How to redact an Excel spreadsheet
Deleting a column in Excel is quick, but workbooks keep copies of values in places that are easy to overlook. The spreadsheet redaction tool edits the workbook in place, so the layout survives and those copies are cleaned too.
Steps
- Open the .xlsx or .ods file. The workbook appears in a read-only grid with its sheet tabs.
- Allow the scan. Findings are highlighted in their cells, and several can sit in one cell.
- Review cell by cell. Click a highlight to keep or redact it. The cell bar above the grid shows the full text of the selected cell.
- Add what the scan missed by typing it under "Always redact", or select text in the cell bar.
- Download the workbook in its original format.
Copies that survive a delete
- Hidden and very hidden sheets. They are scanned and listed in the editor.
- Formulas. A formula can rebuild a value from another cell. A redacted formula cell becomes plain text.
- Chart and pivot caches. Charts and pivot tables store their own copy of the source data, which is updated to match.
- Comments, notes, headers and footers. All scanned.
- Properties. Author, company, comment authors and the folder the file was saved in are left out.
CSV files
A CSV has no styles or sheets, so it opens in the text tool, which keeps every comma and line in place.
Sharing a dataset
Removing names does not always make a dataset anonymous. A postcode, birth date and job title together can point to one person. The personal information checklist covers these indirect identifiers.