Md. Sourov Hossain Mithun
It’s bothering if the arrow keys don’t work while working in Excel. Because without the help of arrow keys it’s quite difficult to perform any operation. So I’ll explain 8 common issues and fixes if keyboard arrow keys are not working in Excel.
Download Practice Workbook
You can download the free Excel template from here and practice on your own.
8 Fixes: Keyboard Arrow Keys Not Working in Excel
Let’s get introduced to our dataset first that represents some content writers’ daily working hours and wages.
1. Disable Scroll Lock
The most common reason is keeping the Scroll Lock option On. Have a look that I selected Cell D6 and then can’t move from the cell pressing the arrow keys.
Solution:
- Disable the Scroll Lock key from your keyboard by pressing the key.
Or if you don’t have a keyboard then you can turn it off from the On-Screen Keyboard.
- Search for On-Screen Keyboard in the search box beside the Windows icon.
- Then click on it.
- Later, just click the ScrLk key from the keyboard.
Then I have become able to scroll down from Cell D6 to D7.
Read More: How to Turn On/Off Scroll Lock in Excel (2 Ways)
2. Turn on Sticky Keys
Another useful solution is to turn on the Sticky Keys option from Control Panel. Let’s see how to activate it.
Solution:
- Open Control Panel on your computer.
- Next, click Ease of Access.
- Later, click Change how your keyboard works from the Ease of Access Center.
- After that, mark Turn on Sticky Keys from the Make it easier to type section.
- Finally, just press OK.
Hope your arrow key will work then.
3. Turn Off Scroll Lock in Excel
In Excel, there is a built-in option- Scroll Lock. If it is turned on then the arrow keys might not work. Let’s see how to turn it off.
Solution:
- Right-click on the Status bar in Excel. The status bar is the lower part of excel where the zoom option is located.
- Then unmark Scroll Lock from the Context menu.
Read More: How to Turn Off Scroll Lock in Excel
4. Escape Formula Entry Mode
If you are going to insert a function in a cell to make a formula and it’s not completed yet then the arrow key won’t work in the sheet out of that cell. Here, I was trying to use the SUM function.
Solution:
- Press the Escape button to stop typing the formula.
- Or complete the formula and press Enter to finish.
5. Deactivate Add-Ins
For some Add-Ins of Excel, the arrow keys can’t work properly. I’ll show you how to deactivate it.
Solution:
- Click on File beside the Home tab.
- Then click Options.
- Later, click as follows: Add-Ins ➤ Go.
- After that unmark all the Add-ins and press OK.
Hope your arrow keys will work then.
6. Unprotect Your Sheet
If your sheet gets protected with a password then you might not be able to perform anything on your sheet. For that reason, the arrow keys may not work too. So you will have to Unprotect your sheet.
Solution:
- Click as follows to Unprotect the sheet: Home ➤ Cells ➤ Format ➤ Unprotect Sheet.
- Give the password and press OK.
- Password: 1234
7. Unfreeze Columns Or Rows
The problem occurs too if you Freeze rows or columns in your Excel sheet. If you’re looking at cells within a group of frozen rows or columns, The arrow keys may stop working if you try to look at cells through a group of frozen rows or columns. But to fix it no need to Unfreeze those panes.
Solution:
- Zoom your sheet to get a wider view and to see the group of locked Then you will be able to use the arrow keys in the unlocked cells.
8. Take Time to Finish Complex Calculation Process
If you are performing multiple and complex calculations then Excel hides the arrow keys before finishing it.
Solution:
- Wait some time to finish the calculations.
Conclusion
I hope the procedures described above will be good enough to solve the problem if keyboard arrow keys are not working in Excel. Feel free to ask any question in the comment section and please give me feedback.
