What is Scroll Lock?
Time has passed by the scroll lock key, rendering it the appendix of an IBM-PC computer keyboard. Once, it had a legitimate function. Since many monitors could only display 25 lines of text at a time, programming long strings of commands often became problematic. The scroll lock key allowed users to freeze the current screen in place so that the cursor could be easily redirected. Without scroll lock, a programmer working on line 117 might have to manually scroll back to line two for a brief correction. This was time consuming during a complex programming session. The development of navigational scroll bars eventually rendered the scroll lock key virtually useless. Some computer games still use the scroll lock function to allow players access to inventories or provide easier navigation through screens. Spreadsheet programs such as Excel also make use of the scroll lock function as a form of placeholder. A spreadsheet user may want to visit a previous block of text without losing his cur
