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Removing SSN and Restricted Information from Microsoft Excel Documents

Microsoft Office maintains a history of changes in a document so you can quickly backtrack and restore your files. This functionality is a problem when redacting SSN from a file because simply deleting it within Excel is not sufficient to ensure the SSN is no longer contained in the file history.

Please Proceed with Caution: Removing SSN from your archived or current Excel documents is not quite as simple as removing the column or deleting the cell information.

The Preferred Method is to remove the data from the file and then protect the file in an encrypted location or on a secure network.

The best way to remove SSN or other restricted data from a Microsoft Excel document is to copy all of the good information (meaning everything except the SSN or Restricted Data) into a brand new file.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. Open the Excel document containing SSN or Restricted Data
  2. Select all the data you want to keep. You may need to do this multiple times for files containing multiple sheets in one document.
  3. Copy the data you selected
  4. Create a new Excel document
  5. Paste the information from the old document into the new one.
  6. Repeat as needed until all the data, with the exception of the SSN or restricted information, is transferred.
  7. Save the new document and provide a new file name.
  8. Close the original document containing the SSN or Restricted data.
  9. Use the recommended action for securely deleting files on your Operating System:
    • Windows: Hold Shift + Delete. This deletes the file and prevents it from going into the system's Pre-trash.
    • Mac: Move the file to the Trash. Go to Finder and choose 'Secure Empty Trash' and click on OK when prompted.

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