Computer stories stories in detail about computer parts. Scroll lock: what is this key and why is it needed
Do you know where the key is Scroll Lock on keyboard? Why is it needed? And why on the keyboard Sven Standard 636 Is it called laconically “K”? Read about all this further...
Start over. Scroll Lock key It is usually located in the very top row of keyboard buttons and is the penultimate one. It is usually placed between the keys Print Screen/ SysRq and Pause/Break.
Today this key is a throwback left over from hard times. Legends say that this key first appeared on 83 push-button keyboard IBM PC/XT, as well as on the 84-button IBM PC AT.
Subsequently, it was also carried over to “extended” 101-key keyboards. It was needed to switch the page viewing mode from page-by-page to scrolling mode. When you turn on Scroll Lock buttons The cursors are used just for scrolling, and when turned off, they work, accordingly, in normal mode.
Now this button has lost its original functionality and various applications used in different ways.
For example, in the Opera web browser, in combination with number keys, it operates with voice commands.
In Excel and Lotus Notes it is still used to move the cursor. So, if you select a group of cells in Excel and then press any cursor key, the selection will be removed and the cursor will move to the adjacent cell.
But if Scroll is enabled in this situation, the selection will remain on the group of cells, and the page will move in the specified direction. In other applications, it is not used at all or calls some specific functions.
So in Linux OS Scroll Lock is used to forcefully stop text scrolling in the console. In the BSD family of systems, the key is used for its original purpose.
On the original Macintosh keyboards, this key was originally absent altogether, but appeared on the “enhanced” keyboard. And on laptops Dell The Scroll Lock key replaces the function key (Fn key) and to return it to it standard features you need to go into the BIOS.
And finally, the answer to last question. In fact, the keyboard Sven Standard 636 is a kind of joke - this is the same notorious "keyboard for blondes" On its pink keys, instead of standard symbols, there are symbols that are understandable to any blond charmer.
So, for example, the right Shift is called “You need to start writing my name with this button.” On all the top row keys, except Esc, there is an inscription “Unnecessary buttons”, which begins with F1 and ends with Pause/Break.
Thus, last letter“k” is located right on Scroll Lock. So, when you come to help the next Masha Malinovskaya or Charlize Theron with a computer, know that this is not just an “Unnecessary Button”, but a very useful key.
In fact, this key was once very necessary on older machines, since in the era of console mode, this key allowed you to scroll the position of the information displayed on the monitor screen. In console mode with Scroll Lock disabled, the arrow keys act as cursor controls. But with Scroll Lock enabled, these keys worked like scrolling the screen. This function still works this way in the console of the Linux operating system. In addition, in the Linux console, when running any applications that output to it, turning on scroll lock stops the scrolling of the output. But all this is history, and use in deep areas of the IT sphere.
Scroll Lock in Excel
The average user does not need the original functionality of this key. Although there is one application in which this key performs its true function. This is an Excel spreadsheet from the office suite. Microsoft. When Scroll Lock is enabled, the cursor keys will scroll the table area instead of moving across table cells. It's worth a try, however, if you're already used to using mouse scroll or the pg up and pg down keys to do this, I don't think you'll find it convenient.
Scroll and Linux
So, very good way use of this thing. The Scroll Lock key itself will be useless to us. Only its indicator is interesting - we can make it work for our convenience. A long time ago, apparently, one of the Linux operating system programmers also noticed that almost no one used this keyboard function. And therefore, it was proposed to use the indicator (light) of this mode to show the inclusion of an additional keyboard layout (language). Many of those who work in Linux use this light bulb as a layout indicator. When I started using Linux, I started using this feature. And I really liked it.
KbLangLED utility
When, after a while, I had to work under Windows, I felt terribly uncomfortable without this function. In addition, the standard indicator Windows layouts I always remove it from the panel.
But, as it turned out, this is another confirmation of the inviolable truth in the IT world - if you are faced with a problem, do not be lazy to look for its solution on the Internet. There is a very high probability that someone has already encountered your problem, and most likely a solution has been found. After several minutes of searching, the solution was indeed found. There is a very small utility written by some kind person who also needed a Scroll LED layout indication.
Called this program— KbLangLED. I don’t even remember where I dug it up, but I think it won’t be difficult - it has spread across many file sharing services and file dumping sites - just type its name into a search engine and you will find it without difficulty. Then all you have to do is run executable file, and then when you switch keyboard layouts, the Scroll LED on your keyboard will light up. It is enough to place the executable file of the program in startup, and this function will always work for you. When the default layout is enabled, the light will not light up. When you change the layout to an additional one in your system, for example, Russian, the light will be turned on. By the way, exactly English layout keyboard is most convenient as the default layout.
Here's the trick. In fact, this is very convenient, because the indicator on the keyboard is visible in peripheral vision, which allows you to always know what layout is in the keyboard without being distracted from your work. this moment installed.
This question often confuses beginners. And indeed, looking at the keyboard, you can notice that these three buttons are covered with dust (if the keyboard is not looked after and cleaned in a timely manner) - they are used or extremely rarely.
