— Menu — Home » Tutorials » Create a Scroll Bar in Excel Create a Scroll Bar in Excel Last Updated on: December 5, 2021 The scroll bar in Excel is one of the most useful tools in Form Controls. Using it will save time and get more space if you are using it. The most significant advantage comes when you work with a large data set. You can manage any size list in a small area using scroll bars. Sounds good! Do you still remember the rule of the one-page dashboard? You need to show data in a small section of your Workbook in some cases. Get free spaces using the scroll bar, and it's valuable. From now on, you can use great charts! In today's step-by-step tutorial, we'll quickly show you how to manage a large dataset. How to create a Scroll Bar in ExcelIn the example, we will work with a large data set. The list contains 30 elements. Our task is to create a list that only includes ten elements and interactive mode. The trick is to show all values in this window using the scroll bar. The result will look like this: North SalesRep 1 28063 South SalesRep 2 20365 East SalesRep 3 45964 West SalesRep 4 30812 North SalesRep 5 79080 South Saleskep © 62133 East SalesRep 7 398 West SalesRep 8 95261 North SalesRep 9 68907 South SalesRep 10 70506 Steps to create a dynamic list using Scroll Bar Step 1: Prepare Data First, let’s take a look at the data table. Create a list that contains 30 elements. The list is a simplified sales database. 6 4 1 , Regions Sales Rep Sales a East SalesRep 11 839 West SalesRep 12 9808 North SalesRep 13, 78406 South SalesRep 14 95463, East SalesRep 15 54716 West SalesRep 16 52300 North SalesRep 17 6698 South SalesRep 18 72745 East SalesRep 19 36665 West SalesRep 20 89964 v Easty om Sleep 11 039 re ean Oh OO can gop a Never SavesRep 29 29231 North SalesRep 30 36925] dynamic scrollbarThe table contains the following fields: * Regions: the name of the place where the given manager works * Manager: the name of the managers, we filled the columns with names * Sales: the income that the given sales rep generated Step 2: Locate the Developer Tab Go to Developer Tab —> Insert —> Scroll Bar under the Form Control section Tip: If you cannot find the Developer Tab, enable it. RAO |= jomicnclbae - Exel Bis 2 moe co ae ve DQ) Brewer OS a “I wi — fa Brimpot = 2 = ao Vinal Mad HiUseraatveneteences OF IN EB Favien cote | 55, even ras 2 Bose AL Mac Seay tne Ane Ane Erun biog a cose aie cae am ca : fk Ge eases a8 oe aie tom ] cts Sera Ear Form orto) | oBMeaa 8 2. | HoAmet Step 3: Insert a Scroll Bar Click on the Scroll Bar button. You can find it in the Form Controls section. To insert a Scroll Bar, click anywhere in the active Excel worksheet. e090 608 Step 4: Format the Scroll BarRight-click on the control. Click on ‘Format Control.’ The Format Control dialogue box will appear. a” X cat TB copy A Eb Baste 9 Groping > Order > Assign Maco. ¥ Y Eonmat Control. In the Format Control dialogue box, go to the ‘Control’ tab, and make the following changes: ‘Sue Potedion ropeties Ait Tet Corto! commie ff inimumave Magmumvse fi proemeta oun [ peo on cy ET] [Tea * Current Value = 1 * Minimum Value = 1 * Maximum Value = 21 Explanation: The maximum value is 21 because we will display ten elements in the list. You can get the idea that if the value of the NS cell is 21, then the displayed values in the list will be between 21 and 30. We want to show only ten rows, so the setup looks like this:* Incremental Change = 1 * Page Change = 5 © Cell Link = $N$S Explanation: Let's talk about the N5 cell! We have linked this cell to the scroll bar. The value of the cell will vary between 1 and 21. Its role is vital because this will be one of the parameters of the OFFSET function. Next, we will fill out the now empty table. Set the scroll bar's size and place it on the right-hand side of the table. You can see what the table looks like after the action in the picture below. gabe £ fie “ 1 , 4 ID Regions Sales Rep Sales a S| 1 North SalesRep 1 28063 © 2 South SalesRep 2. 