Short answer
What you need to know
Preserve the original. Review metadata, comments, revisions, properties, hidden content, attachments, and links in the creating application; remove only what you understand, save a new copy, and inspect the exported result again.
Why cleanup should be deliberate
Metadata may identify authors, organizations, software, file paths, editing dates, or workflow steps. Comments and revisions can reveal discussions or removed text.
Some metadata supports accessibility, authenticity, records management, or collaboration. Removing everything can damage useful information.
A format-neutral cleanup workflow
Keep an unchanged original and make a clearly named working copy.
Resolve or remove comments and tracked changes intentionally; do not merely hide markup.
Review properties, headers, footers, links, attachments, objects, and hidden rows, sheets, or text. Use the application's inspection feature, export, reopen, and inspect the result.
Use scan results as a checklist
A before-and-after scan can help confirm identified elements no longer appear. A clean report is not a guarantee that every kind of sensitive data was removed.
Important limitation
Verify important findings
Cleanup differs among PDF, Word, Excel, and third-party applications. Regulated, legal, or sensitive releases should follow an approved organizational process.
Further reading
Authoritative references
These primary sources support the concepts and reference information in this guide. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement of Hidden Word Scanner.