However, on almost any keyboard you are sure to find these three keys. And even in laptops, where the size of the keyboard is strictly limited and there is a struggle for every millimeter, these buttons are present.
They are usually located next to each other in one horizontal block. Let's find out what these three mysterious buttons do.
Scroll Lock
Most often used in editors. Enables scrolling mode, when when you press the cursor control keys (arrows), not the cursor itself moves, but the entire page along with it. This is very convenient when you don't want to lose your location for entering text, but at the same time you need to temporarily move to another part of the text or document. Open Excel and try moving the cursor with the Scroll Lock button on and off.
Lights up when this key is pressed
Curiosities also happen. If this button is accidentally enabled, the behavior of various programs (for example, Lotus Notes or Microsoft Excel) may change, but beginners are often lost because they do not know the reason and restart the computer - restarting automatically turns off the Scroll Lock action. Enabling this function is usually duplicated LED indicator(one of three) on the keyboard. So if programs behave unusually, check to see if this key is enabled.
Of the three buttons described, the buttons are the most rarely used, so when saving space on the keyboard, engineers start with this one.
Print Screen (PrtScr or Print Scrn)
When you click on Print Screen, a screenshot is created in the clipboard, which can then be pasted into any editor, edited if necessary and saved in the required format, or pasted into a letter and immediately sent by mail. On Windows, pressing Alt + Print Screen allows you to take a screenshot of only the active window, not the entire screen.
In some ways, the screen removal procedure is duplicated by the built-in Scissors tool, but in certain situations, using individual programs difficult, but Print Screen always works flawlessly.
Pause (Break)
Most often used to temporarily pause the computer boot. For example, when starting a PC, you may need to look at the system parameters on the screen, but they flash by with rapid speed. This is where Pause comes in handy - it will allow you to study all the information in detail, after which you can continue working by pressing any key.
Pause is also used in some programs. For example, in Punto Switcher it overrides the keyboard layout auto-correction if you type a phrase in the wrong language.
It is clear that of all three buttons described to the average user The only thing that might come in handy is Print Screen. But as your knowledge expands, they will certainly become part of your everyday life. In addition, a question about the purpose of these keys can easily land a novice specialist “bending his fingers” in a puddle.
The Scroll Lock button is used to change the behavior of the cursor on the computer screen. It is most often used in Excel to view large tables.
When Scroll Lock is turned off (by default it is turned off) - by clicking on the arrows on the keyboard, the cursor will move to adjacent cells Excel document. Wherein appearance the tables will not change in any way.
When Scroll Lock is enabled, when you press the arrows on the keyboard, the cursor will not move to other cells in the Excel document, but the table itself will move. This can be handy when you don't feel like it or it's awkward to use the scroll bar.
Where to find and how to enable Scroll Lock
Large full-size keyboards usually have separate button Scroll Lock, as well as an indicator showing its activity:
On laptop keyboards, Scroll Lock is usually combined with other keys to save space:
In this case, you must press the Scroll Lock button together with the FN key. We have .
Some programs additionally display Scroll Lock activity. Here's what it looks like in Excel, for example:
There is no Scroll Lock button on the keyboard, what should I do?
On some laptop keyboards, manufacturers do not place a Scroll Lock button at all. In this case, the most in a simple way will use the on-screen keyboard:
It can be found in Programs in the Start menu. It will be faster to use the search - start typing the words “on-screen” in it and the only result will be the on-screen keyboard.
If you still have questions, be sure to, also do not forget to read our other articles about special buttons on the keyboard – and .
I recently purchased a backlit keyboard. The backlight is turned on with the Scroll Lock button.
It turned out that this button is also on regular keyboards but we don't use it.
I was wondering why this button is needed if we don’t use it.
I started remembering when we need this button. I don't remember a single time when I used it before.
I couldn’t even explain to myself why it was needed at all?
What kind of miracle is this button - Scroll Lock.
The name of the button itself resembles scrolling, turning pages.
First of all, let's turn to theory and, of course, to Wikipedia.
It says the following:
key on computer keyboard, intended forchanges the behavior of the cursor keys (original function). When mode
Scroll Lock is enabled, the cursor keys act as screen movement
(up, down, left, right), and when disabled - position changes
cursor. Typically, one of three LEDs serves as an indication of mode activation.
on keyboard.
The function of this key varies depending on the software.
For example, in Microsoft Excel - Scroll Lock and is used to enable the document scrolling mode using the cursor keys (that is, it performs its original function).
Without going into details, the button was used to make it easier to view pages on the screen by switching the mouse cursor mode. That is for convenient viewing changing pages of text.
Today, this function is practically not used anywhere, except in Microsoft Excel. Even in this table editor, no one uses it, if only a few.
Now another use has been found for this button. Some games assign a specific function to this button by default. IN various programs they give her some kind of role so as not to use the usual buttons for everyone, leaving them with standard values.
In my case, it was used to turn on the keyboard backlight.
Something like this.
Typically in operating system Linux this button does not work correctly, how to configure it is described in detail in this