Scroll Lock Key: What Is It & How To Turn It Off

What is a Scroll Lock Key?

What Is The Scroll Lock Key On A Keyboard?

The Scroll Lock key, which is a relic of the early IBM PC keyboard, is a key on your keyboard created to lock all scrolling methods. Scroll Lock was designed to alter the functionality of the arrow keys of the keyboard.

The arrow keys could scroll the entirety of a text window in place of moving the cursor when the Scroll Lock option was enabled. Scroll Lock, like Num Lock and Caps Lock, is a toggling lock key with a status that is activated and persists when the scroll lock key is released on the keyboard.

Scroll Lock is rarely used in this way nowadays but can be found in a few software examples that include IBM Lotus Notes, Image-Line FL Studio, Renoise, Forté Agent, and some Microsoft apps like Excel, where enabling it makes the screen move in whichever direction you indicate on the arrow keys without changing the selected cell.

Where is the Scroll Lock Key on the Keyboard?

On most IBM-compatible computer keyboards, Scroll Lock (or) is a lock key (usually with an associated status light). The Scroll Lock key on a keyboard is placed close to or alongside the other control keys. If you use a Mac, check how to use scroll lock on Mac.

It can be used for several reasons based on the operating system, and applications can assign functions to the key or adjust their behavior based on its toggling status.

Because the key isn’t used very often, some simplified or customized keyboards don’t have it at all.

The effect of using Ctrl+Scroll Lock is the same as hitting Ctrl+Pause/Break. This is a holdover from the early IBM PC keyboards, which lacked a separate Pause/Break key. Consequently, they gave the Pause and Break functions to Ctrl+Num Lock and Ctrl+Scroll Lock, respectively.

Where is the Scroll Lock Key on a Laptop?

On a laptop, the Scroll Lock key is commonly a supplementary function of another key near the Backspace key. If your laptop has two keys that function as one, you must hit the Fn key while pressing the second key. The “Scr Lk”, “Pause” and “Break” capabilities on a laptop are normally part of some other key and are shown in blue letters.

To utilize these keys, hold down the Fn key while pressing the key with the often-blue lettering. Because Scroll Lock is part of the Num Lk key, so you’d have to push the Fn key and the Num Lock key to use it.

How to Turn Off The Scroll Lock?

For those who have the scroll lock key, often labeled as “ScrLK”, on their keyboards, turning it on or off simply requires you to press it.

However, if you do not have the Scroll Lock key, there are a variety of ways to turn it off.

Turn Scroll Lock On In Window 10

If the keyboard doesn’t have a Scroll Lock key, go to Start > Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard.
Press on the On-Screen Keyboard to access it.
Click the ScrLk button when the on-screen keyboard opens up on the screen.

For a shortcut to open the On-Screen Keyboard in Windows 10 quickly, press the Windows button and type ‘On-Screen Keyboard’ into the search box. Click the On-Screen Keyboard search result under Search, which will display as a list above the search field. Click the “ScrLk” button when the on-screen keyboard opens.

Turn Scroll Lock On In Windows 8

Go to Start and press CTRL+C to bring up the Charms bar.
Select Change PC Settings
Select Ease of Access > Keyboard
Toggle the On-Screen Keyboard slider to the on position.
Click the ScrLk button when the on-screen keyboard displays on your screen.

Turn Scroll Lock On In Windows 7

Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Ease of Access > On-Screen Keyboard.
Click the ScrLck button when the on-screen keyboard displays on your screen.
Scroll the Lock key on the Windows On-Screen Keyboard
Note: Click the X in the top right corner of the on-screen keyboard to close it.

Where is the Scroll Lock Key Used?

Even though it sounds like a relic of the past, the Scroll Lock key still has its uses. As we mentioned, if you turn off Scroll Lock in Microsoft Excel, you can use the arrow keys to move the pointer between cells.

However, when Scroll Lock is enabled, you may scroll the full workbook page within the window using the arrow keys.

Because Scroll Lock is hardly ever used, it’s possible that it’s not even on your keyboard—especially if it’s a portable or laptop keyboard.

If you have the Scroll Lock key but have never used it, there are ways to program it to complete a variety of functions.

Remapping your Scroll Lock Key

You can remap the Scroll Lock key to another key or various system tasks using Microsoft’s free PowerToys application for Windows 10. Once remapped, the key will perform a different function when pressed. This way, you can utilize the Scroll Lock key for a range of functions.

Here are some ideas for what you might assign the Scroll Lock Key:

Play/pause media: This is useful if you often listen to music on your pc. To pause a song, simply hit Scroll Lock, then tap it again to resume playback.
Volume mute/unmute: Easily adjust the volume of any audio source. This is especially useful if you need to accept a call while your computer is turned off.
Caps Lock: If you frequently press Caps Lock by accident, you may reassign it to the Scroll Lock key. You have to set a different function for the Caps Lock key to deactivate it.
Refresh your browser: The open web page will be rapidly reloaded with a single touch.
Sleep: Put your gadget to sleep with a single tap.

If any of those options appeal to you, here’s how you remap the Scroll Lock key function:

Step 1: To begin, download Microsoft PowerToys if you don’t already have it. Launch it, then go to the sidebar and select “Keyboard Manager.” Then choose “Remap a key.”
Step 2: To create a shortcut key for a scroll lock function, click the addition symbol (+) in the “Remap Keyboard” box that displays.
Step 3: You must specify the key you’re remapping on the left. Then press Scroll Lock after clicking “Type Key.”
Step 4: Click the drop-down menu in the “Mapped To” column on the right, then pick the key to map to Scroll Lock. You may, for example, choose “Volume Mute” from the selection shown.
Step 5: Scroll Lock should now be remapped after clicking “OK” to exit the “Remap Keyboard” box.

You should try out different mappings to discover which one is most beneficial. You can also launch a program using Scroll Lock Key. How? Here are the steps:

And here are the steps to launch a program using the scroll lock key:

Step 1: Make a shortcut to the program you want to launch. Save it on the Desktop and then select “Properties” from the shortcut’s right-click menu.
Step 2: Click the “Shortcut Key” box in the Shortcut tab. Then hit Scroll Lock. Windows will autonomously insert “Ctrl+Alt+Scroll Lock. in the space.
Step 3: Click “OK” to close the window. After that, the program. The program associated with that shortcut will launch anytime you hit Ctrl+Alt+Scroll Lock. However, to keep this function functional, make sure the shortcut isn’t deleted. To be safe, save hotkey-enabled application shortcuts in a separate folder.

It’s a fun key to use and may even become a favorite for those who customize and repurpose it.

Toggling Scroll and Other Lock Keys

A “Scroll Lock” key, a “Caps Lock” key, and a “Num Lock” key, as well as a matching light, are found on many keyboards. When the lock feature is enabled, the light activates.

Toggle the scroll lock on or off by pressing the “Scroll Lock” key on your keyboard. It may be available as a second function on certain keyboards, which you may activate by pressing and holding the “Fn” or “Function” key. Do the same thing with caps and num lock.

What Are the Functions of the Other Lock keys?

What Are the Functions of the Other Locks

Caps lock. When the caps lock is turned on, every letter you type will be capitalized. When typing a lengthy string of uppercase text, this is frequently more convenient than pressing and holding the shift key.
Num lock. It indicates that instead of acting as an extra set of arrow keys, the number keypad will be used to enter numbers. Because it’s only found on keyboards with a numeric keypad, it’s becoming less common as keyboards become simpler to fit on laptops.

Some applications may use any of these keys for various purposes, and some individuals intentionally program their machines to do so.