IronXL How-Tos Edit Workbook Metadata How to Edit Workbook Metadata Chaknith Bin Updated:June 22, 2025 Metadata for an Excel spreadsheet includes information about the title, author, subject, keywords, creation date, modification date, and other relevant details. Metadata provides context and helps in organizing and categorizing spreadsheets. It simplifies file search and management, especially when working with multiple spreadsheet files. The IronXL library offers the capability to edit workbook metadata without the need for Office Interop. How to Edit Workbook Metadata Download the C# library to edit workbook metadata Load an existing spreadsheet or create a brand new one Access and modify the metadata information using the Metadata property View and modify the spreadsheet data Export the spreadsheet with the edited metadata properties Get started with IronXL Start using IronXL in your project today with a free trial. First Step: Start for Free Edit Workbook Metadata Example To edit the author name of a spreadsheet file, set the Author property with the desired string of data. For example, workBook.Metadata.Author = "Your Name". The metadata information available in the Metadata property of WorkBook class can be accessed and retrieved. :path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/edit-workbook-metadata.cs using IronXL; using System; WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx"); // Set author workBook.Metadata.Author = "Your Name"; // Set comments workBook.Metadata.Comments = "Monthly report"; // Set title workBook.Metadata.Title = "July"; // Set keywords workBook.Metadata.Keywords = "Report"; // Read the creation date of the excel file DateTime? creationDate = workBook.Metadata.Created; // Read the last printed date of the excel file DateTime? printDate = workBook.Metadata.LastPrinted; workBook.SaveAs("editedMetadata.xlsx"); Imports IronXL Imports System Private workBook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx") ' Set author workBook.Metadata.Author = "Your Name" ' Set comments workBook.Metadata.Comments = "Monthly report" ' Set title workBook.Metadata.Title = "July" ' Set keywords workBook.Metadata.Keywords = "Report" ' Read the creation date of the excel file Dim creationDate? As DateTime = workBook.Metadata.Created ' Read the last printed date of the excel file Dim printDate? As DateTime = workBook.Metadata.LastPrinted workBook.SaveAs("editedMetadata.xlsx") $vbLabelText $csharpLabel Accessible Metadata Fields Not all metadata properties can be edited or changed. Some properties can only be retrieved. Below is a list of the available properties: Set, Modify, and Retrieve Author Comments LastPrinted Keywords and Category Created and ModifiedDate Subject and Title Retrieve Only ApplicationName CustomProperties Company Manager Template Frequently Asked Questions What is workbook metadata in Excel? Workbook metadata in Excel includes information such as the title, author, subject, keywords, creation date, modification date, and other relevant details that provide context and help in organizing spreadsheets. How can I edit workbook metadata without additional software? You can edit workbook metadata by utilizing the IronXL library in C#. This library allows you to access and modify metadata properties like author, title, and subject directly. What are the steps to edit workbook metadata? To edit workbook metadata using IronXL, download the library, load or create a spreadsheet, access the Metadata property to modify details, and then save the spreadsheet with updated metadata. Can you provide a code example for setting the author property in workbook metadata? Yes, you can set the author property by using the following code: `workBook.Metadata.Author = "Your Name";` This updates the author field in the workbook metadata using IronXL. What metadata properties can be modified? Using IronXL, you can modify metadata properties such as Author, Comments, LastPrinted, Keywords, Category, Created and ModifiedDate, Subject, and Title. Are there any metadata properties that can only be retrieved but not modified? Yes, some metadata properties like ApplicationName, CustomProperties, Company, Manager, and Template can only be retrieved and not modified using IronXL. What is the advantage of editing workbook metadata? Editing workbook metadata provides better context, helps in organizing and categorizing spreadsheets, and simplifies file search and management, especially with multiple files. Does the library support creating a new workbook while editing metadata? Yes, IronXL supports both loading an existing workbook and creating a new one, allowing you to edit metadata in both scenarios. How do I save a workbook after editing its metadata? After editing the metadata, you can save the workbook using the `SaveAs` method. For example: `workBook.SaveAs("updatedWorkbook.xlsx");` Where can I download the library to edit workbook metadata? The IronXL library can be downloaded from the NuGet package repository at https://nuget.org/packages/IronXL.Excel/ Chaknith Bin Chat with engineering team now Software Engineer Chaknith is the Sherlock Holmes of developers. It first occurred to him he might have a future in software engineering, when he was doing code challenges for fun. His focus is on IronXL and IronBarcode, but he takes pride in helping customers with every product. Chaknith leverages his knowledge from talking directly with customers, to help further improve the products themselves. His anecdotal feedback goes beyond Jira tickets and supports product development, documentation and marketing, to improve customer’s overall experience.When he isn’t in the office, he can be found learning about machine learning, coding and hiking. Ready to Get Started? Free NuGet Download Total downloads: 1,510,123 View Licenses