When we use Microsoft Word documents, hidden metadata are created without our knowledge.
These metadata values can contain timestamps of file creation or modification, the name of the author and company, the number of revisions made, etc.
It is essential to remove Word document metadata before sending them to someone and on the Internet.
This article will list the different methods you can use to delete metadata from MS Word documents when using a Mac computer (e.g., MacBook, iMac, etc.).
How to Remove Metadata from a Microsoft Word document using a Mac?
Here are the three (3) ways to clear metadata from Word files on a Mac.
Method 1. Using Online Metadata Removal

If your document is not sensitive and you do not want to remove document metadata through Settings or use third-party tools manually, then uploading your Word/Excel to an online metadata removal service is suitable.
Aspose Online Metadata Editor is an online service that requires you to upload your Word document. It will allow you to remove all the metadata values or edit and change a portion.
You can edit metadata in docx, doc, docm, dotx, dot, rtf, and pdf formats. After editing, you can save them to PDF, JPEG, or HTML formats.
For security reasons, all users’ uploaded files are deleted from the company’s servers after 24 hours, and the download links will not work anymore.
Method 2. Using Microsoft Office for Mac
Since you are using a Mac, you will use the Microsoft Office for Mac version to open your Word documents.
This method is the easiest and fastest to delete all metadata from Word files.
- Open the Word document.
- Go to Tools > Protect Document

- Tick the box that says “Remove personal information from this file on save” and click <OK>.

All the metadata from the Word document had been removed.
Method 3. Using Microsoft Office Built-in Metadata Editor

Sometimes you want to remove metadata by replacing it with your own values. You can add and remove the author name, timestamps, companies, etc.
This method is suitable for your needs.
You can easily edit the metadata within the Microsoft Word/Excel document’s settings.
If you are using Office for Mac, open your Word or Excel document, go to the <File> tab, choose <Properties>, and select <Summary>.
You can add or remove metadata such as author, company, comments, etc.
If you are using Office for Windows, open your Word or Excel document, click on the <File> tab, choose <Info>, and select <Remove> or <Edit> on the metadata values.
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Install a Metadata Viewer for Mac
You should install a metadata viewer on your Mac to ensure all metadata has been removed after deletion.
You can either use ExifTool (command-line) or Metadata2Go (web-based)
ExifTool
ExifTool by Phil Harvey is a highly-regarded tool for viewing metadata using a Mac.
Just download the DMG file and double-click to install it.
- Open the Terminal app (type “terminal” in the magnifying glass icon on the top-right)
- Navigate to your folder directory where the file resides. For example;
cd Desktop
- Run the command <exiftool> and point to the file
exiftool Sample.docx
- The full metadata will be displayed on the Terminal view.
Metadata2Go
If the Word document is not considered sensitive, you can upload it to Metadata2Go and instantly view all the metadata from the document.
The free web-based service allows uploading images, documents, videos, audio, and PDF files.