How to Lock and Protect a Row in Google Sheets

Google Sheets a web-based free software for spreadsheets. It is located in the services of Google Drive. There are various other services in Google Drive, such as Google Slides and Google Docs, a presentation maker, and word processing program.

Google Sheets is a spreadsheet program provided by Google to fulfill all the needs of its consumers who are willing to manage various sets of data. It can be conveniently accessed on a smartphone as an app, or in the web browser. It offers a uniquely designed feature to protect a specific row or column via the process of locking. If you have a number of columns and rows, it will be difficult to navigate to a specific location in a row or column, and thus locking a row or column made this process easy and accessible.


Here is how to lock your specific row or Column on Google Sheets:

Locking Rows or Columns on Google Sheets

Once you have locked or frozen a specific row or column, then it will fix it in a particular place and won’t move. If you are dealing with lots of data in a spreadsheet, then you can easily locate the content that you have locked via row or column.

Most of the time, it is seen that the first most column is needed to lock, but have you ever wondered if you will be required to lock other rows or columns, then what should you do? There is a trick to lock or freeze the respective column or row. In case you wish to lock a column or row, you will need these steps to follow:

  • First of all, you have to select only one cell of the particular row or column that you desire to lock.
  • After that, navigate towards the toolbar of Google Sheets and hit the View button there.
  • Choose the option “Freeze” via the available pull-drop menu.
  • Alternatively, you can choose the option “Up to Current Column” or “Up to Current Row” that will lock your desired row or column up to the selected cell.
  • When the respective rows or columns are locked, you may move around the whole spreadsheet and stay at their designated place.
  • If you want to check and distinguish between locked and unlocked cells, you will see a gray-colored border on each cell as they will indicate which one is locked.

Unlocking a Column or Row

If you want to unlock column or row, then pursue these instructions:

  • Firstly, return to the option “View” and then hit the “Freeze” tab there located at the toolbar.
  • Then, choose between these two options:
  1. No Columns
  2. No Rows

Hiding Rows and Columns in Google Sheets

In some cases, users need to hide the columns or rows accordingly instead of locking them permanently or temporarily. They also sometimes even don’t want to refer to them, and in such cases, they can hide their respective rows and columns on their devices.

In order to hide a respective column or row on your Google Spreadsheet, then you can do so by abiding by these instructions carefully:

  • First and foremost, launch the Google Sheets on your desired browser.
  • Then, choose the respective row or column that you wish to hide and then highlight it.
  • After that, apply right-click on the relevant option and then select either “Hide Row” or “Hide Column” by navigating the menu.
  • In case you wish to unhide a row or column, then you have to tap on the respective arrow.

Merging Rows and Columns

If you want to merge your rows and columns, then hit the few clicks.

  • Choose the desired rows and columns that you wish to merge.
  • Then, navigate towards the toolbar of Google Sheets.
  • After that, press the option “Format.”
  • Then, choose “Merge Cells.”

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