THE DOCUMENT INSPECTOR IN EXCEL FINDS HOW TO

Go to File | Info | Check for Issues | Inspect Document. Metadata, Microsoft SharePoint properties, custom properties, and other content information.Document Properties and Personal Information.Like Word, Excel and PowerPoint collect data on: You inspect and remove the same way with the Document Inspector. You can now send that file without fear that it is revealing your inner most document secrets, but you might want to take it one step further if the document has ever been shared, or you have cropped images! (See below).ĭocument Properties in Excel and PowerPointīoth these programs use the same method for collecting data about your file but because of their diverse purposes, track some different information. Click Reinspect to ensure it is gone or remove other information. If you want that data deleted, click the Remove All button. The same list displays again with the requested data flagged with a red exclamation mark and a list of the information found. Leave them all checked and click the Inspect button at the bottom of the dialog box.The Document Inspector displays where you can choose what content to check for.Click Inspect Document under the Check for Issues dropdown arrow.Click the File tab and ensure Info is selected.Let’s look at all the document and personal information being collected:

Note: Previously you could display the Document Panel from Advanced Properties directly at the top of your document and fill in the property tags there.

THE DOCUMENT INSPECTOR IN EXCEL FINDS HOW TO

The Custom tab is where you can add properties from the list such as Department or Editor or create your own.Īs mentioned, you may want to utilize these properties for various reasons but, for now, we’ll just concentrate on what Word is collecting and tracking, and how to get rid of the information, if needed.

For example, if you added a Title in the Title tab, it will appear here.

The Contents tab pulls document properties from fields.

Statistics tab contains some file details but adds personal data about the construction of the file.The Summary tab is where you can choose to add your own information to identify and describe the document.The General tab contains the information you would see with the Details view in a directory.The Advanced Properties dialog box will display with five tabs that collect different data: Let’s go one step further…At the top of the Properties column (in either screen), click the dropdown arrow and then click Advanced Properties button: There are also several fields where you, the user, can enter details to identify the file for searching and clarity. If you click the link for Show All Properties at the bottom of the screen, you see more information is revealed such as Company and Manager (shown on the screenshot on the right). Much of the data is what you would expect to see if you were looking at the file in a directory, but note there are fields such as Total Editing Time, Author, Last Modified, Last Printed (and by whom). Might want to create and save a copy of the document before you inspect, remove and send, because it may remove elements that you want to keep in your original.Īs you work, here is what starts to accumulate about your document and you (or the user who is working on it).Ĭlick File tab to display the Info screen (Backstage) with the Properties of the current document (left screenshot): NOTE: Document Inspector tends to be an all or nothing thing. On the other hand, if this is confidential or going to another department, or worse yet, to a client or outside organization, there could be a problem Houston! If the document is not leaving your computer or office, it may not be an issue to have unexpected details revealed about the creation path and timeframe for editing, how many revisions and more. There are positive uses for this information and even for creating our own custom Document Properties, but we’ll cover that in a future blog as this is about protecting your information in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. We have enough to handle just getting the document to be correct and look the way we want to present it without worrying about broadcasting sensitive data! This blog reveals how to inspect and remove sensitive document properties with Document Inspector. It may come as a shock to some just how much information Microsoft collects in Document Properties during the creation of a file.

The document inspector in excel finds