How to view, change and remove document properties in Excel

Method 1. Show the Document Panel

This method allows you to see the information about your document right in the worksheet.

1. Click on the File tab. You switch to the backstage view.
2. Choose Info from the File menu. The Properties pane is shown on the right-hand side.
   Here you can already see some information about your document.
3. Click on Properties to open the drop-down menu.
4. Choose 'Show Document Panel' from the menu.

   It'll automatically take you back to your worksheet and you'll see the Document Panel placed between the Ribbon and the working area as on the screenshot below.

As you see, the Document Panel shows a limited number of properties. If you're eager to know more about the document, move to the second method.

Method 2. Open the Properties dialog box

If you can't find the necessary information in the Document Panel, take the Advanced Properties into use.

The first way to display the Advanced Properties is right from the Document Panel.

1. Click on 'Document Properties' in the top-left corner of the Document Panel.
2. Choose the Advanced Properties option from the drop-down list.
3. The Properties dialog box will show up on the screen.

Here you can see general information about your document, some statistics and document contents. You can also change the document summary or define additional custom properties. Do you want to know how to do it? Be patient! I'll share it with you a bit later in this article.

There is one more way to open the Properties dialog box.

1. Go through the first three steps that are described in Method 1.
2. Choose 'Advanced Properties' from the Properties drop-down menu.

The same Properties dialog box will appear on the screen as on the screenshot above.

Method 3. Use Windows Explorer

One more easy way of displaying the metadata is to use Windows Explorer without opening the worksheet itself.

1. Open the folder with Excel files in Windows Explorer.
2. Select the file you need.
3. Right-click and choose the Properties option in the context menu.
4. Move to the Details tab to view the title, subject, author of the document and other comments.

Now you know different ways of viewing the document properties on your PC and I am sure you'll find the necessary information without any problems.

The quickest way to add an author

If you need just to add an author, there is a very quick way to do it right up in Excel 2010 / 2013 backstage view.

1. Go to File -> Info
2. Move to the Related People section on the right side of the window.
3. Hover the pointer over the words 'Add an author' and click on them.
4. Type in an author's name in the field that appears.
5. Click anywhere in the Excel window and the name will be automatically saved.

You can add as many authors as there are working on the document. This quick method can be also used for changing the title or adding a tag or a category to the document.

Change the default author name

By default, the document author name in Excel is your Windows username, but this might not properly represent you. In this case you should change the default author name so that Excel will use your proper name later on.

1. Click on the File tab in Excel.
2. Choose Options from the File menu.
3. Select General on the left pane of the Excel Options dialog window.
4. Move down to the Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office section.
5. Type in the proper name in the field next to User name.
6. Click 'OK'.

Define custom properties

I've already mentioned that you can define additional properties for your Excel document. Follow the steps below to make it real.

1. Navigate to File -> Info
2. Click on Properties on the right side of the window.
3. Select 'Advanced Properties' from the drop-down list.
4. Click on the Custom tab in the Properties dialog box that appears on your screen.
5. Choose a name for the custom property from the suggested list or type in a unique one in the Name field.
6. Select the data type for the property from the Type drop-down list.
7. Type in a value for the property in the Value field.
8. Press the Add button as shown below.

   Note: The value format must meet your choice in the Type list. It means if the chosen data type is Number, you have to type in a number in the Value field. Values that don't match the property type are saved as text.

9. After you add a custom property you can see it in the Properties field. Then click 'OK'.

If you click on the custom property in the Properties field and then press Delete -> OK, your just-added custom property will disappear.

Change other document properties

If you need to change other metadata, except the author's name, title, tags and categories, you have to do it either in the Document Panel or in the Properties dialog box.

• In case the Document Panel is open in your worksheet,you just need to set the cursor in the field you want to edit and enter the necessary information.
• If you've already opened the Properties dialog box, switch to the Summary tab and add or update the information in the fields, click OK.

When you get back to the spreadsheet, any changes you made will be automatically saved.

Make the Document Inspector work

The Document Inspector is actually used for checking the document for hidden data or personal information, but it can help you to remove the properties that you aren't going to share with others.

1. Navigate to File -> Info.
2. Find the Prepare for Sharing section. In Excel 2013 this section is called Inspect Workbook.
3. Click on Check for Issues.
4. Choose the Ispect Document option from the drop-down menu.
5. The Document Inspector window will pop up and you can tick the issues you want to look at. I'd leave them all selected though we're most interested in checking 'Document Properties and Personal Information'.
6. When you make your choice, click Ispect at the bottom of the window.

   Now you see the inspection results on your screen.

7. Click on Remove All in each category you're interested in. In my case it's Document Properties and Personal Information.
8. Close the Document Inspector.

Then I'd recommend you to save the file with a new name if you want to keep an original version with the metadata.

Remove metadata from several documents

If you want to remove properties from several documents at once, use Windows Explorer.

1. Open the folder with Excel files in Windows Explorer.
2. Highlight the files you need.
3. Right-click and choose the Properties option in the context menu.
4. Switch to the Details tab.
5. Click on 'Remove Properties and Personal Information' at the bottom of the dialog window.
6. Select 'Remove the following properties from this file'.
7. Tick the properties you want to remove or click Select All if you want to remove all of them.
8. Click OK.

   Note: You can remove any document property from the file or several files using this method, even if you have Windows 8 installed on your computer.