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Whenever you're working with a lot of data, it can be difficult to compare information in your workbook. Fortunately, Excel includes several tools that make it easier to view content from different parts of your workbook at the same time, including the ability to freeze panes and split your worksheet.
Optional: Download our practice workbook.
Watch the video below to learn more about freezing panes in Excel.
You may want to see certain rows or columns all the time in your worksheet, especially header cells. By freezing rows or columns in place, you'll be able to scroll through your content while continuing to view the frozen cells.
If you only need to freeze the top row (row 1) or first column (column A) in the worksheet, you can simply select Freeze Top Row or Freeze First Column from the drop-down menu.
If you want to select a different view option, you may first need to reset the spreadsheet by unfreezing panes. To unfreeze rows or columns, click the Freeze Panes command, then select Unfreeze Panes from the drop-down menu.
If your workbook contains a lot of content, it can sometimes be difficult to compare different sections. Excel includes additional options to make your workbooks easier to view and compare. For example, you can choose to open a new window for your workbook or split a worksheet into separate panes.
Excel allows you to open multiple windows for a single workbook at the same time. In our example, we'll use this feature to compare two different worksheets from the same workbook.
If you have several windows open at the same time, you can use the Arrange All command to rearrange them quickly.
Sometimes you may want to compare different sections of the same workbook without creating a new window. The Split command allows you to divide the worksheet into multiple panes that scroll separately.
To remove the split, click the Split command again.
Within our example file, there is A LOT of sales data. For this challenge, we want to be able to compare data for different years side by side. To do this:
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