How to Fix Excel Freeze Panes Disappearing in a New Window
Question details
The user wants to maintain freeze panes, gridlines, and other view settings when creating a new window for an active workbook.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Creating a secondary view of a workbook using the New Window command.
- Observed behavior
- Excel resets all window-level settings to default, causing freeze panes, gridlines, and headings to disappear in the newly generated window.
If you plan to use the VBA macro workaround to restore your view settings, ensure your workbook is saved as an Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (.xlsm) so your script is not lost upon closing.
Use a VBA Macro to Clone Window Settings
Since Excel lacks a built-in interface option to preserve window settings across new views, a VBA macro is the most effective way to reapply freeze panes automatically.
Excel treats features like freeze panes, zoom levels, and gridlines as window-level properties rather than workbook-level properties. When the New Window command is triggered, Excel reverts to default display settings for that specific view.
By running a simple VBA script, you can capture the active window's configuration and mirror it perfectly onto the newly created window.
Press Alt + F11 on your keyboard to launch the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) editor.
Click on 'Insert' in the top menu and select 'Module' to create a blank script workspace.
Paste a VBA script designed to capture ActiveWindow.FreezePanes and apply it to the new window object.
Press F5 or go to 'Run' > 'Run Sub/UserForm' to execute the macro and restore the original freeze panes in your new window.
Manually Reapply Settings in the New Window
If your organization restricts the use of macros, you will need to manually reapply the freeze panes each time you open a new window.
Submit Feature Feedback to Microsoft
Because this resetting behavior is a known interface limitation in Excel, reporting it to Microsoft helps prioritize a permanent fix in future updates.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my gridlines also disappear when creating a new window?
Gridlines, much like freeze panes and column headings, are categorized as window-level display settings rather than workbook-level data. Excel automatically resets all window-level settings to their default state (where gridlines might be hidden depending on your template) whenever a new window is generated.
Can I change a setting in Excel Options to keep freeze panes?
No, currently there is no native interface option or checkbox within Excel Options that forces a newly created window to inherit the freeze pane settings of the parent window.
Will saving the workbook preserve the new window's freeze panes for next time?
Saving the workbook will preserve the freeze panes for the specific windows that are currently open and configured. However, if you trigger the 'New Window' command again in the future, that new window will still revert to the default un-frozen state.
Does this issue happen in all versions of Excel?
Yes, this is a long-standing architectural behavior in Microsoft Excel across multiple versions, including Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2021, and earlier standalone versions.
