Office Document Inspector & Metadata Remover

What it finds. In all three formats: the core properties (author, last modified by, title, subject, keywords, description, category, status, revision, created, modified and last-printed dates), the application properties (company, manager, template, hyperlink base, editing time, the list of sheet names or slide titles), custom properties, the preview thumbnail and custom XML parts. In Word: comments with author and date, the authors of tracked insertions, deletions, moves and format changes, and the people list. In Excel: hidden and very hidden sheets (very hidden sheets cannot be unhidden from Excel\'s normal menu), hidden defined names, cell comments and threaded comments, and links to other workbooks. In PowerPoint: comment authors and comments, and the text of speaker notes.

What it removes. Document properties (core, application and custom) are cleared, the thumbnail is removed, tracked-change authors and comment authors are replaced by "Author", and you can choose to remove comments altogether (together with their markers in the text, their relationships and their content-type entries) and to empty the speaker notes. Dates can be kept. Custom XML parts can be removed on request. Hidden sheets, tracked changes themselves and links to other workbooks are reported but left alone, because removing them can break formulas or change the content; remove them in Excel or Word if they must not be shared.

How the file is written. Office files are ZIP packages of XML parts joined by relationships (ECMA-376 / ISO/IEC 29500). The tool edits the XML parts, keeps the relationships and content types consistent, and checks the package before offering it: every relationship target and every content-type entry must exist and every part must be well-formed. The cleaned copy is then read again and the tool reports how many properties with content remain. Files with macros (.docm, .xlsm, .pptm), password-protected files and the old binary formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt) are refused with an explanation.

Digital signatures. A signed document is changed by cleaning, so its signature becomes invalid; the tool warns when a signature is present.

.docx, .xlsx and .pptx files up to 100 MB without macros and without a password. Output: the same format. Not supported: .doc, .xls, .ppt (old binary files), macro-enabled files (.docm, .xlsm, .pptm), password-protected files, OpenDocument files and PDFs (use the PDF Metadata Viewer & Remover for PDFs).

1. Drop a .docx, .xlsx or .pptx file onto the box. The report appears at once.
2. Read what the file contains: properties, comments, people, hidden sheets, notes, thumbnail.
3. Choose what to remove: properties, dates, thumbnail, comment handling and speaker notes.
4. Press the clean button, read the list of changes, download the cleaned copy and open it once to check it before you share it.

• Sending a contract or report outside the company without author names and editing history in the file
• Checking a spreadsheet for hidden sheets and cell comments before sharing it
• Removing the speaker notes from a presentation you publish
• Seeing who is named in tracked changes and comments of a document you received
• Cleaning application properties such as company and manager from template-based files

This removes supported metadata and hidden document information. It does not anonymise a document: names, places and other identifying details in the text itself, in headers and footers, in embedded pictures (which can carry their own metadata), in linked or embedded objects, in field results, in macros or in the file name are not touched. Hidden sheets, tracked changes themselves and links to other workbooks are listed, not removed.

The cleaned package is checked for structural consistency and re-read, and it was tested with files made by Word-compatible libraries, but it has not been opened in Microsoft Office on this site. Open it once and check it before you send it. Cleaning a signed document invalidates its signature.