Excel saves a lot of meta data in your Workbooks by default. Even personal information (like your name!) is stored, which may not always be desirable.

This method strips metadata from several files at the same time. Open Windows Explorer and go to the file with the metadata you want to take out. Right-click it to select Properties. Under Properties, click the Details tab then select both Remove Properties and Personal Information. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the file you want to remove metadata from. Right-click on the file and click on Properties. In the Properties window, click on the Details tab then click on Remove Properties and Personal Information. You can remove information in two ways.

Remove Metadata From Excel 2016 File

The best way to remove your name and other info from a workbook is not from within Excel, but from its containing folder in Windows:

Start by right-clicking the Excel file, then click Properties…

In the Properties pane, click the Details tab, then Remove Properties and Personal Information…

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Next, in the Remove Properties pane, click Remove the following properties from this file, uncheck the box next to Authors and Last saved by (and any other info you want), and click OK…

The items you selected are now removed from the file. That is, until you open the file again! Unfortunately, you’ll have to do this each time you open and close the file, as there is no way to prevent the automatic storing of this information.

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Additionally, and annoyingly, Excel (and other software) does not allow removal of certain meta data like Date created, Date modified, and Date acessed (notice below, no check boxes next to these items). The Computer name, however, only looks like its being stored; this is actually just showing the computer currently viewing the file properties…