How to Change Author in Word: Step-by-Step Document Ownership Update

I’ve seen too many documents with the wrong author name attached. It looks unprofessional and can cause confusion in team settings.

Changing the author in Word is a one-minute fix once you know where to look. The setting hides in plain sight under File > Info, but most users overlook it.

This method works across Word 2016 to 2021 and Microsoft 365, with slight menu differences noted. You’ll also clear any lingering metadata that might reveal previous owners.

No special tools needed—just follow these steps and your documents will show exactly who you want as the author.

What Youll Need

Instructions

Here’s the procedure I follow for a clean author name update without losing document metadata.

Open your document in Microsoft Word. Click File in the top-left corner, then select Info from the left-hand menu. On the right side, you’ll see the Properties panel with metadata including Title, Subject, and Author.

If the Properties panel isn’t visible, click the Show All Properties link at the bottom. This expands the view to include additional fields like Manager and Company, which might also need updating for consistency.

In the Properties panel, locate the Author field. Click inside the text box and delete the existing name. Type the new author name exactly as it should appear in the document metadata.

Press Enter or click anywhere outside the field to save the change. The update applies immediately, but you’ll want to verify it persists after saving and reopening the document—a common point where changes can revert if not handled correctly.

Click File again, then select Save As. Choose a location and filename, then click Save. This ensures the metadata is written to the file. If you simply use Save (Ctrl + S), the author change may not persist in all cases.

Close the document completely, then reopen it to confirm the Author field now displays the updated name. This verification step catches any issues where Word fails to commit the change to the file’s properties.

To prevent this from being an issue in new documents, update the default author name in Word’s settings. Go to File, then Options, and select General. Under Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office, you’ll see fields for User name and Initials.

Update the User name to match the author name you want to appear by default. Click OK to save. This change applies to all future documents created on this installation of Word, ensuring consistency across your work.

Tips and Common Mistakes

The details that separate a clean update from a frustrating revert.

Step 1 Visibility: If the Properties panel doesn’t appear immediately in Step 1, don’t assume it’s missing. Click the “Show All Properties” link at the bottom—this expands the view to include less common fields like Manager and Company. I’ve missed this myself and wasted time searching elsewhere.

Step 2 Verification: After typing the new author name in Step 2, press Enter or click outside the field to force Word to register the change. The update applies instantly, but I’ve learned the hard way that skipping this step can leave the old name lingering in the metadata.

Step 3 Critical Action: The difference between a permanent change and a temporary one comes down to Step 3. Always use “Save As” instead of the regular Save command—this ensures the metadata is written to the file itself. Regular Save sometimes fails to commit the change to the file’s properties.

Step 4 Future-Proofing: Updating the User name in Word’s Options (Step 4) prevents this issue from recurring in new documents. This setting applies globally to all future files created on your installation, saving you from repeating the process for each new document.

Frequently Asked Questions

Changing the author in Microsoft Word is a simple process that ensures your documents reflect the correct ownership. Follow the steps carefully, and you’ll update it in no time! 💡 Next, try exploring other document properties to customize your files further.