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Remove the hidden data from your files
A file can say much more than its pages or picture show: who wrote it and who last saved it, the company, comments with reviewers' names, changes that were tracked, and, in a photo, the phone and the place it was taken. This tool checks each file, shows you what is hidden in it, and removes it. It runs in your browser, so your files never leave your device.
or drop files here, or paste with Ctrl/Cmd+V
PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, PNG, WEBP · up to 50 files · checked on your device
No file to hand?
Your files stay on your device. The check and the clean-up both run in this tab. Check it yourself
How to use Remove Hidden Data
Add your files
Press Select files, or drop PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, JPG, PNG or WEBP files on the box. Each one is checked as soon as it is added.
Read the report
See the names, dates and values found in each file. Tick the optional items, such as form entries or speaker notes, if you want them removed too.
Remove and download
Press Remove hidden data, then download each cleaned file or all of them as a zip. Each name ends in -clean.
What gets removed, and what stays
Each file is checked first, and the report shows the actual names and values found, not just a count. You see the author, the company, who left each comment and, in a photo, the camera and the date it was taken, before anything is changed.
Cleaning removes names, dates and programs, the location in photos, comments, accepted tracked changes, earlier versions and attachments in PDFs, and editing leftovers. Hidden spreadsheet sheets, hidden slides and hidden PDF layers are only reported, so you can look at them yourself.
The visible words and pictures do not change, and photos are not saved again, so they keep their quality. Read the file once more before you share it, because this tool cleans what is hidden, not what is on the page.
Questions about Remove Hidden Data
Is this the same as accepting tracked changes?
For Word files, yes, and more. Every tracked change is accepted, so deleted text is really gone, and the record of who changed what goes with it. The names, dates, comments and editing leftovers are removed as well.
Does it reduce the quality of my photos?
No. Photos are cleaned without saving the picture again, so there is no loss of quality. They also stay the right way up.
What about hidden sheets and slides?
They are reported but not removed. Taking them out could break the file, so the report names them and you can unhide and check them before you share. Hidden layers in a PDF are handled the same way.
Do my files get uploaded?
No. The check and the clean-up both run in this browser tab. Nothing is uploaded, which matters for a tool whose purpose is privacy.
What exactly is removed?
Names, dates and programs (author, last saved by, company, manager, template, editing time and custom properties; in photos the camera, the date taken and the software), the GPS location in photos, comments with reviewers' names, tracked changes, earlier versions inside PDFs, attached files and scripts in PDFs, and editing leftovers such as the folder a spreadsheet was saved in, template paths, editing session marks and preview thumbnails.
Will the file look different afterwards?
No. The visible words and pictures do not change. Form entries in PDFs and speaker notes in PowerPoint files are only removed if you tick them, because they are part of what some people want to keep.