---
schema_version: "1"
id: fccb63947fdd07bace17231baa341eef3e638f5bb09533de6f1fb7a14bf8b1d8
title: Enable Development Mode
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/pages_dev_mode.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.pages_dev_mode.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: d998fdf3f4b62fcf30a1071e8c4a7d0cef90da134dbd50a1a3ebceae85ca39e4
description: Although you can view and edit Visualforce page definitions on the Visualforce Pages page in Setup, enabling Visualforce development mode is the best way to build Visualforce pages.
products:
  - Salesforce Platform
release: "264"
---
# Enable Development Mode

Although you can view and edit Visualforce page definitions on the Visualforce Pages page in Setup, enabling Visualforce development mode is the best way to build Visualforce pages.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>Contact Manager</strong>, <strong>Group</strong>, <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
          <col style="width:50%">
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        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d24312e82">User Permissions Needed</th>
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        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d24312e82 ">To enable development mode:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d24312e82 ">Customize Application</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

Development mode provides you with:

- A special development footer on every Visualforce page that includes the page’s view state, any associated controller, a link to the component reference documentation, and a page markup editor that offers highlighting, find-replace functionality, and auto-suggest for component tag and attribute names.
- The ability to define new Visualforce pages just by entering a unique URL.
- Error messages that include more detailed stack traces than what standard users receive.

1. From your personal settings, enter Advanced User Details in the Quick Find box, then select **Advanced User Details**.
    
    No results? Enter Personal Information in the Quick Find box, then select **Personal Information**.
2. Click **Edit**.
3. Select the Development Mode checkbox.
4. Optionally, select the Show View State in Development Mode checkbox to enable the View State tab on the development footer. This tab is useful for monitoring the performance of your Visualforce pages.
5. Click **Save**.