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What’s in the Excel Developer Tab and How to Enable it?

Do you know that you can insert a variety of interactive controls into an Excel worksheet using a developer tab? Check box, combo box, radio button, and scroll bars are some of the most widely used interactive controls that you can insert using the excel developer tab as per your work requirements. These interactive controls come in very handy when creating interactive excel dashboards or workbooks.

The Excel developer tab gives you access to some of the more advanced and frequently used functions for Macros, VBA, and Add-ins. It is compatible with all versions of Excel for Windows, including Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Excel 2013, Excel 2016, Excel 2019, and Office 365. However, it is possible that you will not see the Developer tab in the ribbon. The Developer tab in the excel workbook is hidden by default, but you can enable it quickly and easily by diving into the options available in settings. But before that, let’s have a quick look at what’s in the excel developer tab and how you can use it for inserting interactive controls in your workbooks.

Functions Available in Excel Developer Tab

  • Macros: In the developer tab, there is a ‘Code’ group that gives you access to all of the macros, including VB Editor, change macro security, run & record macros, and others that are available to work with.
  • Add-ins: This function allows you to manage both built-in add-ins and newly added add-ins.
  • Controls: The control group allows you to insert interactive controls such as checkboxes, scrollbar, combo boxes, and radio buttons in the worksheet by giving access to Active-X controls and all the forms. You can also modify VB code for specific controls, modify control properties, and enable or disable design mode as per your work requirements.
  • XML: This option allows you to work with the XML source task pane to import XML data and manage XML maps attached to the sheet for advanced work options.

How to Enable Excel Developer Tab?

  • Here’re the steps to add the developer tab on the ribbon in your Excel workbook:
  • Go to File –> Options.
  • Click on Customize Ribbon in the left pane in the dialogue box. You will find Customize the Ribbon options here on the right within the main tabs pane.
  • Check the Developer option.
  • Click OK.

Alternate Method to Activate Developer Tab

  • Right-click on any of our ribbon’s existing tabs.
  • Select Customize the Ribbon from a menu of options.
  • Check the Developer box and then click OK.

The developer tab will be visible now on the ribbon of the workbook. Enabling the developer tab is a one-time process and will now appear in the ribbon by default whenever you open or create a new Excel workbook.