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Microsoft Excel, or MS Excel in short, is a spreadsheet editor from the tech giant Microsoft Corporation. It is a powerful tool for recording and handling various sorts of data. It is the go-to choice of millions of people all across the world.
However, there are times when using this software can get quite tricky. Bugs and issues can surely trickle their way into it. This article will cover one instance where you cannot scroll in Microsoft Excel on Windows.
Unable to Scroll in Microsoft Excel
A spreadsheet contains rows and columns made up of individual cells. When using MS Excel, you must scroll through the rows and columns to perform actions on the required cell. But what happens if you are unable to scroll?
It hinders the experience and decreases your productivity, which contrasts with what MS Excel was created for in the first place. But you do not need to worry because we have brought you some ways by which you can fix this issue and get back to work.
Can’t Scroll in Microsoft Excel? Try These Fixes
1. Update MS Excel
The first shot at fixing any app’s issues is to ensure it is the latest version provided by the developers. To update the MS Excel app, open the File menu and choose Account from the side menu.
You will find Update Options on this page; a drop-down menu will appear when you click there. Click on Update Now and confirm the action if prompted.
The latest version of MS Excel will now be installed on your computer. Now, open MS Excel and check if the issue is resolved. If not, move on to the other methods.
2. Turn off the scroll lock
The simplest way to get the ability to scroll in MS Excel again is to turn the scroll lock off. You may have turned it on accidentally, or someone else using your computer may have done so. Scroll lock is a helpful feature to turn off your computer’s scrolling capabilities. While the feature has merits, you should turn it off since it is disturbing your workflow.
Before you start, you should know that two scroll lock functionalities may be causing this issue for you. First is the scroll lock key of your device. The other one is the scroll lock built into the MS Excel app.
There are two ways to turn the scroll lock on your device. The first is to do it manually from your device’s physical keyboard. You can locate the Scroll Lock or ScrLk key on the same. However, this key may sometimes not be present on your keyboard. You can also use the virtual keyboard, known as the ‘On-screen keyboard’ in Windows, for the same task if it is absent.
To launch it, open the Settings app of your computer and head into the Accessibility section. Look for the ‘Keyboard’ section on this page and click on it. You will see the option to enable the on-screen keyboard. Turn the toggle button corresponding to it.
Alternatively, you can search for the on-screen keyboard from the Start menu or Settings app’s search tab. You can also use the button combination Windows Key + Ctrl + O as a shortcut. Once the virtual keyboard is on your screen, locate the ScrLk key and click on it. The scroll functionality should start working correctly again.
To turn off the scroll lock in MS Excel natively, right-click on the status bar present at the bottom of your spreadsheet. A menu will appear on which you will see the option to turn Scroll Lock on or off. Disable it, and you will be able to scroll again.
3. Unfreeze Panes in MS Excel
This is quite a simple fix. Just head into the View tab present above your worksheet first. Now, if you are on a Windows machine, you will see an option named Freeze Panes in one of the sections in this tab. Click on it, and a drop-down menu will show up. Click on Unfreeze Panes on this menu.
4. Enable the scroll bar in MS Excel
One reason you might be unable to scroll in MS Excel is the absence of scroll bars, usually on the bottom and right side of a worksheet, moving horizontally and vertically, respectively. If that is the case, you can bring both of them back.
Open the File menu and choose ‘More…’ from the sidebar that appears. Click on Options at the very bottom from the new menu that appears. Now, click on Advance from yet another sidebar that shows up.
Lastly, look for two checkboxes corresponding to the texts ‘Show horizontal scroll bar’ and ‘Show vertical scroll bar’.
You will find both of them under Display options for this workbook. Enable both and click OK. Everything should be back to the way it was.
5. Turn off Zoom on a roll with Intellimouse
This method is just for people with a Microsoft-branded mouse called the IntelliMouse. So if you do not have that, move ahead.
Open the File tab once again, and go to More settings. Click on Options and then on Advanced from the new sidebar. Uncheck the box next, which enables Zoom on a roll with IntelliMouse.
This feature is for zooming in and out when you move the scroll wheel instead of scrolling. Hit on OK and see if the scrolling works now.
6. Launch MS Excel in safe mode
First of all, open Task Manager. You can do so by looking it up from the search bar in the Start menu. Alternatively, you can use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc button to do the same. Once it opens, select Microsoft Excel and click on End Task.
Now, press the Ctrl key, and a dialogue box will appear asking you if you want to open MS Excel in safe mode. Click on Yes. The problem should be fixed. If it is, the issue is likely due to faulty add-ins you may have installed recently. You will have to disable them if that is indeed the case.
To turn off add-ins, open the File tab in MS Excel. Click on ‘More…’ and then Options on the appeared menus. Look for the option named Add-ins and click on it from the sidebar. You will see a drop-down menu next to the text ‘Manage’ on this page. Select Excel Add-ins from this menu and hit Go. A new dialogue box will appear. Please turn off the add-in you want to by unchecking the box next to it and hit OK.
7. Repair the MS Excel file
Another potential culprit here can be a corrupt MS Excel file. It would be best to repair it to get it back to working correctly. It is advised to create a backup of whichever file you will repair.
Firstly, open the File tab present in the upper left corner. Go to the Open section and click on Browse. From the dialogue box that appears, please select the file you must repair from whichever directory or folder you have stored it in.
At the bottom right of this dialogue box, you will see a downward arrow next to the option to Open the file. Click on the arrow and Open and Repair from the menu. You will see another dialogue box containing three choices. Click on Repair.
Yet another dialogue box will appear on your screen, displaying the troubleshooting details with the file. Once the process is complete, close this window and check if you can scroll through the worksheet.
8. Repair MS Excel
If none of the above has worked for you, this must. Before starting, make sure to save all your work.
Launch the Control Panel of your computer, and look for the Programs category. Below it, you will see an option to Uninstall a program. When you click on it, you will see a list of all the different applications on your computer.
Look for Microsoft Office, Microsoft 365, or Microsoft Excel (whichever is applicable in your case), and select it. Above the list, you will find an option to Change. Click on it and then hit Yes when prompted.
A window will open asking you to choose the mode of Repair. Choose Quick Repair and click the Repair button on the bottom right. Click Repair again if prompted once more.
Once the process is complete, open MS Excel and check if the problem persists. It should not. Repairing an application this way performs a troubleshooting operation and usually fixes the issues it detects.
This was technically your last shot at fixing this issue. You can still try restarting and updating your PC or reinstalling MS Excel. If nothing works, there are different alternatives to switch to as well. If you do not want to do that, contact Microsoft support and see if they can help you.
