GUIDE · DOCX
How to redact a Word document before you give it to an AI
Deleting names from the visible text is not enough. A .docx file also carries comments, tracked changes, field codes, hyperlink targets and author metadata. Here is where to look, and how to scrub all of it in one pass.
Where personal data hides in a .docx file
A Word document is a ZIP archive of XML files. The page you see is only part of it. Before you upload a contract or a report to ChatGPT or Claude, check these places:
| Where | What can be there |
|---|---|
| Body text, headers and footers | Names, addresses, account numbers, signatures |
| Comments | Reviewer names and internal remarks |
| Tracked changes | Deleted text that is still in the file, plus who changed it |
| Fields | Mail-merge results and hyperlink text that look like normal text but are stored separately |
| Hyperlink targets | mailto: links and URLs with an address in the query string |
| Footnotes, endnotes, glossary | Anything the author put there |
| Document properties | Author, last modified by, company |
| Images and embedded objects | Scanned signatures, screenshots, embedded spreadsheets |
What Word's own tools do
File › Info › Check for Issues › Inspect Document removes comments, revisions, document properties and some hidden content. It is worth running. It does not touch names, emails or numbers in the body, and it removes comments and tracked changes rather than keeping them readable, which may not be what you want when you are asking an AI to work on a draft.
Scrubbing a .docx with Scrub
- Open Scrub (web app or desktop app, Documents tab) and drop the .docx file in.
- Review the replacements. Add client and project names to the dictionary once; they are replaced everywhere, including headers, footnotes and comments.
- Save the scrubbed copy and the mapping file. Treat the mapping as confidential: it holds the originals.
- Give the scrubbed copy to the AI and ask for the edits you need.
- Load the edited file back with the mapping. Scrub replaces the placeholders and keeps the formatting.
Scrub rewrites text inside the document's runs, so formatting such as bold or a split run in the middle of a name does not break the match. It also replaces the visible results of fields, addresses inside field codes and hyperlink targets, and clears the author fields in the document properties.
What it tells you it could not check
Before you save, Scrub lists what it did not inspect: images, embedded objects and any link content it could not interpret. Documents with unusual internal layouts are rejected instead of being half processed. Check the listed items yourself; a scanned signature or a screenshot of an email is still readable to an AI.
Before you upload
- Run the scrub and read the list of what was not inspected.
- Open the scrubbed copy and search for one real name you know is in it.
- Remove or blur images that show personal data.
- Keep the mapping file somewhere private, not next to the scrubbed copy.
Questions
Does Word's Inspect Document remove names from the text?
No. Inspect Document removes comments, revisions, document properties and some hidden content, but it does not touch names, emails or numbers in the body. You still need to replace those.
Can I restore the AI-edited document?
Yes, if the AI keeps the placeholders. Scrub saves a mapping; feed the edited .docx back and it replaces [PERSON_1] and the rest with the originals, keeping the formatting.
What about images and scanned pages?
Text inside images is not read. Scrub lists images and embedded objects it could not inspect so you can check them yourself before sharing.