Do you often find it challenging to keep track of your data in Google Sheets, especially when working with large datasets? Without locked headers in place, it’s easy to lose track of what’s what. Take a look at this simple student notes spreadsheet below:
Notice how as you scroll through the sheet, the student names and IDs disappear. With this view, it’s almost impossible to remember which grades belong to each student.
But fear not! Google Sheets has a “Freeze” function that allows you to pin columns in place, so you can always see the data you need, even when scrolling through your sheet. Let’s dive into how to freeze columns in Google Sheets.
Freezing Columns in Google Sheets
Here’s the simplest way to freeze one or multiple columns in Google Sheets:
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In the top-left corner of your spreadsheet, next to column A and above row 1, you’ll see two thick gray bars that move horizontally and vertically.
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To freeze a column, click on the vertical bar and drag it to the right until the last column you want to freeze. For example, let’s freeze the student IDs in column C.
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To unfreeze a column, simply drag the bar back to its original position.
If, like me, you get frustrated with having to place your cursor in the “just right” spot, there’s another way to do it:
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Open a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
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Select the columns you want to freeze.
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Click on View and then select Freeze.
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Choose Up to column [column letter].
Let’s freeze the student IDs in column C again using this method. For this example, click on View, select Freeze, and choose Up to column C.
This may seem like a simple example, but when you’re dealing with checking the grades of 30 or more students or working with any large dataset, freezing columns and rows makes scrolling through the data much easier.
To unfreeze a column, follow the same steps but instead of selecting Up to column C, click on No columns.
Automating Google Sheets
Manual data entry is prone to human errors. With Zapier, you can connect Google Sheets to your favorite apps, automating tasks related to spreadsheets that take up most of your time. For instance, you can automatically add new lead data and form submissions to an existing spreadsheet. Learn more about automating Google Sheets or get started with one of these workflow templates.
This is just a glimpse of the possibilities that Google Sheets offers. If you want to learn more, visit Crawlan.com for additional resources, tips, and tutorials on Google Sheets.
Article translated from the original English version published on bolamarketing.com.
