If the Visual Basic Editor is open at the time you are opening the file with macros, the Microsoft Excel Security Notice will be displayed: With the default macro settings, when you first open a workbook containing macros, the yellow security warning bar appears at the top of the sheet right under the ribbon: There are two ways to turn on macros for a certain file: directly from the workbook and through the Backstage view. How to enable macros for individual workbooks How to avoid these dangers? Just follow one simple rule: enable only safe macros – ones that you've written or recorded yourself, macros from trusted sources, and VBA codes that you have reviewed and fully understand. For this reason, Excel's default setting is to disable all macros with notification. A malicious macro that you run unwittingly may damage or completely delete files on your hard drive, mess up your data, and even corrupt your Microsoft Office installation. Though VBA codes are very effective in automating complex and repetitious tasks, they are a significant source of risk from the security point of view.
It might take a little digging around in the Excel Options to find it, but once you’ve included the Developer tab you won’t have to worry about it again.The article looks at how to turn on macros in Excel, explains the basics of macro security and shows how to adjust the security settings to run VBA codes safely. If you want, you can enable/disable other parts of the ribbon here as well!įinally, click OK to save your changes and go back to working in Excel.ĭo you like having Excel set up in exactly the way you like it? Try working through the 5-Step Excel Option Healthcheck and have Excel work harder for your exact workflow. This will ensure that the tab appears in your ribbon from now on. Then, ensure that the checkbox next to “Developer” on the right side is selected. Next, click on the “Customise Ribbon” tab on the left to see the detailed options for modifying what appears on the ribbon: If you want easy access to these advanced features, simply follow these steps:įirst, open the Excel Options dialog box by clicking on File, then Options in the Excel ribbon: Form controlsįorm controls in Excel include interactive objects such as checkboxes, option buttons and list boxes.Ĭheckboxes in particular are popular if you’re using Excel to create a simple checklist for your colleagues to complete. When you click the same button again, it will stop recording and save the macro so you can use it later. Macros are a set of instructions that you perform in Excel that you can save and have repeated for you automatically.Ĭlicking on the “Record Macro” button tells Microsoft Excel to keep an eye on the actions you make in the program. The most popular use of the Developer tab in Excel is for recording/managing macros and for writing Visual Basic (VBA) code.
Let’s have a look at the most popular ones: Macros and VBA code There are a few reasons why you might want to have easy access to the Developer tab in Excel.