Freezing Multiple Columns in Excel: A Comprehensive Guide

How to Keep Multiple Columns Visible While Scrolling in Excel

As you navigate horizontally across an Excel worksheet with numerous columns, the columns at the beginning of the sheet can easily scroll out of view. This can be inconvenient, especially if these columns contain important headers or key information.

To address this issue, Excel provides the option to freeze columns, ensuring that specified columns remain visible as you scroll horizontally. In this guide, we'll explore four methods to freeze multiple columns in Excel.

This Tutorial Covers:

Method #1: Using the Freeze Panes Option

Method #2: Keyboard Shortcut to Freeze Multiple Columns

Method #3: Freeze Multiple Columns Using VBA

Method #4: Keep Multiple Columns Visible Using the Split Option

Method #1: Using the Freeze Panes Option

If you're using Excel with Microsoft 365, you can easily freeze multiple columns using the Freeze Panes option. Here's how:

Select the column immediately to the right of the columns you want to freeze.

Navigate to the View tab, find the Freeze Panes option in the Window group, and select Freeze Panes.

Deselect the selected column by clicking anywhere in the worksheet.

Method #2: Keyboard Shortcut to Freeze Multiple Columns

You can also use a keyboard shortcut to freeze multiple columns in Excel:

Select any cell in the column immediately to the right of the columns you want to freeze.

Press and release the following keys in sequence: Alt + W + F + F.

Method #3: Freeze Multiple Columns Using VBA

Excel VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) provides a way to freeze columns programmatically. Here's how to freeze the first three columns using VBA:

Activate the worksheet where you want to freeze columns.

Open the Developer tab, click on Visual Basic, and insert a new module.

Copy and paste the provided VBA code into the module.

Run the code by pressing F5, and the first three columns will be frozen.

Method #4: Keep Multiple Columns Visible Using the Split Option

Excel's Split option allows you to divide the window into separate panes, enabling you to scroll different sections independently. Here's how to use it:

Select the column immediately to the right of the columns you want to freeze.

Click the View tab, find the Split command in the Window group, and click Split.

Click anywhere in the worksheet to remove the split when you're done.

In this tutorial, we've covered various methods to freeze multiple columns in Excel, ensuring that important columns remain visible while scrolling horizontally. Whether you prefer using built-in options, keyboard shortcuts, VBA, or the Split feature, Excel offers flexibility to meet your needs.

Disclaimer: The methods described in this tutorial may vary depending on your version of Excel. Additionally, when using VBA, exercise caution and ensure that macros are enabled in your Excel settings. Always save your work before running VBA code to avoid any unintended changes to your spreadsheet.