You’ve probably seen this done a number of times: You’re looking at a spreadsheet, and you go to scroll down. Surprise, surprise, the top row does not move, but the other rows scroll under it. How do you work this magic? It’s called the Freeze Panes function, and it’s refreshingly simple.

There are three different ways to use the Freeze Panes function. They are listed below:

1. Freeze a Column or Columns.
2. Freeze a Row or Rows.
3. Freeze a set of Columns and Rows.

Freezing Columns

To freeze a column, click on the first cell in the column to the right of the column you want to freeze. It’s important to click on the first cell, otherwise you’ll end up freezing the rows above the selected cell as well. I find that the easiest thing to do is to just highlight the entire column next to the one you want to freeze instead of using a single cell. Next, click on Window -> Freeze Panes. The line where your column is frozen should thicken. When you scroll to the right, that column should always stay in view.

Here’s an example: Suppose I want to freeze column A. In the picture below, I have clicked on cell B1, then performed the Freeze Panes function. As you can see, the line between columns A and B is now more prominent (shown by the red circle). Column A is now frozen.

This is an example of freezing a single column. If I wanted to freeze columns A and B, I would do the same thing as above except I would highlight the first cell in column C. This would freeze both A and B.

Freezing Rows

This is pretty much the exact same as freezing columns, however instead of highlighting the column to the right, you highlight the row below.

Here’s an example: Suppose I want to freeze row 1. The first thing I’ll do is highlight row 2. Then, I’ll use the Freeze Panes function. The result would be shown below, with the prominent divider line between rows 1 and 2 shown in the red circle.

Similar to freezing columns, if you are highlighting a single cell, make sure it is the first cell in the row. To freeze multiple rows, adapt the example for freezing multiple columns.

Freezing Rows and Columns

This is usually the one that most people don’t know how to do, however it is just as simple as the first two. To freeze a row and a column, highlight the cell that is below the row you want to freeze and to the right of the column you want to freeze. This is pretty much a combination of the above two techniques.

Here’s an example: To freeze column A and row 1, you would highlight the cell shown below and then use the Freeze Panes function. The red circles highlight the thicker lines showing the result.

In this case, when you scroll to the right, column A will remain frozen, and when you scroll down, row 1 will be frozen. The procedure for freezing multiple rows and columns at once is in the same vein as freezing multiple rows or multiple columns.

In summary, freezing rows and columns is a pretty straightforward task to accomplish. It can be very useful in your spreadsheets, especially those with large amounts of data.