When working with wide tables, it's difficult to analyze data on standard laptop screens (especially 13-inch displays commonly used by managers). As users scroll horizontally to view additional columns, they lose context of which row they're examining (like store / product / customer ID and name).
Why implement this feature?
- no text wrapping in column headers - headers could make tables wide when really descriptive column names are needed
- unpredictable column widths across languages
- loss of "View details" button functionality when viewing questions on dashboards
- row numbering confusion - system row numbering option can confuse users who rely on entity ID columns (like store ID, article code etc.) as their primary identifier
- user onboarding requirement - table visualizations serve as the primary entry point for non-technical users adopting BI tools, they often request table-based reports first
These limitations create excessively wide tables requiring constant horizontal scrolling.
Solution I'd like
Add a "Freeze column" toggle option in the column formatting menu (as shown in attached mockups), similar to Excel's "Freeze Panes" or Google Sheets' "Freeze columns" feature.
Initial implementation: allow freezing only the first column (if this simplifies development). Future enhancement: when freezing any column, automatically freeze all columns to its left.
Current workarounds (all not fully satisfactory):
- Reducing number of columns - not viable when users requests all metrics
- Creating multiple separate views - fragments analysis and requires switching between cardson a dashboard
- Exporting to Excel - conditional formatting don't preserve
- System row-numbering - confuses users, and they still ask to freeze columns
How important is this feature?
Very useful - this is a really desired feature that would significantly improve Metabase adoption and user satisfaction in our organization. While we can work around it, the current workarounds are kind of frustrating for end users, especially on laptop screens.
Additional context
I've found the related issue #13799 (opened in 2020, with 299 likes in total) but decided to open a new request with specific implementation proposal and updated context for 2025.
Use cases:
- Retail analytics: store performance across 50+ metrics
- Inventory management: product IDs while scrolling through DC-level stock
- Sales analysis: customer names while reviewing purchase history
When working with wide tables, it's difficult to analyze data on standard laptop screens (especially 13-inch displays commonly used by managers). As users scroll horizontally to view additional columns, they lose context of which row they're examining (like store / product / customer ID and name).
Why implement this feature?
These limitations create excessively wide tables requiring constant horizontal scrolling.
Solution I'd like
Add a "Freeze column" toggle option in the column formatting menu (as shown in attached mockups), similar to Excel's "Freeze Panes" or Google Sheets' "Freeze columns" feature.
Initial implementation: allow freezing only the first column (if this simplifies development). Future enhancement: when freezing any column, automatically freeze all columns to its left.
Current workarounds (all not fully satisfactory):
How important is this feature?
Very useful - this is a really desired feature that would significantly improve Metabase adoption and user satisfaction in our organization. While we can work around it, the current workarounds are kind of frustrating for end users, especially on laptop screens.
Additional context
I've found the related issue #13799 (opened in 2020, with 299 likes in total) but decided to open a new request with specific implementation proposal and updated context for 2025.
Use cases: