How to Add the Developer Tab to Your Excel Worksheet

By default, the developer tab is not visible unless it is activated. This can be accomplished from Excel's options menu. The first a part of this article serves as a 4-step tutorial on how to make the developer tab visible. The latter sections describe the usefulness of the having the tab available.

Click on the File button to a make the Excel options button available.

In the bottom left-hand corner of the page click on the options button.

After the Excel options window appears, click on the customize ribbon button.

Lastly, to the right side of the window you will see a checkbox labeled developer tab. Click on this checkbox to have the developer tab displayed on the ribbon. After clicking the Ok button, the developer tab should appear.

Now that you can use the developer tab let's briefly discuss each section. The code section allows an Excel user to create a Visual Basic module, edit an existing module, create recorded macros, organize macros, and view macro options.

This section allows one easy access to the details and settings for all add-ins associated with you Excel program. An Excel user can see add-ins available in Excel and can also link to Microsoft to find add-ins online that are available for download. Additionally, automation servers can be searched from this area.

The options in this section relate to designing and viewing anything in the document that has to do with Visual Basic coding. There are many types of form control and Active X objects that can be inserted from the controls section.

The XML Section only deals with XML technology in Excel. This section is used for sharing and managing structured data. XML follows guidelines so that it can be processed by a variety of applications. It is used by designers to create customized data structures, schemas, and tags.