Remove Metadata from Word (DOCX) Files
Delete author name, company, revision history, creation date and all hidden metadata from your Word documents — free, instant and secure
What Metadata Does a Word DOCX File Contain?
A DOCX file is a ZIP archive containing XML files. Two of those files — docProps/core.xml and docProps/app.xml — store extensive metadata that is invisible in the Word interface but readable by anyone with the file.
Core properties include: the name of the person who originally created the document (from their Office account); the name of the person who last saved it; the document title, subject and keywords; the date and time the document was first created; the date and time it was last modified; and a revision counter that tracks how many times the file has been saved.
Extended properties include: the name and version of the application used to create the document (e.g. "Microsoft Office Word 2019"); the template the document is based on (which can reveal internal company template names); total editing time in minutes; and word, character, paragraph and line counts.
The revision count is particularly revealing. A document saved thousands of times suggests a heavily-worked draft. A document with an author name different from the sender's suggests ghostwriting. In legal, financial and journalistic contexts, this metadata has been used to identify document authors and establish timelines.
When Should You Clean DOCX Metadata?
- Legal submissions — author and revision data in DOCX files has been subpoenaed in litigation to prove who wrote a document and when
- Business proposals and RFPs — company name and template info can reveal your organisation's internal structure or tools to competitors
- Journalism and whistleblowing — document author fields have been used to identify anonymous sources
- Academic submissions — anonymised peer review is undermined if the author field contains a real name
Frequently Asked Questions
What metadata does a Word DOCX file contain?
DOCX files store author name, last-modified-by, company name, document title, creation and modification dates, revision count, total editing time, application name and version, and template name. All are hidden from normal view but readable by anyone with the file.
Does removing metadata affect the document content?
No. MetaScrub removes only the properties XML files from the DOCX container. Text, images, tables, styles, fonts and all formatting are completely unchanged.
Does "Save As" remove DOCX metadata?
No. "Save As" in Microsoft Word preserves all metadata. To clean metadata in Word you must use the Document Inspector (File → Info → Inspect Document). MetaScrub does this automatically and is simpler.