Removing Hidden Personal Information From a Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 15, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2002 and 2003

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:

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

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

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.)
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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Renaming a Toolbar

Word allows you to create custom toolbars that can speed how you work with various tools and macros. When you first ...

Discover More

Finding Formatted Bulleted Paragraphs

Want to find the bulleted paragraphs within a large document? Word doesn't have a built-in way to search for this ...

Discover More

Creating a Bar Chart for Temperatures

Excel can create a large variety of charts, but sometimes it can take some real creativity to get exactly the chart you ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (menu)

Determining the Length of a Non-Document Text File

If you use a macro to create and work with text files, you can find out the length of those files using a simple command. ...

Discover More

Specifying a Backup Location

Backup files created by Word are stored in the same folder in which the document is located. If you want them stored in a ...

Discover More

Files Opening Slowly If Many Files Exist

Managing large numbers of documents in Word can lead to some interesting challenges. One potential challenge is that your ...

Discover More

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

View most recent newsletter.

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}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) 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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is seven less than 8?

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.