Remove Metadata from Word
Strip the author name, comments, tracked changes, hidden text, and embedded objects from any .docx file. Runs entirely in your browser — no upload.
Free. No signup. Works on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android — any modern browser.
What Word leaks that you probably didn't realize
A .docx file is a zip archive of XML parts. Every part can carry identifying information, and most of it survives Word's built-in "Document Inspector":
- Core properties (
docProps/core.xml) — Author, Last Modified By, Creation/Modified dates, Revision number. Often the OS username. - App properties (
docProps/app.xml) — Application, Company, Manager, Template. Company name in particular leaks regularly. - Custom properties (
docProps/custom.xml) — internal tags Word lets you attach to documents. - Comments (
word/comments.xml) — review comments. Frequently retained when the rest of the document is "finalized." - Tracked changes — every insertion and deletion that wasn't accepted/rejected lives in
word/document.xmlasw:insandw:delelements. - Hidden text — runs marked with
w:vanishorw:webHiddendon't render but are still in the file. - Black-shading and black-highlight "redactions" — the text under them is still in the XML.
- Embedded objects (
word/embeddings/) — pasted spreadsheets, slides, or original source files. - Headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes — separate XML parts that manual scrubs often miss.
One-click strip
Check what you want gone, click Strip & download. The output is a clean DOCX, still openable in Word.
Files stay on your device
The whole process — unzip the .docx, scrub the XML, re-zip — runs in your browser. Nothing uploads.
More thorough than Document Inspector
Word's built-in tool surfaces standard properties. We also handle tracked changes, hidden runs, black-shading, and embedded objects.
How to remove metadata from a Word document
- Open the scrubber — click the button above.
- Drop your .docx — or click Choose File.
- Pick what to strip — every metadata category found in the file appears as a checkbox.
- Click Strip & download — the clean DOCX downloads automatically.
FAQ
Will the cleaned file still open in Word?
Yes. We only remove metadata parts; the document content, styles, images, and structure are untouched. Open the output in Word, LibreOffice, Pages, or Google Docs and verify.
Does this accept tracked changes or reject them?
By default we accept insertions and reject deletions — meaning the document shows the post-change text as final. This matches what "Accept All Changes" does in Word.
Is this different from Word's Document Inspector?
Yes. Document Inspector handles standard properties and reveals comments to you for manual removal. This tool removes everything in one pass, including non-standard hidden-text runs and black-shading "redactions" that Word doesn't surface.
Can I view the metadata before deciding what to strip?
Yes — the same tool has a View mode that lists every metadata category present in the file before you remove anything.
What about .doc (old format)?
The legacy .doc binary format isn't supported in v1. Convert to .docx in Word first, then scrub.
Related tools
- PDF Metadata Remover — same scrub for PDFs.
- PDF Metadata Viewer — inspect first.
- Edit PDF Metadata — change fields instead of removing.
- Unredact PDF — verify PDF redactions worked.