[Fixed!] Excel Cursor Stuck in Drag Mode (5 Possible Solutions)

The cursor getting stuck in drag mode can be annoying in our everyday usage, especially in spreadsheet software like Excel. From an unintentional combination of keys pressed to changes in internal settings in windows – various reasons can cause it. Whatever the reason might be, follow along with this guide, and hopefully, you will get your fix for the cursor stuck in drag mode in Excel.

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5 Possible Solutions for Excel Cursor Stuck in Drag Mode

Solution 1: Disable Extend Selection Mode

Solution 2: Run Excel in Safe Mode

Solution 3: Repair Microsoft Office Applications

Solution 4: Reinstall Microsoft Office

Solution 5: Clean Up Your Hard Drive

Cursor Not Moving to Next Cell in Excel

Conclusion

5 Possible Solutions for Excel Cursor Stuck in Drag Mode

As the problem may arise from different causes, the solution range varies too. So try out all of the methods below to find the one which works for you.

Solution 1: Disable Extend Selection Mode

Excel 2019 has a new feature called the extend selection mode. This feature helps us to select a range of adjacent cells with a keyboard or mouse with ease instead of dragging them to the end. A traditional method to select a range of cells would be to click a cell and drag it to the end of the range or press Shift on your keyboard then left-click on the end of the range. But instead, with this “Extend Selection Mode” you can just click on the first cell and the last cell to do all the dragging. Or you can use your keyboard for the navigation once you selected this.

This is a useful feature to accelerate our work process in Excel. But if you don’t know and you have selected this mode accidentally, then you may find your cursor stuck in drag mode in your Excel spreadsheet. To see if you are in the Excel selection mode or not check the bottom left corner of your spreadsheet below the sheet name. The mode name will appear on it if the mode is on.

To enable/disable the Extend selection mode, press F8 on your keyboard. If you are stuck in the drag mode in Excel because you have accidentally selected this mode, then pressing the F8 button will resolve your issue.

Solution 2: Run Excel in Safe Mode

Safe mode is a handy feature in Excel where it lets you start the application without encountering specific startup programs. If the Excel cursor is stuck in drag mode because of one of these startup programs, then disabling it will help your cursor to return to normal. To run Excel in safe mode, try the following steps.

Steps:

First of all, open the Run command dialog by pressing Win+R on your keyboard.
Then write down Excel/safe in the field.

After that, either press Enter on your keyboard or click on OK.

If one of the startup programs was indeed causing the problem, then it should resolve your issue.

Solution 3: Repair Microsoft Office Applications

Besides the problems with startup applications, there could be some underlying problems associated with Microsoft Office. If you repair Microsoft Office, this may sometimes resolve the issue.

Steps:

To repair, go to the Windows Settings from the windows icon at the bottom-left of your screen.
Then select Apps in the settings window.

After that, select Apps & Features from the left of the window.

Now scroll down and select the Microsoft Ofice app and click on Modify under it.

If a user account control box appears at this point, click on Yes.
Either select Quick Repair or Online Repair depending on the one you prefer in the repair selection box. Finally, click on Repair.

This will sometimes resolve some underlying issues with Office applications. If the problem persists then move on to the next solution.

Solution 4: Reinstall Microsoft Office

Sometimes deep underlying settings changed in Microsoft Office or Windows settings may cause the problem. If none of the above-mentioned seems to work out for you, then try out a quick Windows restart first. And if the problem persists, then reinstall Microsoft Office as a last resort. A clean uninstall and then reinstalling it will reset the program back to its original settings. This should resolve the issue of the cursor getting stuck in drag mode in Excel.

Solution 5: Clean Up Your Hard Drive

If the above solutions didn’t work for you, try cleaning up your hard drive. Diminishing resources can sometimes cause this. To do that, remove unnecessary and temporary files from the Windows folder. Follow these steps to clean up Windows temporary files.

Steps:

First, press Windows+R on your keyboard.
Then write %temp% in the dialog box and press Enter.

As a result, all the temp files will open up in file explorer. Now delete these folders to free up space in Windows.

You should also clean up temporary internet files. Depending on your browser the process might be a bit different than the rest. But you should find out this option in your browser properties.

Cursor Not Moving to Next Cell in Excel

Similar to the issue of the Excel cursor getting stuck in drag mode you may sometimes find your Excel cursor not moving to any of the next cells at all. Generally, Excel moves to the next cells when you use the arrow key direction of the targeted cell. But if you have enabled Scroll lock in Excel you will find that your spreadsheet is scrolling when you use the arrow key instead of going on to the next cell.

To get rid of this mode, just press the Scroll Lock button on your keyboard and it will remove the mode. You can see it from the bottom-left of your Excel interface. If you press the button again, it will lock on to scrolling mode again. Exiting the scroll lock will resolve this issue of the Excel cursor not moving to the next cell at all.

However, you can also use Enter, Tab, Shift+Enter, and Shift+Tab to navigate to the bottom, right, top, and left cells. You can use these keys without getting out of the scroll lock.

Conclusion

These were all the possible fixes available for the Excel cursor stuck in drag mode. Hopefully, you have solved your problem by now and you found this guide helpful and informative. If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know below. For more solutions and guides like this, visit Exceldemy.com.