In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

Usually it's easy to unhide rows or columns in an Excel worksheet, but occasionally you can run into problems. In these cases, try one of the following techniques:

-- Unfreeze Panes

-- Extend Selection

Unfreeze Panes

In some cases, the rows or columns aren't really hidden. There are frozen rows or columns, and the "hidden" sections are out of view.

This short video shows the problem, and how to fix it. There are written steps below the video.

Show Rows Hidden by Freezing

To see if freezing is the problem of hidden rows, follow these steps:

  • Select any cell on the the worksheet
  • On the Excel Ribbon, click the View tab
  • If there is an Unfreeze Pane command in the drop down list, click that, to unfreeze the locked sections

The "hidden" rows or columns might reappear after that, when you scroll to the top or left of the worksheet.

Extend Selection

If unfreezing didn't fix the problem of hidden rows, this extend selection trick might help. This short video shows the "Extend Selection" technique, and the written steps are below the video.

Extend Selection Steps

When the hidden rows are at the very top of the sheet, it's hard to select the hidden rows, in order to unhide them.

The Excel Freeze Panes option allows you to lock your columns and/or rows so that when you scroll down or over to view the rest of your sheet, the column and/or row will remain on the screen.

Go to the View tab of a worksheet to select Freeze Panes, which locks specific rows and columns in place when you scroll to another area, or Split Panes, which creates separate windows of the same spreadsheet.

How to Freeze Top Row?

To freeze only the top row, execute the steps mentioned below:

  1. In the windows group, go to the View tab, and click Freeze Panes.
  2. Click Freeze Top Row.

    In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

Your top row is now frozen. You can scroll down to the rest of the worksheet.

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In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

How to Unfreeze Panes?

To unlock all the rows and columns, follow the steps mentioned below:

  1. Go to View > Freeze Panes > Unfreeze Panes.
  2. Click on Unfreeze Panes.

In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

How to Freeze First Column?

You can freeze only the first column for your worksheet by following these steps:

  1. Go to View tab > Windows group > Freeze First Column.
  2. Select Freeze First Column.

In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

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In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

How to Freeze Rows?

Excel provides you with the option to freeze multiple rows at once. To freeze the multiple rows, follow these steps: 

  1. For example, select row 5.
  2. Go to View tab > Windows group > Freeze Panes.
  3. Select Freeze Panes.

In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

As you can see below, it freezes all the rows above row 5.

In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

In a similar way, you can freeze multiple columns as well.

Magic Freeze Button

The magic freeze button is a shortcut to freeze the rows and columns with a single click.

To add the magic freeze shortcut to the quick access toolbar, follow these steps:

  • Click on the down arrow and click more commands.

In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

  • Add the Freeze Panes option to the quick access toolbar and click OK.

In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

As you can see, it adds the shortcut to your toolbar.

In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:

Conclusion

In this article, we have discussed a useful function of freezing the rows and columns in Excel.

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Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask them in this article’s comments section, and our experts will promptly answer them for you! 

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About the Author

In order for you to freeze the first column of a worksheet into a frozen pane:
Shruti M

Shruti is an engineer and a technophile. She works on several trending technologies. Her hobbies include reading, dancing and learning new languages. Currently, she is learning the Japanese language.

What will be frozen if you select Freeze first column in the freeze panes options?

To freeze the first column in a sheet, click View tab > Freeze Panes > Freeze First Column. This will make the leftmost column visible at all times while you scroll to the right.

What is the shortcut key for freezing the first column in Excel?

The steps to freeze the first column (column A) are listed as follows: In the View tab, click the “freeze panes” drop-down under the “window” section. Select “freeze first column.” Alternatively, press the shortcut keys “Alt+W+F+C” one by one. The first column (column A) is frozen.

When you freeze panes in your worksheet What is frozen?

The Excel Freeze Panes option allows you to lock your columns and/or rows so that when you scroll down or over to view the rest of your sheet, the column and/or row will remain on the screen.