A spreadsheet is a common way to leak things by accident, because people send workbooks that were built over months, copied from other workbooks and linked to files on a shared drive. Four places are worth checking.
1. Author and company
File, Info shows the Author and Last Modified By names in the properties list on the right. The company is stored too. Remove them with the Document Inspector (File, Info, Check for Issues, Inspect Document) or with the Document Metadata Remover.
2. The saved-from folder
Excel can record the full path of the folder a workbook was last saved from, for example a folder under a user’s Documents directory. The path can contain a person’s account name and the names of clients or projects. The cleaner above removes it.
3. Links to other workbooks
A formula that pulls data from another file stores that file’s path in the workbook, including network paths. Check Data, Edit Links (shown when the workbook has links). If you do not want the paths shared, choose Break Link, which turns the link into plain values. A cleaner cannot do this for you without breaking the formulas, so the report simply tells you the links are there.
4. Comments, hidden sheets and names
- Comments and notes carry the commenter’s name.
- Hidden sheets are still in the file. Right-click a sheet tab and choose Unhide to check.
- Defined names can point at files or ranges you forgot about. Formulas, Name Manager lists them.
A safe way to send a workbook
- Break links you do not need, delete comments and hidden sheets.
- Save the file under a new name.
- Clean the metadata with the Document Metadata Remover and read the report.
- Open the clean copy once to check that it looks right, then send it.