To access the Developer tab on the ribbon of an Office application, you must configure it to show that tab because it doesn't appear by default. For example, you must show that tab if you want to add a GroupContentControl to a document-level customization for Word. Developer Tab Missing in Excel - Mac I am trying to debug a macro in Excel on my Mac (running version 15.29.1). I can write a macro and run it but The 'DEBUG MENU' seems to be missing (so when my macro is killing my spreadsheet, I can't figure out why). Sep 18, 2017 Heres a very quick video showing how to enable the developer tab in excel in 45 seconds. Enable Developer Tab in Excel for Mac Enable Macros. Microsoft Excel 2016 Developers tab on Mac. Mar 30, 2018 Hi, I have Excel for Mac version 15.39. I want to add a check button to a worksheet but from searching help it seems I need to do it by inserting a control if I want to be able to resize it. I can't see the 'insert' button in the control area of my developer tab or find how to add it.
Question: In Microsoft Excel 2007, how do I get the Developer tab to display in the toolbar at the top of the screen? The Developer tab is the toolbar that has the buttons to open the VBA editor and create Form/ActiveX Controls like buttons, checkboxes, etc.
![Tab Tab](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126043065/823357630.jpg)
Last updated: October 2019
Applicable to: Office 365, 2019, 2016, 2013; Windows 7, 8 & 10 and mac OS operating systems.
Here’s a question we got from a reader:
I am trying to figure out macro development from going through some simple examples written in VBA. I figured out that some of the examples point out to the developer menu in Microsoft Excel, Word and Outlook. For some reason, i don’t see that menu item in the Ribbon. Am i missing out something? Is there any specific setting or configuration to make the Developer tab visible?
Thanks for the good question.
As we explained in the past, the simplest way to automate tasks in Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Visio, Access and Outlook) is using Macros. Excel, Word and Visio ship a built-in Macro recorder that allows you to capture a specific sequence of actions and re-use them later on.
Recording macros might be good for starters, but most probably you will be using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to write your own custom Macros.
On top of that, popular applications like Outlook and PowerPoint do not offer the macro recorder so you’ll need VBA chops if you want to automate a presentation or a mail message.
Adding the Developer menu to the Ribbon
The best way to access the VBA developer environment, is the so-called Developer tab. The tab is turned off by default in Microsoft Office, but you can learn how to set it up in a breeze.
Follow along as we setup the macro VBA development in Excel, Word, Outlook and other Office apps:
- First off, open your Office application. In this walk through i have focused on Excel, but the process for the other apps is quite similar.
- Place your mouse on the Ribbon and hit your mouse right click menu.
- Then go ahead and hit Customize the Ribbon.
- Next, go ahead and check the Developer entry in the right hand side column, as shown below.
- You might at this point choose to show or hide the different sections of the Developer tab (Code, Addins, XML etc’). Leave those checked (visible) if you are a relatively newcomer into Macro development.
- Once done hit OK.
- Your development environment is pretty much ready. Time to get started with your coding 🙂
Showing the Developer tab in MAC OSX
Microsoft Office for MAC OSX has ships tools for Macro recording and development.
If you are on MAC and would like to go ahead and access your development environment, proceed as following:
- Open the relevant Microsoft Office application, be it Word, PowerPoint or Excel.
- In the upper command bar, hit Tools
- Then go ahead and select Macros
- Now you’ll have couple options:
- Hit Macros… in order to access your presentation/workbook or document macros.
- Hit Development, to access the VBA editor
Note: Currently (Office 365), Outlook for macOS still doesn’t support Macro development.
This Excel tutorial explains how to display the developer tab in the toolbar in Excel 2007 (with screenshots and step-by-step instructions).
See solution in other versions of Excel:
Question: In Microsoft Excel 2007, how do I get the Developer tab to display in the toolbar at the top of the screen?
The Developer tab is the toolbar that has the buttons to open the VBA editor and create Form/ActiveX Controls like buttons, checkboxes, etc.
Mac Excel Developer Tab
Answer: To display the Developer tab, click on the Microsoft Office button in the top left of the Excel window and then click on the Excel Options button.
![Microsoft Excel Developer Tab Mac Microsoft Excel Developer Tab Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/0/126043065/746115675.jpg)
When the Excel Options window appears, click on the Popular option on the left. Select the option called 'Show Developer tab in the Ribbon'. Then click on the OK button.
Excel Turn On Developer Tab
Now you should see the Developer tab in the toolbar at the top of the screen. All of the Developer tab option groups should be available - Code, Controls, and XML (see below).