How to freeze rows and columns in Google Sheets

Working with large datasets involves a fair amount of scrolling, and it’s easy to lose track of the cells you’re watching. When you scroll down, you lose the headers; when you scroll right, you lose the row. Freezing keeps the rows or columns you choose in view while the rest of the sheet scrolls, on the web and in the mobile app.

On the web there are three ways to do it: drag the gray bar, use the View menu, or right-click a row number or column letter. If you know Excel, freeze panes is the same feature. Excel puts it under View > Freeze Panes, and Google Sheets under View > Freeze.

For the Excel steps, including how to keep the top row and first column in view at the same time, see how to freeze rows and columns in Excel.

What freezing rows and columns does in Google Sheets

The freeze feature in Google Sheets allows you to pin certain rows or columns within your spreadsheet so that you can continue to view them as you scroll through your data. This is particularly helpful when you have a huge amount of data that you need to evaluate or manage.

Here are just a few situations where you’d want to freeze rows or columns within your data:

• To keep headers locked in place in order to identify key rows or columns of your data
• To compare specific data with other data throughout your spreadsheet
• To remind yourself of key data as you scroll through your spreadsheet

In most cases, you will probably only want to freeze the first row or column of your spreadsheet. However, the freeze feature does allow you to freeze multiple rows or columns; as long as they are next to the first.

Please note:

• You cannot freeze a standalone row or column in the middle of your spreadsheet. It must be immediately next to the first row or column.

How to freeze a row or column: drag-and-drop shortcut

The quickest way to freeze rows and columns in Google Sheets is the drag-and-drop method.

1. Hover over the empty square where the row headers and column headers intersect. To freeze a row, hover over the bottom line of the square until it is highlighted. Click and drag down to beyond the row you want to freeze.

2. Grab the outline and drag it just beyond the row or column you want.

3. No matter how far down you scroll, the first row will stay in view.

4. To freeze the first column, repeat step one, but grab the left-hand line of the corner cell rather than the bottom one. Drag it right to just beyond the column you want to freeze.

5. Now, no matter how far down or right you scroll, the first row and the first column are always visible.

How to freeze the top row or first column from the View menu

Follow the steps below to freeze rows or columns from the ‘View’ menu.

1. Go to View > Freeze and choose the option you prefer.

2. Choose ‘1 row’ to freeze the top row or ‘2 rows’ to freeze the top two. The same options are available for freezing the first or first two columns.

How to freeze a row or column in Google Sheets: right-click menu

Follow the steps below to freeze a row or column using the right-click menu.

1. Select the row you want to freeze.

2. Right-click on the row number to see the menu options. On the menu, go to View more row actions > Freeze up to row 1.

3. To freeze a column, select it and right-click on the column letter to see the menu. Go to View more column actions > Freeze up to column A.

How to freeze multiple rows or columns

To freeze the first 2 rows or columns of your data, go to View > Freeze and choose 2 rows or 2 columns. To freeze more than two, use any of the three methods shown above: the drag-and-drop shortcut, the View menu, or the right-click menu. Frozen rows always start at row 1, and frozen columns at column A.

Drag-and-drop shortcut

Follow the steps below to freeze multiple rows or columns using the drag-and-drop method.

1. Hover over the empty square where the row headers and column headers intersect. To freeze a row, hover over the bottom line of the square until it is highlighted.

2. Click and drag down to beyond the row you want to freeze. In this case, I want to freeze the first four rows.

3. To freeze the first three columns, repeat step one but grab the left-hand line of the corner cell rather than the bottom one. Drag it right to just beyond the column you want to freeze.

View menu

Follow the steps below to freeze multiple rows or columns via the ‘View’ menu.

1. Select a cell in the row up to which you want to freeze.

2. Go to View > Freeze and choose Up to row X, where X is the number of the row you selected. The option shows that number, so you can check it before you click.

3. To freeze a column, select the column up to which you want to freeze and repeat step 2.

Right-click menu

Follow the steps below to freeze multiple rows or columns using the right-click menu.

1. Select the row or column up to which you want to freeze.

2. Right-click on the row number or column letter to get the menu. Go to View more row actions > Freeze up to row X. In this case, I will freeze up to row 3.

3. You can follow the same steps to freeze multiple columns by right-clicking on the column up to which you want to freeze.

How to freeze rows and columns at the same time

Rows and columns freeze separately, so you can keep a header row and one or more label columns on screen together.

Let’s say I am comparing the number of visitors my company website has had from the beginning to the end of the year.

I want to freeze the first row of my spreadsheet so that I can easily identify what each column of data refers to. I also want to freeze the ‘January visitors’ column of my spreadsheet so that I can compare the data to the ‘December visitors’ column.

To do that, freeze the first row and the first two columns. Drag the horizontal gray bar to just below row 1 and the vertical one to just past column B, as in the drag-and-drop steps above. Or go to View > Freeze and choose 1 row, then open the same menu again and choose 2 columns.

Now when we scroll across or down the spreadsheet, these rows and columns are locked in place. I can now easily compare the January data to the December data.

As you can see, the drag-and-drop option allows you to freeze as many rows or columns as you like, as long as they are immediately next to each other.

How to freeze a row in the Google Sheets mobile app

Below, you have instructions on how to freeze rows or columns in the Google Sheets mobile app using two different methods.

From the row or column header

1. In the Google Sheets mobile app, click on the row or column you want to freeze.

2. Tap on the row or column header to see the menu and select ‘Freeze row’ or ‘Freeze column’.

3. The row, in this case, will remain visible no matter how far down you scroll.

4. You can freeze columns using the same method.

From the tab or sheet name

You can use the tab menu to specify the number of rows and columns you want to freeze.

1. In the mobile app, tap on the tab or sheet name to see the menu.

2. Use the arrows to indicate the number of rows and columns you want to freeze.

How to unfreeze rows and columns

Unfreezing rows or columns is easy – simply reverse the process of your chosen method.

Option 1: Unfreeze rows and columns with the drag-and-drop method

Hover your mouse over the gray-colored freeze panes. Once the hand icon appears, simply click and drag the gray pane back to the top left-hand corner of the spreadsheet.

Option 2: Unfreeze rows and columns via the View menu

To unfreeze your rows and columns using the Freeze feature, simply head to View > Freeze > No rows, or, No columns.

How to lock a row or column in place

In Google Sheets, keeping a row or column on screen while you scroll is called freezing, so the steps above are all you need. To stop other people from changing it, protect it instead. Here’s how to lock cells so other people can’t edit them.

Conclusion

With the header row and label columns frozen, you can scroll through a sheet of any size and still see what each number means. For more ways to save time in Google Sheets, see our tips and tricks for working in spreadsheets.