Keep report header visible while scrolling

I often check the following option in the hope that it will be implemented when the report is rendered on the RS web portal - but it never works...

The reports usually have some Row Groups - does this have an impact on whether this option will work?

Or is this a bug in Reporting Services?

I find it usually doesnt work as advertised and you have to find the "Advanced mode" button (a strong candidate for the worst piece of UI ever) and then fiddle with several properties.

Here's probably the best reference:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160314083037/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/robertbruckner/archive/2008/10/13/repeat-header-and-visible-fixed-header-table.aspx

The key steps from that blog past are:

You selected "Repeat header rows on each page" or "Keep header rows visible while scrolling" in the tablix properties dialog, but it doesn't seem to work as expected? You might want to try the following four steps if you are using a "table"-style layout:

1. in the grouping pane, click on the small triangle and select "Advanced Mode" to show static members:

Grouping pane in advanced mode

2. verify that you have the properties grid turned on (in BI Development Studio use F4, in Report Builder go to the "View" tab and select "Properties")

3. select the corresponding (static) item in the row group hierarchy

4. in the properties grid:

• set KeepWithGroup to After
• set RepeatOnNewPage to true for repeating headers
• set FixedData to true for keeping headers visible

I edited this answer in Oct-2025 to link to an archive of the original blog post, and copy out it's key content