To remove personal information from a Word document, go to File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document, select Inspect, then select Remove All next to Document Properties and Personal Information. Save the document when you’re done. This clears details like the author name and the name of the person who last saved the file.
This guide follows Microsoft’s articles on removing hidden data and personal information with the Document Inspector, Inspect Document, and Office privacy options. It covers the Document Inspector steps, what each inspector finds, what it can’t catch, the automatic remove-on-save setting, and a note for Mac users. Microsoft says the Document Inspector works in Excel and PowerPoint too.
How to Use the Document Inspector in Word
- Open the document and select File > Save As to save a copy. Microsoft strongly recommends inspecting a copy, because removed data can’t always be restored.
- In the copy, select File > Info.
- Select Check for Issues, then Inspect Document.
- Check the boxes for the kinds of hidden content you want to find, then select Inspect.
- Review the results and select Remove All next to each type you want to remove.
- Select Reinspect to check again, or Close, then save the document.
Result: The selected types of hidden data and personal information are gone from the copy. Microsoft warns that you might not be able to bring removed content back with Undo.
What the Document Inspector Finds in Word
Microsoft lists these inspectors for Word documents:
- Comments, Revisions, Versions, and Annotations: comments, tracked-change revision marks, version information, and ink annotations.
- Document Properties and Personal Information: properties from the Summary, Statistics, and Custom tabs, plus the username, template name, email headers, routing slips, send-for-review information, and document server properties.
- Headers, Footers, and Watermarks: the information in headers and footers, and watermarks.
- Hidden Text: text formatted as hidden with the Font dialog box.
- Custom XML Data: XML data stored in the document that you can’t see.
- Invisible Content: objects formatted as invisible.
Read each result before you remove it. Removing headers and footers clears everything in them, not just personal details, so check what’s there first.
What the Document Inspector Can’t Catch
- Text hidden in other ways, such as white text on a white background.
- Objects that are covered by other objects.
- Personal information in .odt files after a later save. If you save in the OpenDocument Text (.odt) format, Microsoft says you need to run the Document Inspector every time you save in that format.
Microsoft also notes that your organization may have added extra inspector modules, so you might see more categories at work.
How to Remove Personal Information Automatically on Save
Word has a Remove personal information from file properties on Save setting. To see it, select File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options. Microsoft says it’s off by default in Word, and that for programs where it’s on, it’s available only for documents created in an earlier version of Office where you used the option. Either way, you can still run the Document Inspector on demand from the same screen.
Just Printing Without Comments?
You don’t need to inspect the file. Microsoft’s tip: select File > Print, choose Print All Pages, and clear Print Markup. See how to print without comments in Word for more.
Hide Markup or Remove Comments and Tracked Changes
Save a separate copy before cleaning up a reviewed document. To temporarily hide revision marks, use Review > Display for Review > No Markup, or use Show Markup to hide selected categories. This changes the view; unaccepted changes and comments can remain in the file. Microsoft’s Track Changes guide explains that hiding markup does not remove it.
To finalize revisions, review each change with Review > Accept or Reject. Accept keeps the proposed edit; Reject discards it. Use an all-changes command only after reviewing the whole document. For a modern comment, open its More thread actions (…) menu and choose Delete comment. Older desktop layouts offer Review > Delete > Delete All Comments in Document. Deleting comments is separate from accepting revisions. Microsoft’s acceptance guide documents those distinctions. Return to All Markup and run the Document Inspector on the copy before sharing it.
Turn Track Changes On or Off and Review Edits
In desktop Word, open the document and select Review > Track Changes in the Tracking group. Older Word 2010 layouts use the same Review tab and button. When tracking is on, an inserted word or deleted passage should appear as a tracked revision in All Markup. Newer versions may offer For Everyone or Just Mine; choose the intended scope. Select the control again or choose Off where offered to stop tracking subsequent edits. Existing revisions remain. Microsoft’s tracking guide explains the controls. Locked tracking or a shared review workflow may require the owner to change the restriction.
To finish a reviewed copy, first save a separate copy, switch to All Markup and inspect each change with Review > Accept or Reject, using Next to move through unresolved revisions. Accept retains the proposed edit; Reject restores the earlier text. Use an all-changes command only when you intend that decision for every revision, then turn tracking off so later edits are not recorded. Remove comments separately, save the finished copy and reopen it in All Markup to check the result. Run the Document Inspector described above before sharing when you also need to remove hidden information. Choosing No Markup alone does not produce a file free of revisions.
Delete All Comments From a Word Copy
Save a separate copy, then in desktop Word select Review > Delete > Delete All Comments in Document from the comment deletion menu. The same command appears in older Word 2010 and 2016 ribbon layouts. If your layout exposes individual modern comment menus instead, use each thread’s More actions menu to delete it, or run the Document Inspector on the copy and remove the Comments, Revisions, Versions, and Annotations category after reviewing its result. That inspector category can also remove revision information, so do not choose it if you need to retain tracked edits. Save and reopen the copy to confirm the comments are gone. Resolving or hiding a comment is different from deleting it; accepting revisions does not remove comments. Microsoft describes the inspector categories.
Hide the Markup Area Without Removing Revisions
To temporarily hide tracked edits in Word 2016 or newer desktop layouts, select Review > Display for Review > No Markup. In Word 2010, the corresponding display is Final; Original shows the earlier text instead. To hide comment balloons, clear Comments under Review > Show Markup and close an open Comments pane. Restore All Markup, or Final: Show Markup in Word 2010, when you want to review the changes again. These display choices leave unaccepted revisions and undeleted comments in the document, and they do not prevent others from commenting. Use the acceptance and deletion steps above when the shared file must actually be clean. Microsoft’s Word 2010 guidance makes the distinction between hiding and removing edits.
Insert a Comment in Word, Including Word 2010
Select the wording you want to discuss, or place the cursor at the intended location, then choose Review > New Comment. Type the comment. In Word 2010, click back in the document body to finish and save the document. Modern comments can require Post or Ctrl + Enter before others see the comment. Check the saved comment beside the intended passage. To revise an existing comment, use its editing control or click its text in the older layout. A comment discusses content without replacing that passage; Track Changes records actual edits. Resolving, hiding and deleting comments are separate actions, as explained below.
Change the Name for New Word 2010 Comments
In Word 2010, choose File > Options > General. Under Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office, edit User name and Initials, then select OK. Add a new comment with the procedure above and check its name. These are the historical controls in our Word 2010 tutorial; Microsoft’s user-name instructions also show the Word 2010 preference. It can affect other installed Office apps and future author attribution. Existing comments keep their earlier attribution, so changing this preference does not rename them or anonymize an existing document. Preserve review history rather than deleting and recreating comments just to relabel them. Newer signed-in Microsoft 365 comments can use account identity separately. Use the Inspector and privacy instructions above for a copy that must omit personal information, then inspect the actual saved result.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I remove personal information in Word for Mac?
Microsoft lists its Inspect Document steps as applying to Microsoft 365 for Mac. Older Mac versions may differ: in a 2023 Microsoft Q&A answer, a Microsoft MVP said the Document Inspector wasn’t available in Office for Mac and pointed to the Protect option Remove Personal Information From This File On Save as the closest match.
Does the Document Inspector remove the author name?
Yes. The Document Properties and Personal Information inspector removes document properties, which Microsoft says include details such as the author and the name of the person who last saved the file.
For more Word help, see our Word editing and document tools guides.
Related: how to restore a previous version of a Word file.
Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.
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