How to Minimize Metadata in Microsoft Word 2000 Documents

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This article explains various methods that you can use to minimize the amount of metadata in your Word documents.

Whenever you create, open, or save a Word document, it creates metadata. Metadata is used for a variety of purposes to enhance the editing, viewing, filing, and retrieval of Office documents.

Here are some examples of metadata that may be stored in your documents: 

  • Your name 
  • Your initials 
  • Your company or organization name 
  • The name of your computer 
  • The name of the network server or hard disk where you saved the document 
  • Other file properties and summary information
  • Non-visible portions of embedded OLE objects 
  • The names of previous document authors 
  • Document revisions 
  • Document versions 
  • Template information 
  • Hidden text
  • Comments

Metadata is created in a variety of ways in Word documents. As a result, there is no single method to remove all such content from your documents. The following sections describe areas where metadata may be saved in Word documents.