When working with large datasets it becomes difficult to keep track of what each row and column represents as you start scrolling down or rightwards.
Luckily you can easily solve this problem by freezing rows and columns in Google Sheets.
When you freeze a row or column, that row/column stays fixed and visible at all times, helping you easily identify what the data represents.
Freeze Rows in Google Sheets
Google Sheets has a built-in feature that allows you to freeze rows. Here is how to use that feature.
1. Click on View > Freeze: Click on the View tab from the top menu and then from the dropdown menu, click on Freeze
2. To Freeze the Top Row: To freeze only the top row, click on the First Row option. (See image above)
Once you freeze a row, you will see a grey line appearing underneath that row to indicate that the rows above that line are frozen.
To freeze the top 2 rows, you would click on the Two Rows option instead.
If you want to freeze more than 2 rows, you can do that as well. All you need to do is select a cell that you want to freeze up to. Next you would click on View > Freeze and then select Up to Current Row. This will freeze all the rows from the first one till the cell you selected.
Freeze Columns in Google Sheets
Similarly, you can also freeze columns in Google Sheets.
1. Click on View > Freeze: From the top menu, click on View and then from the dropdown click on Freeze.
2. To Freeze Column A: To freeze column A, select the 1 Column option.
To freeze column A and column B, you would click on the 2 Columns option instead.
Just like freezing a custom number of rows you can also freeze a custom number of columns by selecting a column you want to freeze up to and then clicking on the Up to Current Column option.
Unfreeze Rows and Columns in Google Sheets
If you no longer want the rows and columns frozen, then you can simply unfreeze them.
1. Click on the View tab
2. Click on Freeze > No rows to unfreeze all the rows.
3. Click on Freeze > No columns to unfreeze all the columns.
That’s it! Now you can go through your worksheets knowing what data is being represented by each row and column.