OmniDocHow to change the name of the revisionist in Word, what to do if the revision time and author are displayed incorrectly
Explain the location and timing of modifying the name of the reviser in Word, explain why existing revisions will not be renamed, and provide methods for hiding author information and displaying multiple revisions as "author".
Key points of this article
- The name of the revisionist is taken from the user name of Word. Modification will only affect newly generated revisions. Existing revision records will not be automatically renamed.
- Multiple revisions are displayed as "Author". Common reasons are that deletion of personal information is enabled when saving, or multiple people share the same user name.
- There is no unified switch to delete the revision date and author, and you need to use a combination of personal information settings, file properties, and export methods.
- After modifying the user name, you should first create a new document to test the revision, and confirm that the name is correct before entering the formal review.
- Before sending externally, check the revision mark, comment author, and author information in the file properties at the same time.
After you turn on revisions in Word, each change will be marked with the name of the revisionist and the modification time. This information is useful when teams are reviewing each other's papers, but it can clutter the review record if the name appears as the old username on the computer, or if multiple people's changes are all changed to "author". In files written to colleagues or clients, you may not want to reveal the modification time.
This article only talks about three things: how to modify the name of the revision person, why existing revisions sometimes cannot be changed, and how to hide or delete author and date information. Acceptance and rejection of the revisions themselves are outside the scope of this article.
How to change the name of the revision person? One sentence conclusion
Modify the user name of Word, and the newly generated revisions will display the new name; the revision records already saved in the document usually remain unchanged. To hide author information, you need to use settings such as deleting personal information, and check each item before sending it to the outside world. The following table shows how to handle common situations.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| I hope that future revisions will show my name | Modify the username and abbreviation in the Word option settings, reopen it and then revise it. | The revision record is written with the current user name when it is generated. |
| Old revisions still show the old name | Keep the original record, use the new name for the new revision, and explain it in the comments if necessary. | Generated revisions will not be overwritten when settings change |
| After multiple revisions, all are displayed as "author" | Check that Remove personal information on save is enabled and make sure everyone is using their own username | Deleting personal information will replace the revisionist with a common name |
| Do not want to reveal the author of the file you send to the other party | Delete personal information before saving, clean file properties, and export PDF if necessary | Author information is distributed among revisions, comments, and file properties |
| You just need to show the other party the final draft | Process revisions after review is complete, then save a copy to send | Without revision marks, there is no revision person or date. |
Before you start: Confirm these points first
First distinguish three types of "authors". The revisionist on the revision mark, the author on the comment, and the author in the file properties are three independent fields. Changing the user name will not automatically change the author in the file attributes; conversely, clearing the file attributes will not change the name of the revision.
Confirm which computer and account are renamed. The username is saved in the local Word settings. If Word is logged into an account, the display name may come from the account information. In this case, you need to modify it in the account first, and then return to Word to check. On a shared computer, if multiple people use the same Word username to revise, the same name will be recorded, and they cannot be distinguished by changing the name afterwards.
Find out if the file has saved revisions. The name of the old revision has been written into the file, and changing the settings can only affect subsequent modifications. If you need to change the names of the old revisions, there is usually no direct way. You can only indicate it in the comments or file description, or accept the revision and re-mark it after the other party confirms.
Determine end use. If you want to keep a review record of the document, keep the revisions and names, and do not delete them at will; if you only release the final version to the outside world, you should remove the revision traces and personal information before sending it. The two requirements are handled completely differently.
Do a test in advance. After modifying the user name, create a new blank document, open the revision function, enter a few words, and see if the displayed name and time are correct. After confirming it is correct, use it in official documents.
Steps to modify the reviser’s name in Word
- Open Word, create a new document or open any document.
two. Go to the option settings of the software and find the settings page of the general class.
- In the area related to personalization, find the user name and acronym.
- Change the user name and acronym to the name you want to display in the revision, and then confirm to save the settings.
- Close Word completely and turn it back on for the new settings to take effect.
- Create a new test document, turn on the revision function, enter a short paragraph of text, and check that the reviser is displayed correctly.
- After confirming that it is correct, open the official documents that need to be reviewed and continue to revise.
The location of the setting entry of the Mac version is different from that of the Windows version, and the name is also located in the settings related to the user information, and the same set of user information is modified.
# hiding or deleting author and date: deal with it in three places
To keep the file from bringing out the author's information, you need to check the following three places in turn.
