Disclosure up front: Purplelink, which publishes this site, makes the free Metadata Cleaner used in step 4 and the paid Mac app Outbound Veil, mentioned once near the end. Steps 1 to 3 need only Word. I read the option names below in Word 16.114.3 on my Mac on October 28, 2026, and the pages cited on the same day. This is not legal advice; your bar's guidance on metadata decides what you must do.
The short answer
Accept or reject every tracked change and delete every comment, because no metadata setting removes those. Then turn on Remove personal information from this file on save under Tools, Protect Document, and save. Then check the saved file, in Word or with a free cleaner, before it goes to anyone outside your office.
Why the Windows steps do not work on a Mac
Most firm and bar guides say to run Document Inspector. Word for Mac does not have it. In a Microsoft Q&A thread from April 28, 2026, a user on Word for Mac 16.108.1 could not find it under File, Info, and the accepted answer from a Microsoft MVP pointed to Tools, then Protect Document (Microsoft Q&A). Without the inspector's report, the check in step 4 is how you see what is left.
What a .docx file carries besides the text
- Properties: author, last saved by, company, manager, title, the template it was made from, total editing time and any custom properties your firm's system adds.
- Review history: the text of tracked changes and comments, with the name and time on each.
- Editing traces: a list of everyone who edited, and editing-session ids that show which edits were made in the same sitting.
- Content you may not see: hidden text, headers and footers, and text in white. These are content, so no metadata tool touches them; read the document with all markup showing.
For a discovery request or a contract draft, the review history is the part that can hurt: a deleted sentence or a comment between colleagues is still in the file until the change is accepted or the comment deleted.
Step 1: tracked changes
On the Review tab, click the arrow next to Accept and choose to accept all changes and stop tracking (or reject the ones you do not want first). Leaving Track Changes on means the next edit starts a new history.
Step 2: comments
On the Review tab, click the arrow next to Delete and choose Delete All Comments in Document. Accepting changes does not remove comments; they are separate.
Step 3: the Privacy option in Protect Document
Choose Tools, then Protect Document (the Review tab has a Protect Document button too). Under Privacy there are two options:
- Remove personal information from this file on save. Turn it on, click OK and save. Microsoft's forum answers describe it as the Mac replacement for the inspector's personal-information step. I have not measured exactly which fields it clears, so check the result in step 4.
- Warn before printing, saving or sending a file that contains tracked changes or comments. Worth turning on for files that leave the office. It warns; it does not clean.
The setting belongs to the document, not to Word, so set it again in each file you send.
Step 4: check what is left
In Word, choose File, then Properties, and read the Summary and Custom tabs. For a second look, drop the saved file into the free Metadata Cleaner. It reads Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in your browser, lists what it finds (author, last saved by, company, template, custom properties, the people list, editing-session ids and the names on any remaining comments or tracked changes) and can remove them. The tool page says the file is never uploaded. It keeps the comments and tracked changes themselves, so if it lists names on comments, step 1 or 2 was missed.
It does not read the document's text. A client's name in the body or a footer stays until you change it.
Sending a PDF instead
A PDF saved from Word does not carry Word's revision history, which is why some lawyers send PDFs only. It has its own properties, including the author, and the same cleaner handles PDFs. Where the rules or courtesy call for a Word version, clean the Word file as above rather than refusing it.
What I did not check
I read the option names in Word 16.114.3's own interface text and did not run each step on a test file for this guide. Menu labels can be shortened in narrow windows (for example “in Doc” for “in Document”). Older versions, such as Word for Mac 2011, put the privacy option under Word's preferences instead.
Frequently asked
Does Word for Mac have Document Inspector?
No. Microsoft's own forum answers say Word for Mac has no Document Inspector, and the April 2026 answer for version 16.108.1 points to Tools, Protect Document instead. That dialog has a Privacy option that removes personal information when you save.
Does removing metadata remove tracked changes and comments?
No. Metadata tools remove the names and dates on them, not the edits and comments themselves. Accept or reject every change and delete every comment in Word first, then remove the metadata.
Is a PDF safer to send than a Word file?
Usually, because a PDF made with File, Save As, PDF does not carry Word's revision history. It still has its own properties, such as the author, so clean or check those too. If the other side needs a Word file, clean the Word file.
Does Outbound Veil remove metadata?
No. Outbound Veil, which I make, checks the text you type for personal details. It does not open or clean files. Use the free cleaner for the file.
Related guides
- Remove PDF metadata before double-blind review: the same idea for a manuscript PDF.
- Sent to the wrong person: what Apple Mail can and cannot catch: the other common way client details leave an office.
- Before you paste client notes into ChatGPT: five checks, including the Apple Intelligence settings on a Mac.
- Metadata Cleaner, Outbound Veil and all guides.