In this tutorial we will be sharing 2 methods to freeze columns in google sheets
2 Ways to Freeze Columns in Google Sheets
- Freeze the first column
- Freeze a certain number of columns up to the current column
Method 1: Freeze the First Column in Google Sheets
Step 1. Open up your Google Sheets file.
Step 2. Go to the View menu.
Now that you have a spreadsheet opened, click the View menu found at the Menu bar. You’ll find this located at the upper-left corner of your Google Sheets window.
Step 3. Freeze the first column of your spreadsheet.
After clicking the View tab and having the drop-down menu opened, click on Freeze. You should see another drop-down menu with more options and features. From there, simply select the 1 column option.
- Click Freeze to show more options.
- Select 1 column to freeze the first column.
On another note, select 2 columns from the list of Freeze options if you want to freeze the first two columns.
Congratulations! You’ve just frozen the first column in Google Sheets.
Now while you’re at it, why don’t you check out the “Freezing Rows in Google Sheets” section found at the end of this article?
Method 2: Freeze Columns up to the Current Column
Step 1. Open up your Google Sheets file.
Step 2. Select or highlight a column.
Once you have your file opened, click the last column of the chosen set of columns that you want to freeze. This step will require you to click on the column letter to select a particular column.
By default, Google Sheets will always start from column A up to the column you have selected. For this example, we will select column D. This way, we can later compare the prices in column D between two or more products in column F.
Tip: You can simply select a cell in that column, and it will have the same result.
Step 3. Go to the View menu.
Go to the View menu from there. To reiterate, you’ll find this at the upper-left corner of your window. Once the drop-down menu opens, select Freeze to show more options. Now, select Up to current column (#).
Do note that if you are using a copy of our document or clicked on the same column we did, it should say Up to current column (D).
- Click Freeze to see more options.
- Select Up to current column (D) to freeze columns A to D.
You can try scrolling left and right, and you should notice that columns A to D are fixed in place.
In case you’re wondering how many columns you can freeze in Google Sheets, we’ve tried far beyond column Z and here’s what we got:
It’s important to note that it would defeat the purpose of freezing columns if you have frozen columns more than the width of your window.
Unfreeze Columns in Google Sheets
One way or another, you will need to unfreeze columns in Google Sheets. This is particularly true if there have been significant changes in your spreadsheet.
Thankfully, unfreezing columns is as simple as freezing them in Google Sheets. To unfreeze columns in Google Sheets, simply expand the Freeze options and select No columns.
- Select Freeze to display more options.
- Select No Columns to unfreeze all frozen columns.
Freezing Rows in Google Sheets
You’ll also find it useful to learn about how to freeze rows in Google Sheets. You’ll find the methods to be the same, except for the fact that you will be selecting rows instead of columns.
We’ve created a separate article on how to freeze rows in Google Sheets. If you want an in-depth tutorial on this, you can go ahead and visit this link.
Conclusion
Learning how to freeze columns in Google Sheets is an important skill to have, especially when managing spreadsheets. Google spreadsheets with large datasets and length columns can be hard to browse through. Having frozen columns will help you minimize mistakes when comparing data over a handful of rows and columns.
We hope you’ve found this article helpful!