The Excel Developer tab is a Ribbon tab which contains a number of tools aimed towards advanced features of Excel such as VBA, add-ins, form and ActiveX controls. Although you can access the VBA Editor with the shortcut (Alt+F11), the Developer tab in the Ribbon also contains controls like buttons, check boxes, or radio buttons. Excel hides the Developer tab by default to simplify the software interface. In this article, we are going to show you how to display the Excel Developer tab.
Activate the Excel Developer Tab from the Customize Ribbon Menu
To display the Developer tab, you must first go to the Customize Ribbon section. In the Customize Ribbon section, you can manage your active tabs that are displayed in the Ribbon. There are essentially two ways you can do this:
1. From the Ribbon
- Right-click on the Ribbon
- Click the Customize the Ribbon option
2. From the File Menu
- Click on the File tab in the Ribbon
- Go to Options to open the Options window
- Click Customize Ribbon to see the additional options
Enable the Developer option
Next step is enabling the Developer check box under the Main Tabs section. Click OK to display the Developer tab in the menu. The tab will remain there until you hide it again here, or re-install Excel.
That's it! You should now be able to see the Developer tab in the Ribbon. Below is a list of things you can do now that you've enabled the Excel Developer tab:
- Access to the VBA Editor menu
- The ability to record a new macro
- The ability to manage or run an existing macro
- Use XML commands.
- Use Form and ActiveX controls.
- Create applications that can use other Microsoft Office programs.
- Work with the ShapeSheet in Microsoft Visio.
- Create new shapes and stencils using Microsoft Visio.
