Remove hidden data from Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files

Before you send a file outside your organization, see what it carries: author, last modified by, company, comments, tracked changes, document properties. Then download a clean copy. Nothing is uploaded; it all happens in your browser.

What to remove Document properties and personal info (author, last modified by, company, dates, custom fields, preview thumbnail) Comments (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and annotations (PDF) Tracked changes in Word files: Replace author names on remaining Word comments and tracked changes with “Author” Revision ids in Word files Camera and GPS data in photos embedded in Office files

Accepting or rejecting changes edits the text of your document. The report below shows what was found and what is left.

Drop files here

.docx, .xlsx, .pptx and .pdf. Free: up to 5 files at a time. Hexloom Pro: unlimited, whole folders, zip.

Removes the fields listed on this page; not a guarantee that no identifying information remains.

What gets removed, and what stays

Removed (each option is yours to switch off)

All Office files: author, last modified by, title, subject, keywords, description, category, created, modified and last-printed dates; company, manager, template path, total editing time, hyperlink base; custom document properties; the preview thumbnail; custom XML data parts (unless a Word content control is bound to them); camera, GPS and other metadata inside embedded JPG, PNG and WebP photos.
Word: comments and the reviewer list; the attached-template path; revision ids; tracked changes accepted or rejected if you choose; author names on whatever stays, replaced with “Author”.
Excel: notes and threaded comments with their people list; the folder path Excel saved the workbook from.
PowerPoint: comments and comment authors.
PDF: the Info fields (author, creator, producer, title, subject, keywords, dates, custom fields), the XMP metadata block, application private data, the file id, comments and annotations (links and form fields stay), and leftover objects from earlier saves, because the file is rewritten from what is still used.

Not removed

Anything visible: names in the body text, headers, footers, signature blocks, watermarks, text inside images, and the file name.
Hidden sheets, hidden rows and columns, hidden slides, speaker notes and hidden text. The report lists them; they are content, so you decide.
Word document variables (the report lists them), the date and time stamped on each tracked change you leave in, and in Office files the application name and version plus any page, slide, word or character counts the app stored.
Embedded files and objects, PDF attachments, macros, links to local file paths (listed in the report), images inside PDFs, and photos in formats other than JPG, PNG and WebP.
Digital signatures stay in the file but stop validating, because cleaning changes the file. The report warns you first.
Password-protected files and the old .doc, .xls and .ppt formats are not supported.

Guides

Need more than 5 at a time?

Hexloom Pro is one subscription, $29 a year or $4 a month, that unlocks unlimited files per batch, whole-folder drop and a zip download here and in every Hexloom tool. See Hexloom Pro. Cleaning up to 5 files at a time stays free.

FAQ

Is my file uploaded anywhere?

No. The page reads the file in your browser and builds the clean copy there. Open your browser’s Network tab, drop a file, and you will see no upload of your file. Two small requests to hexloomlabs.com exist, and neither carries file data: when a batch is cleaned, the page sends one anonymous usage count (tool name and page path only); and for Pro, if you drop more than 5 files, a folder, or ask for a zip, the page asks whether you have a Pro subscription.

Will the clean copy still open in Word, Excel, PowerPoint or a PDF viewer?

We test sample files of each type by opening the clean copy in LibreOffice and re-reading it, but we cannot test every file in every version of Office. Keep your original, and open the copy before you send it.

Does it make a file anonymous?

No. It removes the fields listed above and shows you what is left. Names written into the text, the file name and anything else on the “not removed” list are still there, so read the copy before you send it.

Why does it show tracked changes but not accept them by default?

Accepting or rejecting changes edits the document’s text, so it is a choice you make, not something done silently. Pick Accept or Reject in the options and the report updates.