Remove Metadata from Word Document: what it does
A Word document remembers more than its text. File → Info shows the author and who saved it last, usually the names on the computers involved, plus the company, the template, the total editing time and the number of saves. Comments and tracked changes carry the reviewers’ names and dates, sometimes with the email they signed in with; Word adds revision codes to almost every paragraph that can link copies of the same file; and photos pasted into the document keep their camera details and GPS location. Drop your .docx files here to see what each one contains, then download clean copies. The document properties, custom fields, preview picture, template path and revision codes are removed, names on comments and changes become “Author”, and photos inside are cleaned without being re-compressed. Your text, formatting, comments and tracked changes stay exactly as they are, and the files never leave your device. Excel and PowerPoint files work here too.
How to use it
- Drop one or more .docx, .xlsx or .pptx files into the box, or tap to choose them.
- Read what each file reveals: names, company, dates, editing time, saved folder paths, comment names, hidden sheets and photo locations.
- Choose whether to keep the title, remove names from comments and changes, and clean photos inside. Open “All fields” for every value.
- Download each clean copy, or all of them as one ZIP. Text, cells, slides and formatting are not touched.
Tips
- Accept or reject tracked changes before you share a document: deleted text stays in the file, and anyone can show it again. The tool warns you when changes are still there.
- The author is taken from your Office account or Windows user name. Change it for future documents in File → Options → General → Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office.
- Word’s own Document Inspector (File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document) also removes properties, but it doesn’t clean photos inside and it changes your original. Here you get a clean copy and keep the original.
- Sending a final version? Save it as PDF too, and clean the PDF with the PDF metadata remover: the PDF gets its own author and app details.
- Old .doc files can’t be cleaned here. Open them in Word and save as .docx first.
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove the author from a Word document?
Drop the .docx in the box and download the clean copy: the author, last saved by, company and manager are removed. In Word itself you can also use File → Info → Check for Issues → Inspect Document → Document Properties and Personal Information → Remove All.
What metadata does a Word document contain?
Author, last saved by, title, subject, keywords, company, manager, template, created, modified and last printed dates, total editing time, number of saves, custom fields and a preview picture, plus names and dates on comments and tracked changes, revision codes, and camera details or GPS in photos inside.
Are comments and tracked changes removed?
No, they stay, because they are part of the document’s content. With “Remove names from comments and changes” ticked, each name becomes “Author” and the dates are removed. To remove the comments or changes themselves, delete or accept them in Word.
Will the document look different?
No. The text, formatting, images, headers and layout are copied unchanged; only the metadata parts are edited. Photos inside keep their quality because only their metadata is removed.
Is my document uploaded?
No. The file is unpacked and cleaned by your browser on your device, and nothing is sent to our servers. You can check: after the page has loaded, switch on airplane mode and clean a document.