Excel Freeze Panes: Keep the Top Two Rows Visible in Excel

To freeze the top two rows in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, select cell A3, then choose View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes. Rows 1 and 2 will remain visible as you scroll down; the Freeze Top Row command freezes only row 1.

How Freeze Panes Works

Freeze Panes keeps specified rows or columns in place on screen while you move through the rest of a worksheet. The dividing line is determined by the selected cell: Excel freezes the rows above it and the columns to its left. That is why A3 is the right selection when you want two rows frozen but no columns. There are no columns to the left of column A, so only rows 1 and 2 are held in place.

Freezing affects what you see while navigating the sheet. It does not lock cells, prevent editing, change formulas, or alter how the workbook prints. The frozen rows remain at the top of the worksheet window, while the scrollable area moves beneath them. This can be useful when the first two rows contain a report title and column headings, or when a table uses two stacked header rows.

Excel offers separate commands for freezing the top row and the first column. Those commands are convenient for a single row or column, but they do not let you specify two rows. For a custom number of rows, use Freeze Panes with the cell immediately below the last row you want to keep visible.

Steps to Freeze the Top Two Rows in Excel

In the Windows desktop version of Excel for Microsoft 365, use this sequence:

Open the worksheet where you want the rows to stay visible. Freeze settings apply to the active worksheet, not automatically to every sheet in the workbook.
Select cell A3. You can click it in the grid or type A3 in the Name Box to the left of the formula bar and press Enter.
Open the View tab on the ribbon.
Choose Freeze Panes, then choose Freeze Panes again from the menu.
Scroll down to confirm that rows 1 and 2 remain at the top while the later rows move.

Be careful to choose the menu item named Freeze Panes, not Freeze Top Row. The latter is a preset for just the first row and ignores the goal of keeping both rows 1 and 2 visible. If the worksheet already has frozen panes, the menu may instead offer Unfreeze Panes; unfreeze the existing setting before applying a new one.

In Excel for Mac, select A3 and use View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes. In Excel for the web, select A3, then use View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes. Ribbon layout and menu presentation can vary slightly by platform, but the selection rule is the same: choose the cell below the rows you want to freeze.

What You Should See Afterward

A horizontal boundary appears below row 2, separating the frozen area from the part of the sheet that scrolls. When you use the mouse wheel, the vertical scroll bar, or the arrow keys to move down, the first two rows stay in view. The row numbers below them move as usual. You can still select and edit cells in the frozen rows; freezing is not a protection setting.

With A3 selected, Excel freezes rows only. You can scroll horizontally to see columns farther to the right, and the leftmost columns are not held in place. If the worksheet is narrow enough that horizontal scrolling is not relevant, the effect may appear to be only vertical, but the rule still applies.

The frozen area is tied to the worksheet window, so zooming in or making the Excel window smaller may leave less room for the scrollable portion. The rows have not disappeared if the remaining area looks cramped; adjust the zoom level, window size, or row heights to make more of the worksheet visible.

Freeze Rows and Columns Together

You can freeze the top two rows and one or more left-hand columns at the same time. Select the cell that is one row below the last row to freeze and one column to the right of the last column to freeze, then choose View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.

For example, to freeze rows 1 and 2 and column A, select B3 before applying Freeze Panes. Excel keeps the rows above B3 and the columns to its left in place. To freeze rows 1 and 2 along with columns A through C, select D3. This selection-based behavior is useful for wide tables where row labels sit in the first column and headings span multiple rows.

Check the selected cell before you apply the command. Selecting B3 when you only meant to freeze two rows will also freeze column A. Selecting A3 avoids that extra frozen column. Likewise, selecting B4 freezes rows 1 through 3 as well as column A, which may be more than intended.

Change or Remove Frozen Rows

Excel does not add another frozen row on top of an existing freeze setting. To change the boundary, first choose View > Freeze Panes > Unfreeze Panes. Then select the new boundary cell and apply Freeze Panes again. For instance, to change from two frozen rows to three, unfreeze, select A4, and choose Freeze Panes.

To remove the effect entirely, choose Unfreeze Panes from the same menu. The worksheet returns to normal scrolling; no data or formatting is removed. If you do not see the expected Freeze Panes option, check whether panes are already frozen and look for Unfreeze Panes instead. After unfreezing, select the correct cell before setting the boundary again.

Each worksheet can have its own freeze setting. If a workbook contains several sheets with similar layouts, apply the setting on each sheet where it is useful. The freeze choice is saved with the workbook, so it ordinarily remains in place when the file is saved and reopened, but it does not automatically transfer to another worksheet just because the layout is similar.

Common Problems and Misconceptions

Only one row stays visible: Freeze Top Row was selected instead of Freeze Panes. Unfreeze the current setting, select A3, and use Freeze Panes.
A column is frozen too: The selected cell was not in column A. For two rows only, select A3. For rows and columns together, select the appropriate intersection cell.
The wrong number of rows is fixed: Excel freezes everything above the selected row, not the row containing the selection. A3 freezes rows 1 and 2; A2 freezes only row 1.
The freeze line is hard to spot: Look for the boundary just below the frozen rows, and scroll the sheet to confirm the effect. A small window or high zoom can make the boundary less obvious.
Scrolling seems to move the frozen rows: Confirm that you are scrolling the worksheet rather than using a separate pane or a different workbook window. If necessary, choose Unfreeze Panes and set the freeze again from A3.

Freeze Panes is also different from Split. Split divides a worksheet window into independently scrollable areas, while freezing holds a chosen top or left region in place as the rest of the sheet scrolls. It is not the same as protecting a worksheet, either: frozen headings remain editable unless you separately use sheet protection.

When to Use Freeze Panes Instead of Other Options

Freeze the top two rows when both rows provide context needed to interpret data farther down the worksheet. A common example is a title in row 1 and field names in row 2. Another is a multi-level header: row 1 groups columns under labels such as Quarterly Results, while row 2 names the individual months or measures. Keeping both visible makes it easier to understand a value without repeatedly scrolling back to the top.

If only row 1 contains useful headings, Freeze Top Row is simpler. If the leftmost column contains names or identifiers that should stay visible while moving across a wide sheet, use Freeze First Column. For a custom combination, use the selection-based Freeze Panes command described above.

For printed pages, freezing panes is not the right tool. It changes the on-screen scrolling view, not the repeated headings on paper or in a PDF. To repeat worksheet rows when printing, use Page Layout > Print Titles and set the rows to repeat at the top in Page Setup. This is a separate print-layout setting, so a worksheet can use both frozen rows for screen navigation and print titles for output.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I freeze just the top two rows without freezing a column?

Yes. Select A3 and choose View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes. Because there are no columns to the left of A3, Excel freezes rows 1 and 2 without freezing a column.

Why does Freeze Top Row keep only one row visible?

Freeze Top Row is a preset that freezes row 1 only. To freeze two rows, select A3 and use the general Freeze Panes command instead.

Can I freeze the first two rows and the first column?

Yes. Select B3, then choose View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes. Excel freezes the rows above the selection and the columns to its left, which means rows 1 and 2 plus column A.

Can I freeze more than two rows?

Yes. Select a cell in column A immediately below the last row you want frozen. For example, select A5 to freeze rows 1 through 4, then choose Freeze Panes.

Does freezing rows make them repeat when I print?

No. Freeze Panes changes the on-screen view while scrolling. To repeat rows on printed pages, set print titles through Page Layout > Print Titles.

Try it: the Date Difference Calculator: days, months, years and weekdays between two dates, with the DATEDIF formulas.

More in How-to basics

Sources: Function behaviour and menu paths: Microsoft Support documentation for Excel. Method & sources

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