How to Freeze Panes in Excel: Top Row, Columns and Unfreeze

You scroll down a long customer list, the column headings vanish off the top, and suddenly you're guessing which column holds the email address and which holds the order date. Freezing panes fixes that by pinning the headings in place while the rest of the sheet moves.

I've followed Microsoft's help pages here, including the separate Mac article. Where those pages stay quiet on a point, I've said so rather than guess.

Pinning just the heading row in Excel

This is the one most people want. Your column headings live in row one, and you want them visible all the way down.

1. Open the worksheet.
2. Go to the View tab.
3. Click Freeze Panes.
4. Choose Freeze Top Row.

Scroll down and the first row now stays at the top. If your headings sit lower down because you've put a title above them, use the combined method further down instead, because Freeze Top Row only holds row one.

Keeping the first column of an Excel sheet in view

Wide spreadsheets have the opposite problem. Scroll right across a year of monthly columns and the names in column A disappear. The fix is the same menu.

1. Go to the View tab.
2. Click Freeze Panes.
3. Choose Freeze First Column.

Now column A stays on screen as you scroll sideways.

Freezing rows and columns together in Excel

To lock both a heading row and a label column, or several rows at once, you choose a starting cell. Microsoft's page says to select the cell below the rows and to the right of the columns you want to keep visible, then go to View, Freeze Panes, Freeze Panes.

What you want pinned	Cell to click first
Row one only	Use Freeze Top Row, no cell needed
Column A only	Use Freeze First Column, no cell needed
Row one and column A	B2
The first two rows	A3
The first two columns	C1 (Microsoft's own example is to select the third column)

The rule underneath all of it, in Microsoft's words, is that Freeze Panes freezes the rows above and the columns to the left of the selected cell. If you remember that sentence you can work out any combination.

How to unfreeze panes in Excel

If the frozen section is getting in the way, or the thick line across the sheet is confusing a colleague, go back to the View tab, click Freeze Panes and choose Unfreeze Panes. The same button that froze the sheet releases it.

Freezing panes in Excel for Mac and the web

Microsoft publishes a separate article for Excel for Mac, and the steps follow the same View tab idea. It adds one useful tip: if the Freeze Panes buttons are greyed out, select Normal on the View tab. Microsoft doesn't say more than that, so if they stay greyed out, check the view first.

The standard Freeze Panes article says it applies to Excel for the web too, but it doesn't spell out any differences, so menus vary. Look for Freeze Panes under the View tab and you should find it.

Worked example: a content calendar with a title above the headings

Say your sheet has a title in row one, a blank row two, and your column headings in row three. Freeze Top Row would only hold the title, which is no use to anyone. Instead, click cell A4, the first cell under the headings, then choose View, Freeze Panes, Freeze Panes. Rows one to three now stay put, and the posts scroll underneath.

The same logic works sideways. If column A holds the date and column B the topic, click C4 instead, and both columns stay visible as you scroll across to the channels and status notes on the right.

Freeze panes or split in Excel: what's the difference?

Split sits in the same part of the View tab and does something else. Microsoft describes it as a way to create separate windows of the same worksheet, so you can scroll two parts of a sheet independently. Freeze keeps a section fixed. Use freeze for headings, and split when you want to compare two distant parts of the same sheet.

If you can't see Freeze Panes in Excel

1. Check you're on the View tab, not Home or Page Layout.
2. If the buttons are greyed out, switch the view back to Normal.
3. If the View tab itself is missing, Microsoft says you may be using Excel Starter, where not every feature is supported.
4. Make sure you haven't clicked inside a cell you're still editing. Press Enter first, then try again.

Freeze panes for client spreadsheets and team trackers

If you share a sheet with a client or a team, freezing the heading row is a courtesy that takes seconds. Whoever opens the file can always tell what each column means, however far down they scroll. I'd freeze headings on every tracker, content calendar or order log before it leaves my hands.

If your team works in Google Sheets as well, this guide to freezing rows in Google Sheets covers the same job there. And when you need help writing the formulas that sit under those headings, my piece on using Claude inside Excel is a good next read.

Frequently asked questions

How do I freeze the top row in Excel?

Go to the View tab, click Freeze Panes and choose Freeze Top Row. The first row then stays visible as you scroll down.

How do I freeze the first column in Excel?

On the View tab, click Freeze Panes and choose Freeze First Column. Column A stays in view as you scroll sideways.

How do I freeze more than one row or column?

Select the cell below the rows and to the right of the columns you want to keep, then choose View, Freeze Panes, Freeze Panes. Excel freezes everything above and to the left of that cell.

How do I unfreeze panes in Excel?

Go to the View tab, click Freeze Panes and choose Unfreeze Panes.

Why is Freeze Panes greyed out in Excel?

For Excel for Mac, Microsoft says to select Normal on the View tab if the Freeze buttons are greyed out. If you can't see the View tab at all, you may be using Excel Starter, which doesn't support every feature.