How to remove all personal information from a worksheet

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Three Lefts - 24 Mar 2008 00:55 GMT

What do I have to do to remove **ALL** personal information from an
Excel 2007 worksheet that I want to post to a public newsgroup where
anyone can download it? I want to make sure that there is nothing in
the worksheet (aside from the data) that can be used to identify any
information whatsoever about the owner or creator

I see that under Excel Options | Popular, there is a Name setting.

I also see a number of Paths in various places. I don't believe any of
them have anything other than standard settings. However, on some
Windows installations (I am running XP), there are named folder trees
under Documents and Settings with specific user names in addition to
Administrator and All Users. How can I easily verify that none of the
paths contain this personal information?

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Ed Ferrero - 24 Mar 2008 06:38 GMT

Hi Three Lefts,

Office Button -> Prepare -> Inspect Document

Leave the Document Properties and Personal Information checkbox checked.

Ed Ferrero
www.edferrero.com

> What do I have to do to remove **ALL** personal information from an
> Excel 2007 worksheet that I want to post to a public newsgroup where
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Administrator and All Users. How can I easily verify that none of the
> paths contain this personal information?

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Ed Ferrero - 24 Mar 2008 06:45 GMT

As well as that (I just checked) you should use the Data Ribbon, click
Connections, select any existing connections and click the Properties
button. Look at the Definition tab - the connection string may include a
path with identifying information, and the Inspect Document command does not
clear these automatically.

Ed Ferrero

> Hi Three Lefts,
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>> Administrator and All Users. How can I easily verify that none of the
>> paths contain this personal information?

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Three Lefts - 24 Mar 2008 07:50 GMT

>As well as that (I just checked) you should use the Data Ribbon, click
>Connections, select any existing connections and click the Properties
>button. Look at the Definition tab - the connection string may include a
>path with identifying information, and the Inspect Document command does not
>clear these automatically.

This workbook has nothing there, but I did discover two other little
joys:

1. The Name: setting not staying blanked (reported in another post)

2. File | Prepare | Properties | Document Properties | Advanced
Properties | The Last saved by field has my name. I was able to clear
that one by first changing the Name: field above and then saving the
worsheet. Will Inspect clear this?

I'm going to need a macro... (sigh)

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Three Lefts - 24 Mar 2008 07:34 GMT

>Hi Three Lefts,
>
>Office Button -> Prepare -> Inspect Document
>
>Leave the Document Properties and Personal Information checkbox checked.

I got this message:

The following document information was found:
*Document properties
*Printer path

What happens if I check "Remove all"?

Will I then not be able to print the worksheet?

Should I make a copy of the worksheet for posting (not the original)
and then make these mods to the copy?

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Ed Ferrero - 24 Mar 2008 09:10 GMT

>>Office Button -> Prepare -> Inspect Document
>>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> Will I then not be able to print the worksheet?

'Document Properties' will remove the Name setting you refer to in your
other post.
'Printer Path' will remove a stored path to the local printer. You will
still be able to print, but if you do print, the local printer path may be
saved in your workbook again, so you will have to remove personal info again
if you wish to post the workbook to the web.

> Should I make a copy of the worksheet for posting (not the original)
> and then make these mods to the copy?

That's what I would do. Always good to have a backup.

Ed Ferrero
www.edferrero.com

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Three Lefts - 24 Mar 2008 07:41 GMT

>What do I have to do to remove **ALL** personal information from an
>Excel 2007 worksheet that I want to post to a public newsgroup where
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
>I see that under Excel Options | Popular, there is a Name setting.

As it turns out, deleting the Name: setting doesn't work. A new name
(XXX) must be filled in or Excel just puts the old one back.

Thanks, Excel, for knowing (incorrectly) what I meant to do.

>I also see a number of Paths in various places. I don't believe any of
>them have anything other than standard settings. However, on some
>Windows installations (I am running XP), there are named folder trees
>under Documents and Settings with specific user names in addition to
>Administrator and All Users. How can I easily verify that none of the
>paths contain this personal information?

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