Displaying the Developer Tab

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 1, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

The ribbon-based interface is made up of different tabs, each of which contains a collection of related tools. The tabs that are visible often depend on what you are doing in Word at the moment.

One tab that is especially necessary for advanced users is the Developer tab. This tab contains a variety of tools that allow you to "develop" and customize Word. Of particular importance is the fact that the Developer tab contains tools that allow you to create and access macros.

The Developer tab is not contextual in nature; it should always be visible on the ribbon. If it is not visible, that means you have not configured Word to display it. To display the tab, follow these steps if you are using Word 2010 or a later version:

Display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options. Word displays the Word Options dialog box.
At the left side of the dialog box click Customize Ribbon. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Customize Ribbon options of the Word Options dialog box.

At the right side of the dialog box make sure the Developer check box is selected.
Click on OK.

Follow these steps in Word 2007:

Click the Office button and then click Word Options. Word displays the Word Options dialog box.
Make sure that Popular is selected at the left side of the dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Popular options of the Word Options dialog box.

Ensure the Show Developer Tab in Ribbon check box is selected.
Click OK.

The developer tab should now be visible on the ribbon.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (6746) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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What is 8 - 6?

2021-12-30 08:48:38

Henk

In Word365:
Options, Quick Access Toolbar (left frame), Choose commands from "Developer tab" (2nd frame), select Code, View Macros and Visual Basic Editor.

2020-05-07 05:48:38

Rod

Thanks! it really helped

2020-04-10 09:34:21

Hadassa M. Sylvestre

Hi! I just want to thank you very much for these tips for Word users, it's the second time I came here this week, and it's always very helpful =)

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Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.