Freeze Column issue

Loann McGee

Good afternoon,

We have a Freeze set to maintain the view of a certain columns that are referred to throughout the day. However, the freeze doesn't actually work as expected, as almost every time I go into our sheet the pane has been moved either direction which defeats the purpose of keeping certain columns visible at all times.

I've even looked at the activity icon to see if I could tell who is moving it, but that data isn't captured.

Is this a possible a glitch in the programming, though it has been happening ever since we implemented this feature?

Blessings,

Loann

Paul H

I have the same issue on a sheet shared between two departments, sometimes its positioned based on what I want to see, other times base on what the other department would be interested in.

I am pretty sure you fighting with another user of the sheet

Loann McGee

Yeah - I wish it would work like Excel (and believe me, I RARELY say that about anything in SS!!!). If you freeze a pane, it doesn't move.

Thus, it really isn't a freeze, per se. 🤔

Thanks, Paul - at least I'm not alone in my consternation with this particular aspect. 😎

Shawn_Durfee

I'm having the same issue. The problem is that I don't have another department using my sheet. it is just me.

Very frustrating to freeze a column then the next day have it moved. My only fix is to unfreeze then refreeze the column each day. Very strange.

Loann McGee

Ugh...that is truly frustrating, @Shawn_Durfee. However, for mine I'm able to just grab the freeze line and move it back to where it needs to be.

Will yours not allow you to do so?

I'd think this is an issue that a fix should be implemented for quickly since the freeze function isn't really working.

Amanda Fulbright

@Loann McGee @Shawn_Durfee I'm having the same issue! I've actually watched it change the freeze while I'm in the sheet. We believe it happens when there's more than one user in the sheet but neither user is actually changing the view. I'm going to log a help ticket to see if we can get it resolved. We have to unfreeze and freeze multiple times a day. It's driving us crazy!

ARafter

Hello, I'm having the same issue as described above. Was a resolution ever reached?

Thanks!

Shawn_Durfee

I am suspicious that this has to do with switching between a HD and 4k monitor. I have 4k monitors at my desk at work, but only 1080 monitors at home. If I open it on a lower resolution and then go back to higher (or vice versa), the frozen pane seems to not work as expected.

It seems to allow me to expand the row manually, but typically it is easier to just unfreeze and refreeze the panes.

Loann McGee

It happens regardless of my work or home computer. I finally just undid all the freeze panes due to the frustration of it all.

Nesasha L

I've found that if I change the dimensions of my browser (going to a smaller browser screen from full screen) it does this. Smartsheet does not record that anyone made the change because it's automatically happening when I adjust the browser size.

This has been driving me crazy for a long time and I would love to have this fixed so that the freeze column doesn't move. I'd also like to be able to lock it down for the sheets I own so that no one else can move it either. It's painful to have to move the frozen column line multiple times a day.

Anne Marino

People freeze columns so that they are always in view. When they disappear from view when the freeze point moves on its own, it is not only frustrating, it is really confusing as a sheet user. Freezing columns is a really important basic spreadsheet function. Is this being addressed by Smartsheet at all?

@Marino Anderson

Seeing same issue.

We have several users with different screens sizes and resolutions. Many of those users use zoom settings other than 100%.

As with many fundamental Smartsheet issue resolutions, this one is likely deep in the backlog. Been waiting for over 5 years for some of the basics to be resolved / added. Regardless, the product brings tremendous value, and we just live with the quirks.

Unknown

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Eric Helal

I'm still experiencing this in 2025. Either it's not recording the user who is changing it on me, or it's changing it unprompted.

Loann McGee

Smartsheet sent me an email on Satu, Jan 18, 2025 asking if any of the above input answered the question.
It has not and I wish there was a way to reply to their email that this issue is ongoing for years.

Gregory DiNardo

Yes, Smartsheet (who I do find quite helpful) has struggled on this issue as they keep requesting I video it, but trying to capture a reliable video of this change occurring has been difficult. I agree with one of the above comments that it seems to be when a user with a different display ratio (they use a smaller/larger display, they split their display with another app, etc.) accesses the sheet. Rather than maintain the frozen columns and adjust the right-hand portion of the display, it re-sizes both elements and users must either scroll to view all the information in the frozen columns or unfreeze/refreeze the column to fix the view. The whole idea of it is to keep the first few columns visible while users scroll the remaining columns, so this little hiccup is quite a nuisance in our office.