Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Changing Your Name.

Changing Your Name

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 28, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


When you first install Excel, it asks you for your name so it can personalize the registration for your program. It also writes your name into the user area. This information is used in various places by Excel, such as in the workbook properties area. If you need to change your name, follow these steps:

  1. Display the Excel Options dialog box. (In Excel 2007 click the Office button and then click Excel Options. In Excel 2010 or later versions display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  2. Make sure the Popular option (Excel 2007) or General option (Excel 2010 or later versions) is selected at the left of the dialog box. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The General options of the Excel Options dialog box.

  4. Change the information in the User Name box, as desired.
  5. Click on OK.

Changing this setting has an additional consequence: On any workbooks you create in the future, whatever you enter into the User Name field ends up in the Author workbook property. The change won't modify the Author property for any existing workbooks, including the one you have open when you change the User Name field.

If you are using the version of Excel provided with Microsoft 365, it should also be noted that changing the User Name field doesn't change your Microsoft 365 account name. That must be done within your Microsoft account directly.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (7555) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Changing Your Name.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Testing for an Empty Worksheet

If you are using a macro to process a number of worksheets, you may have a need to know if the worksheet is empty or not. ...

Discover More

Excel Custom Formats (Table of Contents)

The fundamental building block to displaying your data is the feature known as custom formats. Here is the table of ...

Discover More

Finding the Size of Individual Worksheets

Your workbooks can contain many, many worksheets. Which of those worksheets are the largest, however? Here's some ideas ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2013 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Jumping to the Real Last Cell

Jumping to the last cell in a worksheet should be easy, but you may not always get the results that you expect. This tip ...

Discover More

Keyboard Shortcut for Switching between Workbooks

When you use Excel with multiple workbooks open at the same time, you can use the ribbon tools to switch between ...

Discover More

Inserting the User's Name in a Cell

Need to understand who is using a particular workbook? There are a number of ways you can find out, as discussed in this tip.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 0 + 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.