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All confusables

Personal / Personnel

Different meanings

Personal relates to an individual or private matter; personnel means employees or staff collectively.

Personal

Use when

You mean private, individual or relating to a particular person.

Example

“Do not store personal information in the shared folder.”

Personnel

Use when

You mean the people employed by an organisation or assigned to a function.

Example

“Authorised personnel may enter the control room.”

Quick check

authorised personal, personnel information, a personnel

Source checked 2026-08-11 (opens in a new tab)