20365 7) 3 East SalesRep 3 45964 ©) 4 West SalesRep 4 30812 8/5 North SalesRep 5 79080 10 6 South SalesRep 6 62133, 11) 7 East SalesRep 7 398 12 8 West SalesRep 8 95261 13, 9 North SalesRep 9 68907 1410 South SalesRep 10 70506 v Next, write the following into the HS cell: =OFFSET(D4;$N$5;0) Asa result, we get the first element of the “Regions” column. Finally, copy this formula into all of the empty cells! And we are done with the dynamic list using the scroll bar and table. You can see this in the following picture:4s . =OFFSET(ON 3N550) apc e Fle 4 1 , 4 ID Regions Safes Rep Sales Rep Sales a s| 1 North SatesRep 1 28063 6) 2 South South SalesRep 2 20365 7| 3 East East SalesRep 3 45964 8) 4 West West SalesRep 4 30812 9) 5 North North SalesRep 5 "79080 10 6 South South _—_SalesRep 6 62133 nT East East SalesRep 7 398 2 8 West West SalesRep 8 95261 13) 9 North North SalesRep 9 68907 1410 South South _SalesRep 10 70506 What will make the list dynamic? The OFFSET formula uses the D4 cell of the original list as a benchmark. Then, with the help of the NS cell determines the appropriate position. But what is the correct position? In the N5 cell (as we mentioned before), the values vary between 1 and 21. If we move the scroll bar up and down, then the value of the NS cell will change. Evaluate the FFSET(D4;$N$5;0) formula! We use the D4 cell as a base for a benchmark. Currently, the value of the N5 cell is 1. This value will go into the HS cell, one cell away downward from the D4 cell. co e 6 H ' 1 re) Sales Rep Sales Sales a 5] 1 Noh SalesRep 1 28063 28063, 6 | 2 South SalesRep 2. 20365 20365 7 3 East SalesRep 3 45964 45964 8 4 West SalesRep 4 30812 30812 5 North SalesRep 5 79080 ‘79080 10, 6 South SalesRep 6 62133, 62133, 7 East SalesRep 7 398. 398 12) 8 — West SalesRep 8 95261 95261 13) 9 North SalesRep 9 68907 68907 “ South SalesRep 10 70506 70506 v 8 East SalesReo 11 839 Working with OFFSET formulaNow let's move the scroll bar so that the original list’s tenth element is the new list's first item! It can be hard to imagine at first, so take a look at the picture below, and everything will be clear: ag oc | > e Fis k 1 1 kK LMN ID Regions SalesRep Sales i é i ee ee: es ee Let's see what has changed! The following formula gets the value of the H5 cell: =OFFSET(D4;$N$5;0) How can this be when the formula didn’t change? The formula did not change indeed, but the value of the N5 cell did, Because of the downward movement of the scroll bar, its value has changed from 1 to 10. How did this affect the result? Okay, take a closer look at the data set! The starting point is again the D4 cell. The value of it is 10. So we jump exactly ten rows downward as the OFFSET formula's effect starts from the D4 cell. Now, the first position of the new list will be the tenth element of the old list. We show this in the following picture; most of us instead a visual type:sun +) Xv & | =orrseri08 sus.) Sales 28068 eee 20365 ast Salestep 11 25364 West Salestep 12 30812 North SalesRep 13 79090 South Salestep 14 east SalesRep 15 398 West ——_SalesRep 16 95261 Noh SalesRep 17 3 68007 South—SaesRep 18 u ROMEO tat SalesRep 19 is] Test SelesRep 11839 te] 12 West SalesRep 12 99808 Conclusion The Form Controls group supports many useful tools in Excel. Stay with us in the future, and soon you can meet with new Excel tips and tricks! For example, you can try how the scroll bar works. Download the practice file! Category: im Tutorials Istvan Vozar Istvan is the co-founder of Visual Analytics Ltd. He writes blog posts and helps people to reach the top in Excel. Ultimate Dashboard Tools© 8 é @ N Bullet ScoreMeter ScoreMeter Variance LEE, SORE SGNGE ee i hil rl Variance — Variance ~—-Variance ‘Waterfall 2. 3 a Charts ~ TeeMap Gantt On a os Pro Dashboard Add-in for Excel, Fully automated. Lightweight, No coding skills required. Get it now Topics Formulas Functions Excel Dashboard Shortcuts Excel Tables Data visualization in Excel Privacy Policy Terms of Service Refund Policy Contact us About Us© 2019-2022. ExcelKid is a trademark of Visual Analytics Ltd.