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$ doc-inspector --find-author --strip-comments

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files carry names, a company, editing times, comments and tracked changes that never show on the page. Bytesight shows what's inside and strips what it safely can before you share.

Drop a document, or click to choose

DOCX · XLSX · PPTX · PDF — up to 50 MB

By choosing a document you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy. Only inspect documents you have the right to.

One ordinary contract, read back.

An illustrative report for a Word file that went around an office. None of this is visible on the page.

Kontrak_final_v3.docx — 9 fields exposed

author
Jane Doe
company
PT Contoh Abadi
modified by
Budi Santoso
changes
14 tracked · 2 authors
comments
3 · Siti Rahma
template
C:\Users\jane.doe\…\Corp.dotm
created
2026-09-01 09:00
editing
5 h 12 min · revision 14
app
Microsoft Word 16.0

What document metadata reveals

› Who worked on it

Author, last editor, company and manager, plus every name attached to a comment or a tracked change.

› When it happened

Creation and save dates, when it was last printed, total editing time and the revision count.

› What was used

The app and version, the PDF producer, and the template — often with a folder path that names the user.

› What's hidden

Comments, tracked changes with deleted text, hidden sheets and slides, speaker notes, attachments, scripts and photos with GPS.

How to remove metadata from a document

  1. 01

    $ drop

    Pick a DOCX, XLSX, PPTX or PDF. It's read into this tab's memory and nowhere else.

  2. 02

    $ read

    Properties, comments, revisions, links and embedded photos are read and sorted by what they reveal.

  3. 03

    $ strip

    Identifying properties, comments and photo metadata are cut out. Text and layout are left as they are.

  4. 04

    $ save

    Download a _clean copy that has already been read again, with a list of anything left in.

Nothing leaves this tab. The document tool makes no network requests with your file or anything read from it: no map, no lookup, no upload.

What removing metadata doesn't do

  • It isn't redaction. Text on the page stays. A black box drawn over text in a PDF usually only covers it, and the text underneath can still be selected and copied.
  • Tracked changes, hidden text, hidden sheets and rows, speaker notes, PDF annotations, attachments, scripts and form fields are found and reported, but left in the file. Remove them in the app that made the document.
  • Cleaning a digitally signed file breaks the signature.
  • Document formats vary. Open the cleaned copy and check it before you share it.

Not checked: the visible text itself, text covered by shapes, custom XML data parts, and anything inside embedded objects such as charts or OLE files.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove the author name from a Word or PDF file?

Drop the file into Bytesight and press Remove metadata. For Word, Excel and PowerPoint it clears the author, last editor, company, manager and the other document properties, and removes comments and the list of people who commented. For PDF it removes the Info dictionary and the XMP metadata. The cleaned copy is read again so you can see the names are gone.

Are tracked changes still in the file even when hidden?

Yes. Turning off "Show markup" only hides them on screen. Deleted text and the name of whoever made each change stay in the file until the changes are accepted or rejected. Bytesight counts them and names the authors, but doesn't accept them for you yet: do that in Word (Review → Accept all changes) before sharing.

Why doesn't a black box in a PDF actually redact text?

A rectangle drawn over text is just another shape on top of it. The text is still in the page, so it can be selected, copied, searched or extracted. Real redaction removes the text itself, using a redaction tool in a PDF editor. Removing metadata doesn't change what's on the page either.

Are my documents uploaded to a server?

No. The file is read and cleaned inside your browser tab and is never sent anywhere. The document tool makes no requests to third parties.

What happens to photos inside a document?

Pictures pasted into Word, Excel or PowerPoint, and JPEG images in a PDF, often keep their camera data and GPS location. Bytesight reads them with the same parser as the photo tool and strips that metadata without re-compressing the picture.

Which formats are supported?

DOCX, XLSX, PPTX and PDF, up to 50 MB. Older .doc, .xls and .ppt files, OpenDocument files and password-protected files aren't supported.