How to remove hidden metadata and file paths before you share a document

The words on the page are only part of a document. Word files and PDFs also carry information you never see on screen, and it travels with the file wherever you send it.

What's hiding in your files

• Author and company names. Office apps record who created and last edited a document. PDFs made from those files often inherit the same details.
• Comments and tracked changes. Accepted on screen doesn't always mean gone from the file. Earlier wording, reviewer names and internal notes can remain.
• Earlier versions. Some PDFs are saved by adding changes to the end of the file, so older content can still be inside.
• File paths. A header or footer field can print where the file lives, like C:\Users\priya\Clients\Northwind\loan-agreement.docx. That reveals a username and a client folder to anyone who reads the page.
• Hidden text, layers and attachments, especially in PDFs assembled from several sources.

Word, Excel and PowerPoint: use the Document Inspector

Microsoft Office has a built-in tool for this, the Document Inspector. According to Microsoft's guide, it checks for comments, tracked changes, document version information and document properties, among other things.

1. Save a copy of the document under a new name. Microsoft notes that removed content may not come back with Undo.
2. Run the Document Inspector from the file's info or check options. Menu names vary by version.
3. Choose Remove All for each type of hidden content you don't want to send.
4. Look at the headers and footers yourself. The inspector removes hidden data, but a file path printed in a footer is visible text, and you need to delete it.

PDFs: sanitise, then check

If you use Adobe Acrobat Pro, its redaction tools include an option to remove hidden information and metadata, which Adobe calls sanitise. Adobe's guide recommends leaving it switched on when you apply redactions. Without it, comments, hidden layers and revision history can stay in the file.

Whatever tool you use, check the result before sending:

1. Open the document properties and look at the title, author, subject and keywords fields.
2. Select all, copy and paste into a plain text note, to catch hidden or covered text.
3. Zoom in on headers and footers for printed paths and reference numbers.

A simpler rule for sensitive files

If a document is going outside your organisation, assume anything not on the visible page might still be in the file. The safest copy is one rebuilt from what you can see, with nothing else carried across.

That's how Ombly works. Every exported page is rebuilt from pixels, so no metadata, comments, tracked changes or earlier versions come along, and the export's own metadata is fixed and neutral. Ombly also flags file paths printed on the page, so a footer like the one above gets caught before it's shared. Join the waitlist, or if you're a firm, book a call.

For what to remove beyond metadata, see what to redact, by document type.