To return your worksheet to normal after freezing panes click the Freeze Panes button and select

How to Freeze Top Row

To freeze only the top row, execute the steps mentioned below:

1. In the windows group, go to the View tab, and click Freeze Panes.
2. Click Freeze Top Row.

   Figure 1: Excel's Page Layout command disables the Freeze Panes command and unfreezes rows/columns, as well.

   I rarely use Page Layout view, so that wasn't my culprit yesterday. I simply had a large workbook that had started behaving erratically. Switching to Page Layout view and then back to Normal again eliminated the wayward frozen panes for me, although in my situation the Freeze Panes command remained disabled. It was the end of a long day, and I was using a client's computer, but most likely a reboot would have resolved the issue.

   Excel's Freeze Panes command also becomes disabled when the workbook is protected in Excel 2010 and earlier, as illustrated in Figure 2. Due to changes with how windows are containerized in Excel 2013 and later, you no longer protect Windows in those versions when protecting a workbook. As shown in Figure 3, the Windows command is permanently disabled in Excel 2013 and later.

   In 2010 and earlier:

   1. Choose Review.
   2. Click Protect Workbook.
   3. Click Windows.
   4. Click OK.
   5. Choose View.

   Notice that Freeze Panes is disabled. If we had accepted the default choice of Structure only, which prevents users from moving or hiding/unhiding worksheets, then Freeze Panes would have remained available to us.

   

   Figure 2: Enabling the Windows option for Workbook Protection disables the Freeze Panes command.

   Figure 3: The Windows option is permanently grayed out in Excel 2013 and 2016 due to changes in how windows are managed.

   To enable Freeze Panes again, you must unprotect the workbook:

   1. Choose Review.
   2. As shown in Figure 4, a colored background behind Protect Workbook indicates that protection is active. Click the command.
   3. Enter the password if prompted, and click OK.

   Figure 4: A colored background appears behind Protect Workbook when protection is enabled.

   Unlike Page Layout, the Protect Workbook does not undo frozen worksheet panes. It simply prevents users from unfreezing or freezing worksheet panes as long as the workbook is protected.

   How do you get a worksheet to unfreeze the panes?

   You're scrolling down your worksheet (or scrolling to the side), but part of it is frozen in place. This is probably because at some point you decided to freeze the panes. To fix this, click View > Window > Unfreeze Panes.

   How do I freeze and select panes in Excel?

   Select the cell below the rows and to the right of the columns you want to keep visible when you scroll. Select View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.

   What happens when you click on Freeze Panes in Excel?

   The Excel Freeze Panes option allows you to lock your columns and/or rows so that when you scroll down or over to view the rest of your sheet, the column and/or row will remain on the screen.

   When you freeze panes in your worksheet What is frozen?

   Freezing panes is a way of making one or more rows or columns stay at the top or left of your worksheet as you scroll through the worksheet. A common use of freezing panes is to keep a header row in view as you scroll through a large worksheet.