How to Unlock Cells in Excel When Scrolling (4 Easy Ways)

Sometimes, we lock a certain cell or a range of cells in the Excel worksheet for our convenience. However, it could also happen accidentally or unintentionally. Whatever might be the reason is, we may need to unlock the cells again. In this article, we’ll show you the simple yet effective methods to Unlock Cells in Excel When Scrolling.

How to Unlock Cells in Excel When Scrolling: 4 Easy Ways

1. Apply Freeze Panes Feature to Unlock Cells When Scrolling

Cells in several rows and columns get locked when we apply the Freeze Panes feature in Excel. This means that even if we move the Excel window, those rows and columns will be visible to us. We’ve applied the feature to the first 2 Columns and the first 4 Rows in the following pictures. Hence, they are on sight. In the given picture, the first 4 Rows are visible although we’ve scrolled down the window.

Here, in the below image, we’ve scrolled the window to the right side. But still, you can see the first 2 Columns.

Now, follow the steps below to unlock those cells.

STEPS:

First, go to the View tab and select the Freeze Panes drop-down.
Then, from there choose Unfreeze Panes.

As a result, the cells are now in unlocked form. You can scroll the window without any difficulties.

2. Unlock Cells with Developer Tab in Excel

Again, we can lock a range of cells in our Excel worksheet. The range B4:C10 is locked in the picture demonstrated below. So, when we try to move to the cell below C10, the arrow keys won’t work.

Therefore, learn the following steps for unlocking the cells.

STEPS:

Firstly, select the Developer tab.
Go to the Properties option from the Controls section.

Consequently, the Properties dialog box will pop out.
In the ScrollArea box, remove the specified range of cells and keep it blank.

After that, close the box.
Lastly, you’ll be able to use the arrow keys to switch to other cells outside of the range B4:C10.

3. Excel VBA for Unlocking Specific Cells When Scrolling

In this method, we’ll apply the VBA code to Unlock Cells in Excel When Scrolling. In the given figure, the range B4:C10 is in a locked state. Hence, learn the process to perform the task.

STEPS:

First of all, go to the Developer tab.
From the Code section, click on the Visual Basic.

As a result, the VBA window will appear.
Now, select Insert ➤ Module.
Consequently, the Module box will emerge.
Next, copy the following code and paste it into the box.

Sub UnlockCells()
Worksheets("vba").ScrollArea = ""
End Sub

Then, save the file and press F5 to run the code.
Afterward, close the VBA window.
Finally, you can scroll to the other cells.

Read More: How to Freeze Top Row in Excel

4. Cells Unlocking with Excel On-Screen Keyboard

Additionally, the Scroll Lock feature in Excel locks a certain cell and we can’t move the selection of that cell to a different one. See the following picture for a better understanding. Here, even if we scroll down the windows using the arrow keys, the B4 cell selection doesn’t change. So, learn the below process to Unlock Cells in Excel When Scrolling.

STEPS:

In the taskbar search, type On-Screen Keyboard at first.
Then, select the shown App.

As a result, the keyboard will appear on the screen.
There, press ScrLk.

At last, it’ll return the Excel window without any scroll locks.

Read More: Unfreeze Rows in Excel

Download Practice Workbook

Download the following workbook to practice by yourself.

Unlock Cells When Scrolling.xlsm

Conclusion

Henceforth, you will be able to Unlock Cells in Excel When Scrolling by following the above-described methods. Keep using them and let us know if you have more ways to do the task. Don’t forget to drop comments, suggestions, or queries if you have any in the comment section below.