Activating and Using the Developer Tab in Excel 2010

The “Developer” tab is not shown in the ribbon/toolbar, by default, in Excel. I use Developer to write macros and program in VBA. Macros are programs which consist of keystrokes that you do repetitively and tend to get tired of re-doing. So, you can record a macro consisting of commonly used keystrokes. Then, with the push of a single key, the series of keystrokes will be automatically performed. In addition, VBA allows us to write programs in Visual Basic which are embedded within the Excel spreadsheet. This is a very powerful and relatively easy to learn tool which makes the spreadsheet a powerful data processor. We can do calculations, arrange/graph data, and much more. Macros and VBA programming will be covered in future hubs. This one simply gets us ready to work with them by setting up the Developer tab. Steps as follows, refer to diagram:

1. File --> Options (click)

2. Customize Ribbon (click)

3. Check the “Developer” box and click “OK” at bottom. (“OK” not shown in my diagram, but it will be there. Can’t miss it.)

4. You will now see “Developer” tab. Click it.

5. Section dealing with macros and VBA (Visual Basic) is now visible.