Downloading from Google Docs, Sheets or Slides as .docx, .xlsx or .pptx: what to check in the file

Q: Does a downloaded .docx include the comments from Google Docs?

We found no Google help page that says. Treat it as possible: open the downloaded file in Word and look for comments and tracked changes, or check its parts as described on this page, before you send it.

Q: Does a downloaded file carry the Google Docs version history?

Google describes version history as something you browse in the Docs editors, and says you need permission to edit a file to see earlier versions. We found no page that says a download includes it. What the downloaded file holds is the document as it was when you downloaded it, plus whatever properties and parts the export wrote.

Q: Does ScrubDrop treat files from Google differently?

No. ScrubDrop reads any .docx, .xlsx or .pptx the same way. Parts or markup it does not recognise are taken out under its allow-list, or the file is refused if it cannot tell whether that markup may be dropped.

Last updated: 19 October 2026

Short answer: Google's help describes how to download a document as a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file, but we found no Google page that says which properties, comments or suggestions the downloaded file includes. So do not assume a download is clean: open it in the Office program, look for comments and tracked changes, read its properties, and check its parts. Google documents version history as a feature of its editors; the pages we read do not say whether anything from the history appears in an Office download, and we have not tested an export. Opening and saving it in Office can then add Office's own details.

This page is about a file that starts in Google's editors and leaves as an Office file. What hidden data an Office file can carry in general is in hidden data types in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Downloading, and what Google's help says

Google's page Create, view, or download a file gives the route: open the document, spreadsheet or presentation, then at the top click File › Download and choose a file type; "The file will download onto your computer." The same page describes Make a copy, where you can choose to copy comments and suggestions, including resolved ones. It does not say what a download includes.

We found no Google page that lists what goes into the downloaded .docx, .xlsx or .pptx: whether comments and suggestions come across, and as what; which name or company appears in the properties; or whether pictures keep the details they were uploaded with. That depends on the export, and it can change. Check the file you are about to send rather than rely on what an earlier download contained.

Version history and sharing in Google

Version history. Google's page Find what's changed in a file describes browsing earlier versions in the editor, and says: "To browse earlier versions of a file, you need permission to edit that file." We found no page that says a download includes them.
Sharing. A link to the Google document gives access to the live document, under the sharing settings, not to a copy. Anyone you give edit permission can see its version history, as above. Sending a downloaded file instead gives them a fixed copy, with whatever the export put in it.

When you open the file in Office and save it

Once the file is opened and saved in Word, Excel or PowerPoint, the Office program writes its own details as well. Microsoft's page Change the author name for documents, presentations, or workbooks says each program sets the Author property of new files from its User name setting, and that the same setting provides the name on new comments and tracked changes. Word also adds editing-session ids as you edit (see the rsid fingerprint). We found no Microsoft page that lists everything Office changes in a file it did not create, so look at the properties again after saving.

What to check before you send it

Comments and tracked changes. Open the file in the Office program and look through the review tools for comments and tracked changes. Delete the comments that should not go, including resolved ones (resolving a comment keeps it in the file), and accept or reject the tracked changes; then save and check the result; see comments, ink and annotations and accept or reject tracked changes.
Properties. Read the author, last saved by, company and title in the file's properties; see company, manager and custom properties.
Pictures. Pictures may or may not keep their camera and location details; remove them before uploading the picture to the document, or check the copies in the file.
Hidden sheets, rows and slides. Check them as you would in any Office file; see hidden data in Excel and notes and hidden slides.
The file's parts. Make a copy, rename it to .zip, unzip it, and read docProps/core.xml and docProps/app.xml (the Application element, where present, names the program that wrote the file); look for comments parts and for <w:ins and <w:del in a Word document; and open the pictures in the media folder in a program that shows their details.

What ScrubDrop does with these files

ScrubDrop reads any .docx, .xlsx or .pptx file the same way, in your browser; the file is not uploaded. It does not matter which program wrote it. For free, it lists the supported kinds of hidden data it finds and removes properties, comments and tracked changes from one file at a time; ScrubDrop Pro removes the structural kinds and picture details as well. It rebuilds the file from what it recognises: parts and markup it does not recognise are taken out, and where it cannot tell whether markup it does not recognise may be dropped, it refuses the file rather than guess. The result is read again with separate parsers and offered only if nothing of the chosen categories remains.

Questions

Does a downloaded .docx include the comments from Google Docs?

We found no Google help page that says. Treat it as possible: open the downloaded file in Word and look for comments and tracked changes, or check its parts as described on this page, before you send it.

Does a downloaded file carry the Google Docs version history?

Google describes version history as something you browse in the Docs editors, and says you need permission to edit a file to see earlier versions. We found no page that says a download includes it. What the downloaded file holds is the document as it was when you downloaded it, plus whatever properties and parts the export wrote.

Does ScrubDrop treat files from Google differently?

No. ScrubDrop reads any .docx, .xlsx or .pptx the same way. Parts or markup it does not recognise are taken out under its allow-list, or the file is refused if it cannot tell whether that markup may be dropped.

Sources: the Google and Microsoft pages linked on this page were checked on 19 October 2026. ScrubDrop is not affiliated with Google.

Check a downloaded file before you send it, in your browser. Free: one file at a time; the supported kinds of hidden data it finds are listed, and properties, comments and tracked changes are removed. Check a file.