The Developer tab in Excel is pretty much a hidden treasure trove of advanced tools—macro recording, VBA editing, XML import, form controls—you name it. Not everyone needs these features daily, so Microsoft makes it less obvious by hiding the tab by default. Luckily, it’s not a big deal to reveal it, whether you’re on Windows or macOS. Once it’s there, you can crank out macros, automate tasks, or even whip up custom forms to make your spreadsheets way more powerful. Just keep in mind, enabling this tab also means you’re opening some doors to macros that could be malicious if you’re not careful—so always review macros from untrusted sources before running them. No secrets there; security first. It’s a bit like finding a secret weapon, but with great power comes great responsibility.
To get that tab showing up, just follow these steps depending on your OS:
How to Show the Developer Tab in Excel on Windows and macOS
Enable the Developer Tab on Windows (Microsoft 365 / 2016 and newer)
- Open Excel.
- Click File in the top left corner.
- Select Options at the bottom of the sidebar. This opens the Excel Options window.
- Choose Customize Ribbon from the left menu. Here’s where you see all the tabs that can be added or removed.
- In the right column, find and check the box next to Developer.
- Hit OK. Bam, the tab will show up in your ribbon whenever you open Excel from now on.
Enable the Developer Tab on macOS (Microsoft 365 / 2019 and newer)
- Launch Excel.
- Click Excel in the menu bar, then go to Preferences….
- Under Authoring, click on Ribbon & Toolbar. That’s where you can tweak what’s visible in your toolbar.
- Check the box for Developer. If it’s already checked, you’re good to go.
- Click Save or close the window, and the Developer tab should appear.
How to Hide the Developer Tab Again?
If you decide you don’t need the Developer tab cluttering your ribbon anymore, just reverse the process. For Windows, uncheck Developer in Customize Ribbon. For macOS, uncheck it in Ribbon & Toolbar. On Windows, you can also go to Reset > Reset only selected Ribbon tab to revert to default. Just keep in mind, this setting is stored in your user profile, so it stays until you change it again—even when you open new workbooks.
Once the tab’s there, it opens up a new world: recording macros, editing VBA scripts, adding ActiveX controls, importing/exporting XML data, and more. It’s like giving your sheets a turbo boost—kind of weird how hidden these features are by default, but hey, that’s Excel. And honestly, enabling it isn’t a huge deal, so long as you’re cautious about the macros you run.