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How can I clear metadata (personal data) from an Excel file in Microsoft 365 for macOS?

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I want to make sure that an *Excel* file I created is purged of all personal and user metadata before passing it on, for confidentiality reasons. For Windows, there are many guides for removing personal metadata from most Office data files. Example guide direct from Microsoft: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/remove-hidden-data-and-personal-information-by-inspecting-documents-presentations-or-workbooks-356b7b5d-77af-44fe-a07f-9aa4d085966f I have also found guides for removing metadata from Microsoft *Word* specifically on MacOS: https://support.cu-portland.edu/hc/en-us/articles/360011611633-Scrub-metadata-from-Word-documents In short, most approaches to removing metadata from Office files in Windows involve the use of the built-in **Document Inspector**, which doesn't seem to exist in the MacOS versions of Office apps. There does seem to be a way to purge metadata from a Microsoft *Word* file in MacOS (Tools -> Protect Document -> Check "Remove personal information from this file on save"), but there doesn't seem to be any equivalent for Microsoft *Excel*. I am running the latest version (at the time of this posting obviously) of Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft *Excel* 16.36 (20041300) for MacOS Catalina 10.15.4. Note, I wasn't 100% sure where to post this. I consulted a StackExchange question (https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/90919/which-stack-exchange-site-is-best-for-microsoft-excel-questions) which said that I should use the **SuperUser** stack for Microsoft Office related questions, but since this is an Office question that is specific only to the MacOS version, I decided it would be more appropriate here. It seems to me, though, that an Office-specific stack might be useful.
Asked by Daniel (922 rep)
Apr 30, 2020, 01:49 AM
Last activity: Jun 28, 2023, 08:54 PM