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How to freeze panels in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet? Step by step guide

It is no secret to anyone that, the world's most recognized spreadsheet program, it's about Microsoft Excel. Which, consists of an arrangement of rows and columns which enables manage and analyze a series of data of any kind, in order to simplify your study or carry out certain actions of interest to make projects, budgets or any work involving the representation of quantities.

Therefore, Excel is a software that has numerous tools with which users manage to carry out their tasks in an optimal and effective way. Thus, one of its most representative functions, involves freezing panels in a spreadsheet to keep certain rows and columns visible when capturing large amounts of information in an orderly way.

Now, despite the remarkable usefulness of this function, many people do not know how to do it correctly in Excel. That is why, below, we will explain the importance of immobilizing panels in this Microsoft program and what are each of the steps to follow to do it.

What is the use of freezing the panels of my spreadsheet?

Basically, the functionality of freezing rows and / or columns in a certain spreadsheet of Microsoft Excel offers the possibility of keeping some panels visible while the user scrolls through a sheet of this software. That is to say, it serves to conserve, manifestly, an area of ​​a spreadsheet regardless of any movement made.

In this sense, the main reason for the design of this tool is because, when spreadsheets are created and information is captured in the rows or columns, your headers may be lost if not immobilized. On the other hand, if you need to have them as a reference constantly and be able to visualize them regardless of the movements you make, these panels will have to be paralyzed.

Therefore, despite the fact that the information entered in the spreadsheet is extremely extensive, all those rows and / or columns that you decide to freeze, will continue to be displayed in their permanently indicated location. In addition, while the data is being emptied into a list, you won't have to constantly move the spreadsheets to see the references in the first rows or columns, which could be very tiring.

Learn step by step how to freeze panels in an Excel sheet

When deciding to freeze panels in a Microsoft program spreadsheet, the steps to follow will depend on the row or column you need to keep visible throughout the document.

That is why, in this section of the post, we will focus on specifying the processes to follow for some of the most common situations of all:

Freeze the top row

Although it is true, the option most commonly chosen when freezing cells in Excel, is based on converting the top row into a non-scrollable area resulting in two or more independent areas in which the user can move freely and a certain stationary row that always remains visible at the top.

For which, it will be necessary to specify these steps:

  • Initially, access your excel document in which you want to use this functionality and, located in the software options bar, click on "View" to see its tools.
  • Having done the above, go to the Window group and click "Freeze".
  • After that, you have to press the option that indicates "Freeze upper row". This will keep the top row of the file visible as you move through it.

Freeze the first column

Freeze the first column

Yes, what you should freeze is the first column of your Excel document, you will have to carry out the following step by step correctly:

  • To start, access the program file that you want to edit in this way and click on the tab called “Vista” located on the ribbon of Excel.
  • After that, go to the Window group, to select there the option that says “Immobilize”.
  • Then, among the available options, click on “Freeze first column”. In this way, a kind of border line will be marked indicating that the first row is paralyzed in the spreadsheet.