 
select the cell in column A of that row – e.g. 
to freeze rows 1 to 6, click in cell A7. The 
same applies to freezing only columns and 
leaving the rows unfrozen: select the cell in 
row 1. 
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