The time for the scroll lock key has passed, making it the appendage of an IBM-PC computer keyboard. Before, it had a legitimate function: Since many monitors could only display 25 lines of text at a time, programming long scripts 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 this feature, a programmer working on line 117 might have to manually scroll to line two to make a short correction. This was very time consuming during a complex programming session.
A keyboard with scroll lock key.
The development of navigation scrollbars eventually made this key virtually useless. Some computer games still use it to allow players to access inventories or to make it easier to navigate screens, and spreadsheet programs also use the function as a form of placeholder: a user might want to visit a previous block of text without missing a beat. position, for example. For most other modern programming needs, navigation scrollbars and cursor directional arrows largely fill this need.
Many laptop keyboards today have removed the scroll lock key.
In an effort to keep up with consumer keyboard needs, IBM and others expanded the original keyboard to include arrow keys and a single-function number pad for calculations. This expansion also allowed for separate function keys, such as num (or numeric) lock, scroll lock, caps lock, and SysRq. With the exception of the Caps Lock key, all of these functions have largely been consigned to history. The Num Lock key has been virtually replaced by separate navigation and number entry keyboards. The SysRq key never had a function: it was created strictly for a future function that did not materialize.
Many computer keyboards don’t include a scroll lock key, although some do, perhaps for nostalgic purposes.
