Consider a scenario where your report needs to be ready in an hour. You are working in Excel and everything seems to be going well until you find that you can no longer navigate the spreadsheet properly. When you press the arrow buttons, the cursor does not move to another cell; instead, the entire worksheet appears to be moving.
So, based on case studies, we will find out how to enable and disable scroll lock in a spreadsheet in this post.
What is Excel Scroll Lock?
The Scroll Lock option controls what happens when you use the arrow keys on your keyboard in an Excel spreadsheet. Buttons allow you to navigate and select different cells within the worksheet when the scroll lock is disabled (this is the default configuration).
When Scroll Lock is enabled, the buttons will alternately “scroll”the current window. Instead of moving to other cells (using the arrow buttons on the keyboard), you can only change the field of view, comparable to pressing the arrows on the scroll bars. The evil “Scroll Lock”is displayed in the notification center of the Excel program.
How to tell if Scroll Lock is on
Take a look at the status bar at the bottom of the Excel screen to see if scroll lock is enabled. The status bar shows if scroll lock is enabled, among other things (such as page numbers, average, sum, and multiple cell extractions).
Scroll lock is enabled or disabled in the Excel status bar.
If your pointer scrolls through the entire spreadsheet instead of moving to the next cell, the scroll-locked state does not appear on the Microsoft Excel status bar. This is most likely because it has configured your status bar to not display the Scroll Lock status.
If you right-click on the toolbar, look for the checkmark to the left of Scroll Lock to see if that’s the case. If there is no check mark on the taskbar, tap Scroll Lock to bring it up:
How to disable scroll lock in Excel for Windows
Unlike Num Lock and Caps Lock, the Scroll Lock feature is a toggle, which means it can be toggled on and off by pressing the scroll button.
- Disable Scroll Lock in Excel Using Keyboard
- Disable scroll lock on Dell laptops.
- Enabling scroll lock on HP laptops
- Remove the scroll lock in Excel using the on-screen keyboard.
1. Disable Scroll Lock in Excel Using Keyboard
To disable scroll lock, tap the Scroll Lock or ScrLk key on your keyboard. This is all.
The scroll lock will disappear from the taskbar as soon as you do this and your arrow buttons will work properly.
2. Disable Scroll Lock on Dell laptops.
You can use the Fn + S keyboard shortcut on certain Dell computers to turn Scroll Lock on and off.
3. Enable scroll lock on HP notebooks.
To turn scroll lock on and off on your HP gadget, press Fn + C.
4. Remove the scroll lock in Excel using the on-screen keyboard.
If you don’t have a Scroll Lock key and almost no basic vital shortcuts, you can use the on-screen keyboard to “unlock”Scroll Lock in an Excel spreadsheet.
This is the fastest way to disable the Excel lock screen:
- Type “on-screen keyboard”into the search field after pressing the Windows button. The on-screen keyboard program usually appears at the top of search results after the first two characters have been entered.
- To use the On-Screen Keyboard app, tap it.
- An on-screen keyboard will appear and you can disable Scroll Lock by pressing the scrlk button.
You know that Scroll Lock is deactivated whenever the ScrLk key turns dark grey. Scroll lock is still enabled if it is blue.
You can also use the following methods to access the on-screen keyboard:
On Windows 7
To use the virtual keyboard, select Start > All Programs > Accessories > Select Ease of Access > Virtual Keyboard.
Press the X key in the top right corner to close the virtual keyboard.
In Windows 8.1
To open the Charms Bar, click the Start button and press Ctrl + C > select Ease of Access > Keyboard > Virtual Keyboard.
On Windows 10
Toggle the slider on the on-screen keyboard by doing the following: Click Start > Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard.
Scroll lock in Excel for Mac
Unlike Excel for Windows, the taskbar in Excel for macOS does not display a scroll lock. But how do you know if Scroll Lock is activated? Check the address in the username field by pressing any arrow key.
It is reasonable to assume that scroll lock is activated if the address is not updated and the arrow key scrolls the entire worksheet.
How to Remove Scroll Lock in Excel for Mac
Press the F14 button on the Apple Extended Keyboard, which is the equivalent of the Scroll Lock button on a computer keyboard.
If your keyboard doesn’t have an Fn button, you can use the Shift+F14 combination to turn Scroll Lock on or off.
Depending on your settings, you may need to press the CONTROL, OPTION, or COMMAND button instead of the SHIFT button.
If you’re using a tiny keyboard that doesn’t include an F14 button, you can try using this Apple script to disable scroll lock by simulating Shift + F14 input.
Final words
There are many ways to disable the scroll lock option in Excel. I hope you can identify one or two practical applications of the above methods.
FAQ
How to disable scroll lock?
If your keyboard does not have a scroll lock button, select Start > From the Start menu, select Settings > Select Ease of Access > Keyboard on your computer. To use the virtual keyboard, use the on-screen keyboard icon. Press the ScrLk key when the virtual keyboard is shown on your display.
How to remove the scroll lock?
Type “on-screen keyboard”into the search field after pressing the Windows button. To use the On-Screen Keyboard app, click it. An on-screen keyboard will appear and you can unlock scroll by pressing the ScrLk key.
What does scroll lock mean in Excel?
The scroll lock feature controls the behavior of the pointer key in Excel. When scroll lock is disabled, the cursor keys can be used to move between individual cells in any way: up, down, left, or right.
What is the scroll lock keyboard shortcut?
Shift + F14 is the official Microsoft shortcut for Scroll Lock. First, see if you have an extended keyboard with an F14 button.