How to fix a Microsoft Excel column and row

Fix Excel columns and rows

One of the questions many users ask themselves when working with spreadsheets is how to fix excel column. And not only columns, but also rows and cells. The question arises especially when you are working with large amounts of data and you have to go back again and again to the reference column / row / cell.

Normally the ones we want to have visible at all times are the columns and rows that contain titles or headings, although this trick can also be used with other rows and columns (they don't have to be the first ones).

Without using the Excel column fix method, working with spreadsheets can become slow, tedious, and slow. Even irritating at times. We are forced to continually use the scroll, moving the blade up and down or sideways, wasting a lot of time. And time is something that nobody has to spare.

So we are going to explain how to perform this simple operation and power in this way work in Excel in a much more comfortable and effective way.

Fix a column in Excel

The functionality of fixing Excel column is in this program since its version of the year 2007. Its introduction was of great help for users who work with large spreadsheets and handle large amounts of data. And it still is today. A trick that increases our productivity.

To make it serve correctly, these are the steps to follow:

fix excel column

Clicking on the "View" option opens three options to freeze columns, rows and panels.

First of all, we click on the tab "Sight" that appears at the top of the spreadsheet, where all the tools are displayed. There we have three options:

    • Freeze top row. With this option, the first row of the spreadsheet is "frozen", which will remain static and visible while we move vertically through the sheet.
    • Freeze first column. It works like the previous option, keeping the first column of the spreadsheet fixed and in view while we scroll horizontally through the document.
    • Freeze panels. This option is a combination of the previous two. It helps us to create a division based on the cell that we have previously selected. It is the one that we must choose if we want to freeze or fix rows and columns at the same time. Also in the event that the row or column that we intend to set is not the first.

Depending on the task you are going to perform, you must choose one of the three options.

The rows and columns that remain fixed are distinguished by the thickest line of the cell that marks them. It is important to know that fixing Excel columns (or rows or panels) is a visualization resource. In other words, rows and columns do not change position original within our spreadsheet, they only appear visible to help us.

Once the task is finished, we can go back to "Release" the frozen rows and columns. For that, we will have to access the «View» window again and deactivate the option that we have previously chosen.

Split window in Excel

As we have seen, the purpose of fixing Excel columns is none other than to facilitate work with spreadsheets through a clearer and more comfortable visualization of the document. But this is not the only trick that will help us. Depending on the type of document or task, it may be more practical the option to split the Excel window.

What does this functionality consist of? Basically it is about dividing the screen of the spreadsheet so that get different views of the same document. For example, on one screen we could be seeing the first column with all the information it contains, while on a second screen we could scroll through the rest of the document.

split screen excel

Excel screen split in two

Let's see how this option can be used in Microsoft Excel:

  1. The first thing to do is go, as in the previous option, to the tab "Sight".
  2. There you just have to select the option "Divide". The screen will automatically be divided into four sectors.

In this way we will obtain four different views of the same document, to work individually on each one of them. And without having to use the scroll over and over to hover over it.

And if four screens are too much (sometimes by trying to make things simpler we end up complicating them more), there are other ways to simply work with the screen divided in two. In this case we must proceed like this:

  1. Let's go back to "Sight", although this time we chose the option of "New window".
  2. At this point we can choose two modalities: "Parallel view" O well "Organize all«. In both, the screen will appear divided into two, although if we have chosen the second option we can choose between several display modes: horizontal, vertical, mosaic or cascading. To our liking.

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