Microsoft Word: Removing personal information from summary

Microsoft Word: removing personal information from summary

Microsoft Word automatically tags every document with an author field, based on information pulled from the user's computer, when the file is first saved. It is visible by pulling down the "File" menu, clicking on "Properties," and selecting the "Summary" tab. A forthcoming edition of Microsoft Word, part of Microsoft Office 2007, will have a new feature called Document Inspector that will help users strip unwanted identifiers from documents.

Microsoft states that to remove identifying information earlier versions, Pull down the "Tools" menu, click "Options," and select the "Security" tab. Then check the box beside "Remove personal information" and save the document.

I check the box beside "Remove personal information" and save the document and the identifying information is still there!!! I looked at many of my Microsoft word documents that have the "Remove personal information" checked and the identifying information is still there!!!

It is possible to remove the tags manually by opening up the "Summary" tab and erasing the identifying information. However, I have hundreds, if not thousands, of Microsoft word documents and doing this one document at a time is asking too much.

Does anyone know of an easier way to remove personal information from many Microsoft word files at once for those who have word versions that are older than Microsoft Office 2007 or how I can ge the "Remove personal information" option to work?

 

i did what you said and it worked for me, did you resave after you checked the box?

 

I also followed your steps in Word 2003 and it worked, so I'm at a loss as to why it's NOT working for you.

 

Maybe this will help:

Hoping it will help.

 

Thanks. I downloaded and installed Office 2003/XP Add-in: Remove Hidden Data. I went to the /program files/Microsoft Office/Remove Hidden Data Tool/ folder, select PROPFIX application, select the folder containing the office documents I want cleaned of personal info and hit start. I checked the properties of some of the microsoft word documents contained in the folder where hidden date was supposed to be removed and the Title, Author, Company information is still there. This hidden data was not removed. Or is hidden data something other than the personal information contained in the document properties? I probably wanted the hidden data removed and still want the personal information contained in the document properties removed. How do I see the hidden data?

 

I just ran PROPFIX again. It said it was gathering Office 97 documents to clear hidden data but the download said it was for Office 2003/XP. Can't I get a break? What's am I doing wrong?