Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Embedding Your Phone Number in a Workbook.

Embedding Your Phone Number in a Workbook

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 28, 2026)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Excel is used quite extensively in corporate environments. It is often desirable to know exactly who created a workbook, particularly if it has been months since a workbook was last reviewed. Excel keeps track of non-workbook data that can be used to help identify an author. One piece of data that could be very helpful is the phone number of the workbook's author. To specify a phone number, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Properties from the File menu. Excel displays the workbook's Properties dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Custom tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Custom tab of the Properties dialog box.

  4. In the list of properties at the top of the dialog box (listed in the Name control), choose Telephone Number.
  5. In the Value box, enter the phone number you want associated with the workbook.
  6. Click on Add.
  7. Click on OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3296) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Embedding Your Phone Number in a Workbook.

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

Links to Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks in a worksheet can be helpful or essential, depending on the nature of your data. If you create a link to a ...

Discover More

Versions Not Saving Correctly

If you use Word's versioning tool, you may notice that you sometimes get errors with the versions in your documents. This ...

Discover More

Turning Off Sharing

All good things must come to an end at some point. When you are done sharing your workbook with others, this is how you ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! This guide will provide you with all the information you need to automate any task in Excel and save time and effort. Learn how to extend Excel's functionality with VBA to create solutions not possible with the standard features. Includes latest information for Excel 2024 and Microsoft 365. Check out Mastering Excel VBA Programming today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Turning Off Dynamic Menus

You may want to adjust the way that Excel displays its various menus. This tip explains how you can turn off the dynamic ...

Discover More

Calculating Monthly Interest Charges

Trying to calculate how much people owe you? If you charge interest or service charges on past-due accounts, there are a ...

Discover More

Understanding Relative and Absolute Addressing

In Excel you can reference a cell in a formula by entering the coordinates for the cell you want to reference. This can ...

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 9 - 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 menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon 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.