The Document Inspector is part of Microsoft Office and is the right first choice if you have the app open on the file: it finds and removes more kinds of hidden content than Doc Scrubber does, including off-slide and invisible content. Doc Scrubber is for the other cases: no Office on this computer, several files to clean in one pass, or a PDF next to your Word files. Neither makes a file anonymous.
Side by side
| Feature | Word Document Inspector | Doc Scrubber |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Inside the Office app that has the file open | In a browser tab, no install. The file is read in the page and no request carries it |
| File types | Word, Excel and PowerPoint (Visio has a separate Remove Personal Information command; PDF is not among the formats on Microsoft's page) | .docx, .xlsx, .pptx and .pdf |
| Works on | The document you have open | Files you drop on the page: up to 5 at a time free, unlimited with Hexloom Pro ($29 a year or $4 a month) |
| Metadata and comments | Finds and removes document properties and personal information and comments; in Word it also finds and removes tracked-change markup | Removes author, last modified by, company, dates, custom properties, preview thumbnail, comments, and in Word files revision ids; in Word files it also accepts or rejects tracked changes if you choose |
| Hidden text (Word files) | Finds text formatted as hidden and can remove it | Lists it in the report and leaves it in place, so you decide |
| Hidden worksheets, rows and columns (Excel) | Finds and removes them (rows and columns that belong to a table header, list header or PivotTable are unhidden, not removed) | Lists hidden and very hidden sheets, rows and columns in the report and keeps them |
| Hidden slides (PowerPoint) | Not on Microsoft's list of what the Inspector finds | Lists them in the report and keeps them |
| Speaker notes (PowerPoint) | Finds and removes the text, not pictures added to the notes | Lists slides that have notes and keeps them |
| Headers, footers, watermarks | In Word, finds all three and can remove them; in Excel, headers and footers | Does not remove them |
| Your original | Microsoft recommends running it on a copy, because removed data cannot always be restored | Builds a separate clean copy; the original is not touched |
| Cost | No extra charge in the Office apps that include it (Office itself is a paid product) | Free for up to 5 files at a time |
What Microsoft says the Inspector cannot do
Quoted from Microsoft's support page "Remove hidden data and personal information by inspecting documents, presentations, or workbooks":
- "This Inspector cannot detect text that was hidden by other methods (for example, white text on a white background)."
- "This Inspector cannot detect objects that are covered by other objects."
- "There is some information that the Document Inspector cannot remove, explained in the tables below."
- "We highly recommend that you use the Document Inspector on a copy of your original document, because it is not always possible to restore the data that the Document Inspector removes."
What Doc Scrubber does not do
It does not detect text hidden by colour, such as white on white, or objects covered by other objects, the same two cases Microsoft says the Inspector misses. It does not remove names that appear in the visible text, headers, footers, signature blocks, watermarks or the file name, or text inside images. Hidden sheets, rows, columns, slides, speaker notes and hidden text are listed in the report, not deleted. Word document variables are listed, and the date and time stamped on each tracked change you leave in the file stay. Embedded files, macros and PDF attachments are not removed. Digital signatures stay in the file but stop validating. Password-protected files and the old .doc, .xls and .ppt formats are not supported. Accepting or rejecting tracked changes works on Word files only. We test clean copies in LibreOffice, not in every version of Office: open the copy and read it before you send it. The full list of what is not removed is on the Doc Scrubber page. For a step-by-step look at the Inspector itself, see inspect a document for hidden data online.
Use the Inspector when
You have the Office app, one document, and you want hidden text, hidden sheets, speaker notes (text), and in Word and Excel headers and footers found and removed in the app you already trust.
Use Doc Scrubber when
You are on a computer without Office, you are cleaning a file you did not write and have no Office, you want to clean several files in one pass, or one of them is a PDF. Drop the files, read the report of what each one carries, and download the clean copies.
Drop files here
.docx, .xlsx, .pptx and .pdf. Free: up to 5 files at a time. Unlimited Doc Scrubber (Hexloom Pro, $29 a year or $4 a month): no limit, whole folders, zip download.
Watch the 2-minute demo (opens YouTube) • Add to Chrome
Removes the fields listed on this page; not a guarantee that no identifying information remains.
Free for up to 5 files at a time. No request carries your file: open your browser's Network tab to check. You will see the anonymous usage count, the Hexloom Pro licence check (only for more than 5 files, a folder or a zip) and Cloudflare analytics, plus the PDF engine's code if you drop a PDF.
Not affiliated with Microsoft. Word, Office and Document Inspector are Microsoft trademarks.