Before sharing Word, PowerPoint, Excel or ODT files

What does the recipient need to do?

If they only need to read, agree on a static report or export from your editor. This changes the deliverable: editing, calculation and presenter notes may no longer be available. An exported PDF is not automatically sanitized. Review that outgoing file too.

Still collecting feedback?

Keep a review copy in your editor or collaboration workflow. Do not use Word metadata cleanup, Word final-copy cleanup or PowerPoint properties cleanup to preserve comments. They remove supported comments; Word metadata cleanup also refuses pending tracked changes.

For a separate review attachment, choose native inspection categories deliberately and leave needed feedback intact. Do not remove a review category you need. Microsoft’s Document Inspector guidance explains categories and irreversible removals. The Word and PowerPoint native guidance covers platform details.

Word: final text or agreed edits?

• Final editable text, no feedback needed

  Remove Word metadata if no tracked changes remain. Supported text and formatting stay; properties, comments and previews go together.

  Names in text, hidden-font text and ordinary image bytes remain. Resolve pending changes in the editor first.

• Agreed basic edits should become final

  Create a Word final copy to keep inserted text, remove deleted text and accept supported formatting edits, alongside properties/comment/preview cleanup.

  Resolve unwanted edits first. Structural and other unsupported changes prevent a copy. The final copy does not preserve the review discussion.

Native preparation is also an option. Word’s Windows, Mac and web tools differ; use the Word guide’s platform comparison and copy-review steps.

PowerPoint: notes, properties or hidden slides?

• The presenter needs notes, but finished comments can go

  Remove PowerPoint properties and comments. Leave “Also remove speaker notes” unchecked to keep notes.

  Supported outer properties, classic comments/authors and the preview association go. Modern comments or unsupported features prevent a copy. Embedded chart data and its properties, templates and images remain.

• The recipient should receive slides without notes

  Remove PowerPoint speaker notes to remove whole notes pages, their pictures and notes-master content.

  Outer properties, comments and previews stay by default. Deliberately check the existing “Also remove properties, comments and preview” option only if those should go too.

• The editable deck should exclude hidden slides

  Remove hidden PowerPoint slides. This also removes their notes and supported outer metadata.

  Notes on remaining slides and all presentation templates, including unused layouts and masters, stay. Copies of removed content can remain elsewhere.

The PowerPoint guide compares native inspection and these scopes. Native categories differ: Microsoft’s Inspector does not remove pictures in notes. Choose and review categories on a copy.

Excel: can the chosen sheets stand alone?

Sending the complete supported workbook? Remove Excel file properties keeps all sheets, hidden and unused content, saved results and cell notes with their authors. It does not check results or clear hidden data. Review the outgoing copy.

• The recipient needs an editable, calculating subset

  Copy selected Excel sheets for a supported, self-contained workbook. Choose whole visible sheets explicitly. Dependencies must be among those sheets; none are added automatically.

  Every admitted cell, formula, title and supported format text remains, including off-screen or inconspicuous content. Hidden or zero-sized rows or columns on selected sheets prevent a copy. Comments, properties and saved formula results go. Open, explicitly calculate and review the copy. There is no saved-value fallback or current-result guarantee.

• A required input must remain confidential

  Prepare a different report in your spreadsheet editor. Do not add private input sheets merely to make formulas pass.

  For broader supported content, native worksheet copying may fit. Check source references and contents; it is not sanitation. The Excel sharing guide explains native copying and formula limits.

ODT: remove file details and keep named feedback?

Keep your original. Does the recipient need editable text, named comments and pending edits, including deleted text? Decide what should travel before preparing a sharing copy.

Prepare a copy in LibreOffice

On that copy, open File > Properties > General, clear Apply user data, then choose Reset Properties. Save and review. Reset sets the creation time to now, editing time to zero and revision number to one; it does not erase every date. Review Description and Custom Properties separately.

The application-wide security option Remove personal information on saving is different: it can replace comment and tracked-change author/date attribution. Depending on version, separate retention settings let you keep that attribution. Check your version, settings and saved copy; native preparation can retain named feedback.

LibreOffice instructions checked 23 October 2026: General properties, security options and the Writer Guide 25.2 personal-data instructions. Menus and settings vary by version.

Use Cloakfold when the retained feedback fits

Comments and pending edits keep authors, dates and deleted text. Title, descriptive and custom properties, content, settings, images with their metadata and the preview also stay. These can identify people.

If that fits, remove ODT author and editing details: one ODT, up to 20 MB, processed locally without uploading. Limited ODF 1.4 support removes supported direct file author/print names, creation/modification/print dates, editing duration/count and application information. The original stays unchanged.

Need feedback removed, or no copy was created?

If feedback identities or deleted text must disappear, prepare a separate copy deliberately in your editor. Cloakfold’s ODT job cannot do that. Review each comment and pending edit; do not blindly accept every change or convert formats to hide the discussion.

Unsupported content anywhere prevents the whole copy. Property-linked fields can change displayed content or retain cached names. A native reset is no automatic safe bypass. Use native preparation with review, or deliberately resolve the specific dependent field in your editor before trying again. Do not remove all fields indiscriminately.

Open the actual outgoing copy. Check content, feedback, fields, retained properties, images, preview and filename. Later saves can recreate details. Successful processing or zero removals is no privacy clearance or guarantee of anonymity.