Any person working at a personal computer, sooner or later thinks about the functions of the keys: what kind of button can be made and how useful they can be in work, study or games. Today we’ll talk about what can be done with such an interesting button as “Scroll lock”. After all, it is not found in any instruction.
Keyboard
First, let's decide which button is in question. The location of this key may vary depending on the manufacturer and model. In addition, on laptops it is not at all as a separate element.
So, the "Scroll lock" button. Where is this item located?
- In most cases, which you can find on store shelves, working keyboards in the office and at home, the “Scroll lock” is located above the arrows in the very top row, next to the additional digital panel. Exactly there, as indicated in the figure above.
- If we are talking about laptop keyboards or shortened versions of full-fledged computer models, then on them you may not find the freestanding key you are looking for. In such cases, “Scroll lock” is a function that is called by pressing the “Fn” button + another key, on which the name “scroll” is usually written in blue. You can see the location in the second figure below.
History
Where did the "Scroll lock" key come to us? It was in the distant 90s, at the dawn of computer technology. Initially, it carried the function of changing the behavior of the cursor keys (arrows). In some applications, after clicking "Scroll" when using the arrows, the screen did not start switching line by line with the cursor, but page by page. In other situations, the "Scroll lock" blocked the cursor at one position and the arrows could inspect the entire page that did not fit on the screen. Now this feature is also used in Microsof Excel.
Over time, the power of computers has grown, and the need for pagination has disappeared. Thus, the button we are studying has become, in fact, unnecessary. However, manufacturers did not abandon the existing familiar keyboard design, and software developers began to look for new ways to use this key.
Modernity
Currently, "Scroll lock" in various applications performs a variety of functions. It is difficult to imagine the whole variety of tasks, because it depends on the imagination of the developers. Here you will find the most common functions of this button. It is possible that they can be performed in other applications, but these cases may be more likely to occur to you.
- As already mentioned, in Excel, the "Scroll lock" key executes its original functions. That is, switches the scroll cursor to control the screen.
- This button is also used in the well-known Punto Switcher keyboard layout switch. Pressing the combination "Alt" + "Scroll lock" transliterates the selected text.
- In Linux, clicking a button stops scrolling text.
- When using the KVM switch, double-clicking activates control of this mechanism.
- Using the "Scroll lock" allows you to switch the use of macros for some optical mice.
- On Dell laptops, this button acts as the "Fn" key.
In games, the key we are considering can also play a rather important role. For example, in a toy like Cossacks, Scroll lock is responsible for creating scripts in the map editor. And in the well-known Oblivion, this button is responsible for switching the language in the Russian version.
Result
We hope that now you will not have any questions about the use and purpose of the "Scroll lock" key. In fact, it is already outdated, and if you have not used it before, then it will be too late to start. It’s much faster and more convenient to use familiar tools that your hands have long been accustomed to. However, the information received may be useful to you to increase your own erudition.