Simple Steps to Remove Identifying Information from a Word Document
As a professional, you may need to share your reports and documents with your colleagues, clients, or other stakeholders. However, you may not want to reveal your personal information or track changes in the document. In such cases, removing identifying information from a Word document can be an important step to protect your privacy and security. This article will guide you on how to remove identifying information from a Word document in simple steps.
Step 1: Edit the Document Properties
When you create a new Word document, it includes some properties such as Title, Author, Company, and Keywords. To remove your personal information from these properties, follow these steps:
1. Open the Word document and click on the “File” tab.
2. Select “Info” from the left-hand menu.
3. Click on “Properties” and then select “Advanced Properties” from the drop-down menu.
4. In the “Summary” tab, you can delete any personal information from the properties listed, such as “Author”, “Last saved by”, “Manager”, “Company”.
5. Click on “OK” to save the changes.
This step will remove the identifying information from the document properties.
Step 2: Remove Personal Information from Comments and Revisions
If you have added comments or revisions to the document, it is essential to remove your personal information from these elements too. Here is how you can do that:
1. Click on the “Review” tab.
2. Select “Track Changes” and click on “Track Changes Options”.
3. In the “Markup” section, uncheck the box next to “Comments” and “Ink”.
4. In the “Changes” section, uncheck the box next to “Insertions and Deletions” and “Formatting”.
5. Click on “OK” to save the changes.
6. Now, click on the “Review” tab again and select “Protect Document”.
7. Choose “Remove personal information from this file on save”.
8. Click on “OK” to save the changes.
This step will ensure that any personal information in the comments and revisions is removed.
Step 3: Purge the Document Metadata
Metadata is data that is stored within a Word document that is not visible to the reader. This data can include information about the author, date created or modified, and other hidden properties. To purge this metadata, follow these steps:
1. Click on the “File” tab.
2. Select “Info” from the left-hand menu.
3. Click on “Check for Issues” and then select “Inspect Document” from the drop-down menu.
4. In the “Document Inspector” dialog box, select “Document Properties and Personal Information” and then click on the “Inspect” button.
5. Review the results and click on “Remove All” to delete the metadata.
6. Click on “Close” when the inspection is complete.
This step ensures that any personal information hidden in the metadata is removed.
Conclusion
By following these simple steps, you can easily remove identifying information from your Word document. By doing so, you can ensure that your personal information is not shared inadvertently with others. It’s always essential to protect your privacy and security, especially when sharing documents with other stakeholders. We hope that this article has been helpful to you and has given you an insight into how to remove personal information from a Word document.
