On a long sheet, the header row disappears the moment you scroll past it — leaving you guessing which column is which a hundred rows down.
Freeze Panes pins exactly the row or column you choose, so it stays put no matter how far you scroll.
Here's the trick:
Freeze Panes locks the top row or first column in place — no more losing track of which column is which.
How to use it
- Click a cell in the row just below the header you want frozen — for example, click into row 2 to freeze row 1.
- Go to the View tab and click Freeze Panes.
- Choose "Freeze Panes" from the dropdown.
- Scroll down — the header row now stays visible at the top of the screen.
Where it helps most
Long lists or reports where you keep forgetting which column is which after scrolling past the headers, especially on wide sheets viewed on a laptop screen.
One thing to watch for
To freeze both a header row and a left-hand label column at the same time, click the single cell just below and just to the right of both before freezing.
Found a faster way to do this, or a version that works differently on Mac? That's what the comments are for — this section connects to your comment system of choice (Disqus, giscus, etc.) once the site is live.