Metadata includes identifying information such as as your initials, full name or company name as well as more personal information such as your computer and hard drive names, hidden data in cells and comments you placed in the spreadsheet. If you’re sharing your Excel file with other people or the general public, you can remove the metadata with the Document Inspector utility and maintain your privacy.

1. Click the “File” tab, select “Info” and then click the “Check for Issues” icon.

2. Select “Inspect Document” from the list.

3. Check each box to include all types of metadata in the inspection and click “Inspect.”

4. Review the results of the inspection in the Document Inspector dialog box.

5. Click the “Remove All” button next to each metadata category to delete it from the document.

Tip

• Removing the metadata is permanent, so save a copy of the original document in case you want to restore the metadata in the future.