Removing Hidden Personal Information From a Document

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated June 6, 2015)

In the past, Microsoft has come under fire because Word maintains quite a bit of identifiable information with each document. This information is not normally visible, but with a little bit of sleuthing, someone could locate the information. For example, the name of a document's original author is saved with the document, but is hidden. Looking at the document file using a program besides Word allows someone to quickly locate the author's name. The problem, of course, is that you may not want this information disclosed.

Beginning with Word 2002, Microsoft finally provided a way for you to stop personal information from being saved with a file. To make sure personal information is not saved with a document, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Security tab is displayed. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The Security tab of the Options dialog box.

  3. Select the Remove Personal Information From This File On Save check box. (In Word 2003, the option is called Remove Personal Information From File Properties on Save.)
  4. Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1574) applies to Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Using Subentries in an AutoMark File

If you have a large document and need to create a complicated index, an AutoMark file can make your life much easier. ...

Discover More

Finding the Previous Work Day

Simple math will tell you what the previous day is (just subtract 1 from today's date). What if you want to know the date ...

Discover More

Searching for Non-Black Text

Searching for text having (or not having) specific formatting is generally pretty easy. It is more difficult to search ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Saving Document Versions

Documents often go through several versions during development. For this reason, Word provides a feature that allows you ...

Discover More

Problems Opening Documents from Explorer

Windows Explorer is a great way to browse through the files available on your system. If you see a document file you want ...

Discover More

Too Many Temporary Files

Word, as it operates, creates lots of temporary files on your system. Here are some ideas for dealing with that plethora ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 9 - 6?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.