How to remove hidden personal data from Microsoft Office documents

Do not underestimate the man on the other side of the screen. He can find out what worked on the document do not you, or view the hidden information, which you yourself have forgotten. In this article, we will explain how to rid yourself of such hassles.

The easiest way to grab the tail of a negligent employee or student who gave his report or a term "to outsource" - to see the author or co-authors of the document. This information is stored along with other metadata file and can then be viewed by anyone. The matter becomes especially delicate position if the real performer would be familiar to the test person: an employee of the same company or a student from the same thread. Of course, a multi-storey lie finds a way out, but as it were, and then she did not come out into the light.

Banal, of course, an example, but it is on it usually pierced.

What information can leak

Microsoft provides an official certificate full kit that can also pose a potential threat to your reputation. I will give her a squeeze here:

• Traces of the presence of other users, as well as indications of the brought changes and add comments if you worked on a document co-authored.
• Discolored information contained in the header and footer, as well as the substrate (watermark).
• Hidden text Word, PowerPoint objects invisible, hidden rows, columns and Excel sheets.
• Content that is outside the area of ​​PowerPoint slides.
• Additional document properties, and other metadata, such as information about the path to the printer, or email headers.

document inspector

"Document Inspector" - a tool for checking files for unwanted information. It is convenient for both the sender and the recipient of the document. Only need to go to the "Data" and run a check. Couple of clicks and five seconds inside-out the whole story.

The Contractor remains to press the action, and the examiner - to examine the document on the basis of available evidence.

Ban your personal information

In the depths settings of office programs You can set a ban on the storage of personal data for the current document: "Program settings» → «Trust Center» → «Settings Trust Center »→« Privacy Settings »→« Parameters specific document »→« Remove personal information from file properties when preservation. "

If the item you inactive, here run the test using the tool "Document Inspector" and remove the document properties, and its author. Put down a tick to not perform this operation after each save file.

you can not call this option the universal salvation, but a basic level of immunity in some cases it still provides. The rest must rely on their own prudence, the same "Document Inspector" and good luck.