Working with a large spreadsheet of data can be a
real pain at times, especially when you have to scroll past column
or row headings to get to the data you need. You may find
that you have to follow one row or column with your eyes as you
scroll to make sure you are looking at the correct data.
There is a much easier way! Excel provides two options to
help with these situations - splitting windows and freezing panes.
What
is the difference?
When you split a window in Excel, you end up with
two windows that are independent of each other. They scroll
independently and each can move through the entire spreadsheet.
In this way, you can view two different parts of the spreadsheet
on the same screen even though the two may be quite far apart.
Freezing a pane in Excel involves locking columns
or rows in place, so that when you scroll through the spreadsheet
these columns or rows are always visible on the screen. This
is especially helpful when, for example, you have a spreadsheet of
customer or employee information with several columns. If
you can freeze the column on the left that contains the customer
or employee names, then when you need to scroll beyond your screen
view, those names stay in place and you can always be sure you are
viewing the correct corresponding data.
Splitting
Windows
Excel allows you to split the workbook window into
two horizontal and/or two vertical panes.
To split the window into a horizontal OR
vertical pane:
-
For horizontal panes, select the row that is
to become the first row in the bottom pane. For vertical
panes, select the column that is to become the first column in
the right-hand pane. You can select the entire row or column
by clicking on the row number or column letter.
-
From the Window menu, choose Split.
-
When
you no longer need the split, from the Window menu,
choose Remove Split to return to normal.
Note
that as a shortcut, you can double-click on the split line to
remove it.
To
split the window into horizontal AND vertical panes:
-
Select
the cell below and to the right of where the panes are to
intersect, as shown below.
-
From
the Window menu, choose Split.
-
To
restore to normal, from the Window menu, choose Remove
Split.
You
can also split the workbook window by dragging the Horizontal
split box located above the vertical scroll bar, or by
dragging the Vertical split box located to the right of the
horizontal scroll bar.
To
move between panes, click in the appropriate pane or press Shift
+ F6.
Freezing
Panes
You can freeze a pane from a split window, or just
freeze rows or columns without splitting the window.
-
Select a cell to the right of the column(s) to
freeze, or a cell below the row(s) to freeze. You do not
have to select the entire column or row.
-
From the Window
menu, choose Freeze Panes. A solid black line
appears the length of the row or column to show where it has
been frozen.
-
To remove the lock,
from the Window menu, choose Unfreeze Panes.
Note that you can freeze
panes horizontally AND vertically, by following the same
instructions above for splitting horizontally and vertically.
Just choose Freeze Panes from the Window menu,
instead of Split.
