Metadata refers to the hidden properties or personal information stored in a Word document, such as the author’s name, date created, and last modified date.
In certain situations, such as when sharing sensitive information, you may wish to remove Word document metadata to protect your privacy.
This step-by-step guide will teach you how to remove metadata from Word document.
Note: We’ve performed these steps in Word for Microsoft 365. But you can use any version of Microsoft Word because the options are pretty much the same.
How to Remove Metadata from Word
To remove metadata from Word document, follow the steps:
- Open the Word document from which you wish to remove metadata.
- Select the File tab.
- Click the Info command in the left pane.
- Click on the Check for Issues button.
- In the drop-down menu, select Inspect Document.
- In the Document Inspector window, select the types of metadata that you want to inspect and remove, such as personal information.
- Click on the Inspect button.
- Review the results, and select the Remove All button to clear the hidden data.
- Then select the Close button.
- Click Save in the left pane. This will delete metadata from Word and save the document without it.
Note: You should know that removing metadata from Word is a one-way process and cannot be undone.
Document properties, also known as metadata, are information stored about a Word file and are used to describe or identify it.
