Excel Won’t Scroll? ALL 5 Fixes: Step-by-Step (2024)
Scrolling up and down the worksheet is just something we normally do especially when we’re working with a large data set in Excel.
But what do you do when you suddenly can’t seem to scroll in Excel? Even when you tried to scroll with your mouse, touchpad, or keyboard arrow keys, Excel just won’t scroll! 😱
Don’t panic! This problem can be easily fixed 🛠️
In this tutorial, we’ll cover the reasons why Excel won’t scroll and the possible solutions you can do to get it fixed in no time 😀
Table of Contents
Fix #1: Unfreeze frozen panes
The Freeze panes feature is a useful feature in Excel that allows you to lock specific rows and columns in your worksheet to make it visible while scrolling through the rest of your Excel worksheet.
While it may be such a useful Excel feature, it may be one of the reasons why Excel won’t scroll 🥶
The solution to the problem is to unfreeze panes 😊
To unfreeze panes in Excel…
- Click the View Tab.
- Click the Freeze Panes button.
The drop-down will show you Freeze panes options.
- Select the Unfreeze Panes option from the dropdown.
That’s it! 👍
Try to scroll down through the spreadsheet with your mouse wheel or touchpad and check if the Unfreeze Panes feature fixed the scrolling issue.
Still can’t scroll? Then maybe it’s not the frozen panes causing it.
Don’t worry, we still have a lot more possible solutions to it 😊
Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office SpecialistFix #2: Close any open dialog box
Another thing to consider why Excel won’t scroll is that a dialog box is open.
Say, for example, there’s a Sort dialog box opened somewhere on your screen. When this happens, you can’t scroll in Excel.
The solution? Close any open dialog box or any open windows.
Once you close any open dialog box, you can return to your worksheet and scroll without any issues.
Fix #3: Restore missing scroll bars
When you open Excel and you can’t see the scroll bars in the window, the Scroll bar options probably aren’t selected.
To restore your missing scroll bars, do the following steps: 👇
- Go to File Tab.
- Click Options from the left sidebar.
- Click the Advanced Tab in the left side panel of Excel options.
- Scroll down to find the Display options for this workbook.
Make sure to check the boxes for the ✅ Show horizontal scroll bar and ✅ Show vertical scroll bar.
- Finally, click OK.
Ta-da! 😀 Your Excel vertical scroll bar and horizontal scroll bar are now displayed.
Try scrolling up or down your Excel worksheet to see if this fixed your scrolling issue.
Fix #4: Zoom on roll with IntelliMouse
We usually use the mouse scroll wheel to easily scroll up or down our screen.
But if your Microsoft IntelliMouse wheel zooms in 🔍 on a spreadsheet instead of scrolling down it, then that may be the reason why you can’t scroll in Excel.
What you need to do is to disable the Zoom on roll with IntelliMouse option 🖱️
- Select the File tab in the Excel ribbon.
- Click Options on the left sidebar of Excel.
- Select the Advanced tab in the Excel options.
- Under the Editing Options, deselect the Zoom on roll with IntelliMouse checkbox if selected.
- Lastly, Click OK.
When you unchecked this option, you won’t be able to zoom in and out using the mouse wheel.
You can now use it to scroll up and down instead 😀
Fix #5: CTRL or SHIFT key stuck
If you’re pressing the CTRL key while rolling your mouse wheel, you won’t be able to vertically scroll in Excel.
What this does is Zoom in and out in your Excel spreadsheet 🔍
If you want to scroll vertically with the mouse wheel, simply release the Ctrl key on your keyboard. Or make sure it isn’t stuck 👍
But maybe it’s not the Ctrl key that was stuck but the Shift key.
If the SHIFT key is stuck, the vertical scroll bar will definitely not work.
Again, simply release the SHIFT key from the stuck and you will be able to scroll vertically 😊
Bonus: What is the Scroll Lock key?
The Scroll lock key is toggling key on your keyboard, just like the Caps Lock and Num Lock. When you toggle Scroll lock, you enable Scroll Lock 🔒 and you won’t be able to move between cells using the arrow keys.
Disable the Scroll lock by pressing the Scroll lock key on your keyboard. Learn more about how to fix Scroll Lock here.
That’s it – Now what?
Problem solved! If you ever experience any scrolling issue while working in Excel, you now know how to fix it with the possible solutions we’ve covered above.
Just like the famous quote says: “The solution to a problem lies in the problem itself.”, there’s no Excel issue that Excel can’t solve 👍
Microsoft Excel is a powerful spreadsheet program that allows you to store, organize and calculate data faster and easier for you. It’s only recommended that everyone should get started in Excel.
Learn Excel in the right way and without getting overwhelmed by signing up for my free Excel Beginner Training. Sign up ✍ and learn the basics of Excel quickly, easily, and free!
Other resources
Make your column and row headers visible while you scroll through your spreadsheet by learning how to Freeze Panes in Excel. Read our step-by-step guide about freeze panes here.
Got more questions about Excel? 🤔
We’ve compiled the most frequently asked questions we received related to Excel. Find answers to your questions here.
Couldn’t find a solution to your issue? Feel free to contact us. We’re always happy to help 😊