How to turn off Scroll Lock in Excel 2016 and 2019
Just imagine, You are working on a excel spreadsheet normally. suddenly you notice that you can't move from cell to cell, instead of getting to the next cell, the arrow keys scroll the whole worksheet. Don't worry, your Excel is not broken. You have just accidentally turned on Scroll Lock, and easily this can be fixed.
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| How to turnoff scroll lock in excel sheet |
What is Scroll Lock in Excel?
The feature that controls the behaviour of the arrow keys in Excel is the scroll lock.
Usually, when the scroll lock is disabled, the arrow keys move you between individual cells in any direction: up, down, left or right.
However, if the scroll lock is enabled in Excel, the arrow keys will scroll to the worksheet area: one row up and down or one column left or right. When the worksheet is scrolled, the current selection (one cell or limit) does not change.
How to determine if the scroll lock is activated
How to turn off Scroll Lock in Excel for Windows
Much like Num Lock and Caps Lock, the Scroll Lock feature is a toggle, meaning it can be turned on and off by pressing the Scroll Lock key.
Disable scroll lock in Excel using the keyboard
If your keyboard has a key labeled as Scroll Lock or ScrLk key, just press it to turn Scroll Lock off. Done :)
As soon as you do this, Scroll Lock will disappear from the status bar and your arrows keys will move from cell to cell normally.
Turn off Scroll Lock on Dell laptops
On some Dell laptops, you can use the Fn + S shortcut to toggle Scroll Lock on and off.
Toggle Scroll Lock on HP laptops
On an HP laptop, press the Fn + C key combination to turn Scroll Lock on and off.
Remove scroll lock in Excel using on-screen keyboard
If you don't have the Scroll Lock key or it does not work for some reason, you can "unlock" Scroll Lock in Excel by using the on-screen keyboard.
The fastest way to turn off Screen Lock in Excel is this:
- 2. Click the On-Screen Keyboard app to run it.
- 3. The virtual keyboard will show up, and you click the ScrLk key to remove Scroll Lock.
You'll know that Scroll Lock is disabled when the ScrLk key returns to dark-grey. If it is blue, Scroll Lock is still on.
Alternatively, you can open the virtual keyboard in the following ways:
On Windows 10
Click Start > Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard, and then click the On-Screen Keyboard slider button.
On Windows 8.1
Click Start, press Ctrl + C to display the Charms bar, then click Change PC Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard > On Screen Keyboard slider button.
On Windows 7
Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > Ease of Access > On-Screen Keyboard.
To close the on-screen keyboard, click the X button in the upper-right corner.
Scroll Lock in Excel for Mac
Unlike Excel for Windows, Excel for Mac does not show Scroll Lock in the status bar. So, how can you know that Scroll Lock is on? Press any arrow key and watch the address in the name box. If the address does not change and the arrow key scrolls the whole worksheet, it's safe to assume that Scroll Lock is enabled.
How to remove Scroll Lock in Excel for Mac
On the Apple Extended Keyboard, press the F14 key, which is an analogue of the Scroll Lock key on a PC keyboard.
If F14 exists on your keyboard, but there is no Fn key, use the Shift + F14 shortcut to toggle the Scroll Lock on or off. Depending on your settings, you may need to press the CONTROL or OPTION or COMMAND (⌘) key instead of the SHIFT key.
If you are working on a smaller keyboard that does not have the F14 key, you can try to remove Scroll Lock by running this AppleScript that emulates the Shift + F14 keystroke.
That's how you turn off Scroll Lock in Excel. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!