4 Ways to Delete or Change the Author Names for Comments in Your Word Document

Word Document Recovery, Word Solutions February 19, 2024

In this article, we will show you 4 ways to delete or change the author names for comments in your Word document.

Now and then, we’d like to insert comments to Word documents as to make revisions. As you may notice, there is the author or user name in every comment made in a document to display who the reviser is. However, there are times when we rather have the name deleted or changed out of certain reasons.

Comments in Word Document

  1. First, if we are using a computer of someone else, then the name on this computer cannot be yours. Thus, you will need to change the user name.
  2. Second, due to privacy consideration, you want only your comments but not you name to go public. At this time, you probably want to remove your own name or any information indicating who you are.
  3. Third, you just change your name! This situation doesn’t happen a lot but it does sometimes. Consequently, you user name on your computer should be altered, too.

No matter what your case is, it shall do you no harm to learn ways to delete or change personal information on computer or digital documents, especially in an age when privacy breaches happen all the time.

2 Methods to Delete the Author Names for Comments

At first, there are 2 solutions for you to delete the author name.

Method 1: Remove Personal Information

For Example, this is our sample:Comments with Author Information

  1. Firstly, open the document and click “File”, then “Info”.
  2. Next, click “Check for Issues” icon.
  3. On the drop-down list, click “Inspect Document”.Click "File" ->Click "Info" ->Click "Check for Issues" ->Click "Inspect Document"
  4. In “Document Inspector” dialog box, ensure the “Document Properties and Personal Information” box is checked.
  5. Then click “Inspect”.Check "Document Properties and Personal Information" Box ->Click "Inspect"
  6. Soon, there will be a notice saying certain document information is found. You should only click the “Remove All” button in “Document Properties and Personal Information” part.
  7. Click “Close” lastly.Click "Remove All ->Click "Close"
  8. Now save the document and you shall see all Author names are replaces by letter “A”.

After applying this method, all comments you create neither in this document or others in the future will automatically take the author name of “A”. In other words, it’s a once for all solution.Effect of Removing Personal Information

In case you need to stop it, you should take the bellowing steps:

  1. Open Word and click “File” tab, then “Options” to open the “Word Options” dialog box.
  2. Click “Trust Center” first.
  3. Then click the “Trust Center Settings” on the right-sown corner to open the “Trust Center” dialog box.
  4. Next, clear the “Remove personal information from file properties on save” box.
  5. Lastly, click “OK” in both dialog boxes.Click "Trust Center" ->Click "Trust Center Settings" ->Click "Privacy Options" ->Clear "Remove personal information from file properties on save" Box ->Click "OK" in Both Boxes

Method 2: Use VBA Codes

Now there is the VBA way to handle the case. For future reference, it’s only a one-time trick for a single document each time so there is no need to worry about affecting other document settings. You certainly don’t have to undo the modification.

  1. To begin with, press “Alt+ F11” to open the VBA editor.Paste Codes ->Click "Run"
  2. Next, paste the following codes there and click “Run”.
Sub DeleteAllAuthorNamesInComments()
  Dim objComment As Comment

  ' Delete all author names in comments
  For Each objComment In ActiveDocument.Comments
    objComment.Author = ""
    objComment.Initial = ""
  Next objComment
End Sub

Effect of Running VBA Codes to Delete Author Information

2 Methods to Change Author Names for Comments

Sometimes, instead of deleting author names, we prefer to change them.

Method 1: Edit User Name

  1. First and foremost, click “Review” tab.
  2. Then click “Track Change” in “Tracking” group.
  3. Next, click “Change User Name”.Click "Review" ->Click "Track Change" ->Click "Change User Name"
  4. Now the “Word Options” dialog box will pop up. Make sure the “General” tab is displayed. Then change the user name and initials.
  5. Finally, click “OK”.Click "General" ->Change User Name and Initials ->Click "OK"

Notes:

  1. This change will affect all future documents.
  2. For the comments made before the change, they keep the original names.

Method 2: Use Codes to Change Author Names

  1. Similarly, press “Alt+ F11” to open VBA editor.
  2. Only this time you should paste these codes and click “Run”:
Sub ChangeAllAuthorNamesInComments()
  Dim objComment As Comment

  ' Change all author names in comments
  For Each objComment In ActiveDocument.Comments
    objComment.Author = "Test Name"
    objComment.Initial = "TN"
  Next objComment
End Sub

Notes:

  1. In codes “objComment.Author = “Test Name””, the “Test Name” refers to the name to be displayed when cursor hovers over the comment. You can change it as you like.
  2. In codes “objComment.Initial = “TN””, the “TN” refers to the initials of “Test Name”, which you should set according to the name you choose on last code line.

Avoid Your Word File Loss

With Word, we easily accomplish multiple tasks in every day work. And after days and years’ use, Word can go wrong, resulting in the catastrophic loss of files. More often than not, the built-in feature is not enough. So, a Word file damage fix tool can be a huge help.

Author Introduction:

Vera Chen is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including Excel file damage recovery and pdf repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com

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