Elon Technology Blog

Locking Rows and Columns in Excel

In Microsoft Excel, users often use the top row or first column to create headers for their document, labeling what the data is in the corresponding cells. Have you ever done this only to be frustrated to not be able to see them when you scroll down? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to see certain rows or columns in your document, regardless of where you are on the page?

Well guess what?

Locking Excel Rows and Columns

You can view two areas of a worksheet and lock rows or columns in one area by splitting or freezing panes (A pane is a portion of the document window bounded by and separated from other portions by vertical or horizontal bars.). When you split panes, you’ll be able to scroll in both areas of the worksheet, while rows or columns in the non-scrolled area remain visible. This is comparable to the split screen in Microsoft Word.

When you freeze panes, you select specific rows or columns that remain visible when scrolling in the worksheet. For example, you would freeze panes to keep row and column labels visible as you scroll.

To split viewing panes, do the following:

1. To lock rows, select the row below where you want the split to appear. To lock columns, select the column to the right of where you want the split to appear. To lock both rows and columns, click the cell below and to the right of where you want the split to appear.
2. On the Window menu, click Split.
3. To remove the split, click Remove Split on the Window menu.

To lock the rows by freezing the panes, do the following:

1. Select the rows and/or columns that you want to be frozen at the top of the page.
2. On the Window menu, click Freeze Panes.
3. To unlock rows, click Unfreeze Panes on the Window menu.

Now you can see which columns and rows you’re referring to without having to scroll up and down.

That’s all for now! Until next week,
The elite Program

 

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