Excel Cursor Keys Not Working? Fix It

You’re hard at work on your Excel spreadsheet, flying through data — until suddenly, you notice something strange: the arrow keys on your keyboard stop moving you from cell to cell. Instead, the entire spreadsheet scrolls or refuses to respond. Frustrating, right?

You’re not alone. This issue affects users more often than you might think, and luckily, the fix is usually straightforward.

TL;DR

If your arrow keys have stopped navigating cells in Excel, it’s usually because Scroll Lock is enabled, you’re in an active formula, or an add-in or third-party software is interfering. Try turning off Scroll Lock using the keyboard, on-screen keyboard, or BIOS settings. Also, check for frozen panes, zoom issues, or sticky keys. Restarting Excel or your computer can sometimes resolve the glitch too.

Why Are the Cursor or Arrow Keys Not Working in Excel?

When your arrow keys no longer move the selection from one cell to another in Excel, it can seriously slow down your workflow. The problem often boils down to a few common causes:

• Scroll Lock is enabled.
• You’re editing a cell or a formula.
• Frozen panes are preventing movement.
• There’s a system or keyboard issue.
• An Excel add-in or third-party tool is interfering.

1. Check if Scroll Lock is Turned On

This is by far the most frequent culprit. When the Scroll Lock feature is turned on, using arrow keys scrolls the worksheet rather than moving cell to cell. Many modern keyboards don’t even have a Scroll Lock key anymore, which makes troubleshooting harder.

How to Fix:

• Use the Keyboard: Press the Scroll Lock key if your keyboard has one. It might be labeled as ScrLk.
• Use the On-Screen Keyboard:
  1. On Windows, open the Start menu and search for On-Screen Keyboard.
  2. Click on the ScrLk key on the virtual keyboard.
• Check Indicator Lights: Some keyboards have an LED light indicating Scroll Lock is active.

2. Make Sure You’re Not in Cell Edit Mode

Arrow keys don’t work for navigating between cells when you’re actively typing in a cell. Instead, they move the cursor within the current cell.

How to Fix:

• Press Enter or Esc to exit edit mode.
• Make sure you’re not clicking inside the formula bar or double-clicking a cell before using arrow keys.

3. Look for Frozen Panes in Your Worksheet

When panes are frozen, Excel stops scrolling past a certain row or column. This can give the illusion that the arrow keys aren’t working when, in fact, the selected cell is simply disappearing from view.

How to Fix:

• Go to the View tab in Excel.
• Click Freeze Panes and select Unfreeze Panes.

This should unlock the view and restore expected navigation functionality.

4. Check for Zoom or View Mode Issues

Sometimes, your view settings can mess with how Excel reacts to key inputs. If you’re heavily zoomed in or using a split window, cell navigation can behave oddly.

How to Fix:

• Return zoom to 100% by using the slider in the bottom-right corner of Excel.
• Remove any split views by selecting View > Split if it’s active.

5. Investigate Add-ins or Third-Party Tools

If you’ve recently installed or updated Excel plug-ins, they may be conflicting with Excel’s default behavior. Add-ins can introduce unexpected bugs, including disabled cursor key functionality.

How to Fix:

1. Open Excel.
2. Click File > Options > Add-ins.
3. At the bottom, in the Manage dropdown, select COM Add-ins and click Go.
4. Uncheck add-ins one-by-one to identify the culprit.
5. Restart Excel after each change and test the arrow keys.

6. Update or Reconfigure Your Keyboard Settings

Your keyboard settings at the system level might be interfering with Excel. Occasionally, accessibility features like Sticky Keys or alternative input protocols may override standard shortcuts.

How to Fix (Windows):

• Go to Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard.
• Turn off Sticky Keys, Filter Keys, and Toggle Keys.

How to Fix (Mac):

• Go to System Preferences > Accessibility > Keyboard.
• Disable features like Key Repeat delay or full keyboard access.

7. Try a Different Excel Sheet or User Profile

If this only happens in one particular spreadsheet or user profile, it could be corrupted Excel settings or even file-specific glitches.

How to Fix:

• Create a new workbook and test arrow key behavior there.
• Open Excel in Safe Mode by holding Ctrl while launching Excel.
• Create a new user profile on your computer and test Excel from there.

8. Restart Excel or Reboot Your Machine

It sounds simple, but you’d be amazed how often a reboot clears up temporary glitches. Excel caches a lot of data and may hang onto an input state longer than expected.

How to Fix:

• Save your work and close Excel completely.
• Restart your computer.
• Open Excel and test the arrow keys again.

9. Hardware Troubleshooting

Let’s not forget the obvious: your keyboard might be the problem. Dirt, hardware malfunction, or loosely connected cables (for wired keyboards) could be silently affecting your keys.

How to Fix:

• Try connecting a different keyboard to your PC or switching USB ports.
• If you’re on a laptop, try connecting an external keyboard for comparison.
• Clean your keyboard to remove dust and debris.

Preventing the Issue in the Future

Once you’ve fixed the issue, you’ll want to prevent future occurrences. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Turn off Scroll Lock on startup by checking your BIOS settings if it auto-enables.
• Update Excel regularly to get bug fixes and performance improvements.
• Minimize add-ins to only the necessary ones.
• Check keyboard health and replace aging peripherals.

Conclusion

While it might initially feel like a mystery, fixing unresponsive arrow keys in Excel is usually a straightforward task. Whether it’s turning off Scroll Lock, tweaking your Excel view, or cleaning your keyboard, one of the methods above should bring your spreadsheet navigation back under control.

So next time your cursor gets stuck, don’t panic — just run through this checklist and restore your data-maneuvering superpowers.