- first place: delete personal information when saving. * in the privacy options set in the Trust Center of Word, you can check to delete personal information from the file when saving. When enabled, authors in revisions and comments on save are usually replaced with common names such as "author". This is why many people become authors when they encounter different revisers, but it is only suitable for outgoing copies and should not be left open all the time on the original of team collaboration.
- second: file attributes. * check the properties area on the right side of the file information page. If the author, last depositary and other fields still display the personal name, you can modify or clear them directly. These attributes are saved separately from the revision tag and need to be handled separately.
- third: revision date. * the revision mark of Word records the time automatically. Currently, there is no simple switch to turn off all dates. The practice is usually to accept or reject the revision at the end of the review, get the final content, and then save a copy to send, or simply copy the final content to the new document.
If the file needs to be shown to the other party but editing is not allowed, you can export the final version to PDF and send only PDF. Before exporting, it is still recommended to check whether the comment box is left on the page and check the attribute information of PDF.
# check item by item after completion
Before sending or archiving, it is recommended to check it item by item according to the following table.
| Check item | What do you think? | What if there's a problem? |
|---|---|---|
| Name of the reviser | View the reviser of each revision in the revisions pane | If the old name is displayed, confirm whether the user name has been changed and restart the old Word; record needs to be explained or redone |
| Revision time | Hover over the revision mark to see the date | If you have to hide it, accept or reject the revision before saving the final version |
| Annotation author | Open the review pane to view the author of the comment | If you still have a personal name, delete the comment or enable the deletion of personal information when saving |
| File attribute | View the author and last saver on the file information page | Modify or empty the corresponding fields directly, and then save them. |
| Whether the multi-person revisions are mixed together. | Filter by reviser or view item by item | If all are "authors", check whether deletion of personal information is enabled, and confirm the user name used by each person. |
| Exported PDF | Open PDF and check the body and margins for residual marks | Re-export, or go back to Word and then export after finalization |
# Core comparison
The three common ways to deal with author and date issues have their own scope of application and can be selected according to the following table.
| Practice | Suitable for the scene | Advantages | Matters needing attention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modify only the user name | Collaboration within the team, need to keep complete review record | The subsequent revision shows the correct name, and the revision history is complete. | The old revision will not change and needs to be explained separately. |
| Enable deletion of personal information | For a copy sent to the outside, the author's trace needs to be removed quickly. | Be able to remove personal names from most revisions and comments | The reviser will be replaced uniformly, and it is not suitable to distinguish the original of the modifier. |
| Save or export PDF after accepting the revision | Only the final version is distributed and no review process is required. | The revision mark and date will not be left. | If the information of the review process is lost, the original backup should be kept first. |
# which method is suitable for you?
- you are the reviewer, so make your revision sign with the correct name : just change the user name and complete the test before you start the revision. - if you are the person in charge of the file, you need to send the file to the customer or external organization : first confirm the final content, then delete the personal information, clean up the file attributes, and finally export the PDF to send. - you need to sort out the revision record of multi-person collaboration : keep the original, do not open and delete personal information, and indicate the scope of each person's modification in the document. - you need to explain to others why the reviser is abnormal : it means that the reviser is taken from the user name when the revision was saved, and the generated record will not be renamed later.
# frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. The user name has been changed, why does the old revision still show the original name?
The reviser record is written to the file when the revision is generated, and changing the user name does not write back the existing record. If you want subsequent changes to display the new name, simply reopen Word after the rename, and then make the revision.
2. After the revision, all of them are shown as "authors". Can they still be restored?
If the deletion of personal information is enabled when saving, the original name has been replaced and usually cannot be recovered from the file. It is recommended that after turning off this option, continue to collaborate with unprocessed originals and keep the backup.
3. Can you just delete the revision date and keep the revision?
Word does not have a unified switch that hides all revision dates separately. It is a common practice to process the revision first and then save a copy of the final version so that the date disappears with the revision mark.
4. Is the author and the reviser in the document attributes the same thing?
No. The author in the file properties records the document properties, the reviser records the revision tag, and the annotation author is saved separately. Check all three places to make sure there is no residual personal information.
5. Do you still need to worry about the author's information when sending it with PDF?
After you export the PDF, the revision tag usually no longer appears as a revision, but you should still check the attribute information of the PDF and whether comments are left on the page. If the document involves sensitive content, it is recommended to check it item by item before sending it.
# Summary
The name of the reviser is taken from the user name of Word and will only take effect for subsequent revisions. There are already records that need to be explained separately. Hiding the author and date should be handled in three ways: deleting personal information, file attributes and final export. Check the checklist before sending to avoid name confusion or information leakage.
