How to lock top row in Excel

How to lock top row in excel

While working with an Excel spreadsheet, the user utilizes the rows and columns to enter the details under various headings. Sometimes while scrolling the cursor to the lower column or rows, the headings of the sheet are not visible. Therefore the user might get confused with the fields and may not get a proper idea.  Hence to keep the top area of the Excel sheet visible while scrolling to another section of the same Sheet, Excel provides the "Freeze Panes" option. The Excel freeze pane option keeps a specific part of the sheet visible or locked while the rest of the page scrolls.

In this tutorial, we will discover the various ways to freeze or lock a row or column:

KEY points of Excel Freeze

Before we move forward and discover the steps to freeze rows or columns in a worksheet, lets' cover some essential points or Freeze rules guided by Excel:

1. Excel allows the user to freeze rows from the top area and columns from the left side of the Excel sheet pane; therefore, the user wishes to freeze the rows and columns from the middle or any other sheet position that won't be feasible.
2. The Excel Freeze Panes command is not accessible when the user is in cell editing mode, i.e., he/she is either entering an Excel formula or data in a cell or if the user has enabled the worksheet in a protected mode. However, the user can cancel the Excel cell editing mode by pressing Enter or the Esc button.
3. Excel provides you the feature to freeze the top row or the left column of your sheet or multiple rows and columns simultaneously. For instance, if the user has already locked row 1 and wants to freeze column A, row 1 will not be locked anymore, but if he wants to lock both rows and columns, he must freeze them simultaneously.

Freeze the top row

To lock the top row in Excel, following are the steps:

1. Click on the View tab from the Excel ribbon bar.

• From the upcoming pane, select the Freeze Pane option as shown in the below screenshot.

• It will display three options. Select the Freeze top option.

• As you can see in the below screenshot, Excel has locked the first row and made it visible even if it scrolls the rest of the worksheet.

Freeze the first column

To lock the first column in Excel, following are the steps:

1. Click on the View tab from the Excel ribbon bar.

• From the upcoming pane, select the Freeze Pane option as shown in the below screenshot.

• It will display three options. Select the ‘Freeze First Column’ option.

• As you can see in the below screenshot, Excel has locked the first column and made it visible even if it scrolls the rest of the worksheet.

Note: Sometimes the view tab is not visible to the user, and it may be because they are using Excel Starter. 

How to Freeze Top Row & First Column

Excel’s Top Row & First Column freeze option allows the user to lock both the top row and first column simultaneously. You can implement this preference using the generic option called Freeze Panes. Following are the steps to freeze the row & column simultaneously:

1. Open the Excel sheet in which you would like to apply the selection cell option. Put your cursor on the cell till which to want to freeze the rows from top and columns towards its left. In our case, we have clicked on B3.

• Click on the View tab from the Excel ribbon bar.

• From the upcoming pane, choose the Freeze Pane and click on three triangular icon as shown in the below screenshot.

• Click on the first option i.e., Freeze Panes.

NOTE: If you have already selected other freeze options, firstly unfreeze them to unlock the Freeze Pane option.

• Now if you scroll across your Excel spreadsheet you will notice that Excel has the rows from the top and columns from the left till your selected cell reference (refer to the below screenshot).

How to unfreeze a locked row

Excel only allows freezing either the top row, left column, or both (if done at the same time). Once you freeze a row, you cannot further freeze a column unless and until you unfreeze it.

To unfreeze the row or column in Excel, following are the steps:

1. Choose the View tab from the Excel ribbon bar.

• From the upcoming pane, select the Freeze Pane option as shown in the below screenshot.

• It will display three options. Select the top option i.,e Unfreeze Panes. This option unlocks all the rows and columns and enables the user to scroll the Excel worksheet.