How do I freeze the header row in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers?

Freezing keeps one or more rows at the top of the window while the rest of the sheet scrolls. It is a view setting: it does not change the data, sorting or formulas.

How do I freeze the header row in Excel for Microsoft 365?

1. Open the sheet.
2. Choose View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row.

To freeze more than one row, click the cell in column A of the first row you want to scroll, for example A3 to freeze rows 1 and 2. Then choose View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes. To freeze the first column as well, select B2 before choosing Freeze Panes. To remove the freeze, choose View > Freeze Panes > Unfreeze Panes.

Excel for the web has the same commands on the View tab. The command is unavailable while you are editing a cell and in Page Layout view, so switch to Normal view first.

How do I freeze the header row in Google Sheets?

1. Click any cell in the sheet.
2. Choose View > Freeze > 1 row.

The same menu offers 2 rows, 1 column, 2 columns, and Up to current row (n) or Up to current column (n), which freezes everything above or to the left of the cell you selected. Choose No rows or No columns to remove it. You can also drag the thick gray bar in the top-left corner of the grid down to the row you want.

How do I freeze the header row in LibreOffice Calc?

1. Choose View > Freeze Cells > Freeze First Row.

For a custom area, select the row below the last row you want frozen, or the cell below and to the right of the frozen area, then choose View > Freeze Cells > Freeze Rows and Columns. For example, select C3 to freeze rows 1 to 2 and columns A to B. A dark line marks the boundary. Choose the same command again to turn it off. On some versions and interface layouts, these commands appear directly in the View menu.

How do I freeze the header row in Numbers?

In Numbers, only header rows can be frozen, and new tables start with one.

1. Click the table.
2. In the Format sidebar, open the Table tab.
3. Under Headers & Footer, set the number of header rows, for example 1.
4. In the pop-up menu below it, choose Freeze Header Rows (a check mark means it is on).

If your first row is not yet a header, select a cell in it, open the arrow beside the row number and choose Convert to Header Row. A table can have up to five header rows. If the controls are disabled, check for merged cells in the header row.

Which rows should I freeze when a title is above the column names?

A table has the column titles in row 1 and 500 rows of data. Freeze row 1 and scroll to row 300: the titles still show above the data. If the table has a title in row 1 and column names in row 2, select A3 in Excel (or use Up to current row in Google Sheets with a cell in row 2) so both rows stay.

What problems can frozen rows cause in a spreadsheet?

• Freeze only as many rows as fit comfortably. If the frozen area fills the window, you cannot scroll to the rest of the sheet. Unfreeze, or zoom out.
• Freeze is stored in the file for XLSX and ODS. In an XLSX file it is a pane element with the state frozen. CSV has no view settings, so a freeze is lost when you export, as explained in XLSX vs CSV.
• A frozen row does not repeat on printed pages. In Excel, set Page Layout > Print Titles > Rows to repeat at top. In LibreOffice, use Format > Print Ranges > Edit and enter the rows to repeat.
• In Excel and Calc the freeze applies per sheet, so repeat it on each sheet that needs it.
• Merged header cells can behave oddly when you freeze only part of them. Avoid merging across the freeze boundary.