how to freeze first two rows in excel 2016

They could just as easily be an entire column, such as employee names. Typically, the cells you want to stay sticky are labels like column headers. I’ve had times where I’ve entered data only to discover I was one cell off and produced Excel formula errors. Otherwise, it’s easy to lose focus on a large worksheet when you don’t have column headings or identifiers. Your spreadsheet can contain panes with column headings, multiple rows, multiple columns, or both. Why Lock Spreadsheet CellsĪ benefit to locking or freezing cells is you see the important information regardless of scrolling. Now, if columns and rows aren’t in the orientation you want, then you may want to learn how to transpose or switch columns and rows in Excel. So, for the sake of simplicity, this tutorial will cover freezing panes. Splitting panes is a bit more complex because you have multiple views of your data on the worksheet.

When it comes to spreadsheets, you can “freeze panes” or “ split panes“.

You’re the architect and can define your own pane. For others, it’s an inverted L-shape and contains the top row and first column. For many people, it might be the top row. However, in Microsoft Excel, you get to define the size, shape, and location. Regardless of the window, each segment or section was called a pane.Īn Excel pane is also a subset of columns and rows defined by cells. The windows in my grandparent’s barn were 2 columns by 2 rows. My windows were 3 columns wide by 4 rows. In the house I grew up, each window had 12 equally sized panes separated by wood. The best way I can explain a pane is to first think of your spreadsheet as a window. My friend was thinking in terms of “ sticky header” or “ Excel floating header” or “pinning rows”. For example, when you’re new, you’re probably not thinking in terms like “how to freeze panes in Excel.” In fact, you may not know what is a pane. It reminded me that we all have different experience levels and terms. This was a good communication lesson for me.

3 – How to Freeze Top Row & First Column.

How to freeze first two rows in excel 2016