Sending a Word file as .docx or as PDF: what each one carries, and how to clean both
Last updated: 19 October 2026
Short answer: a .docx sent as it is carries everything the file holds, whether the page shows it or not. A PDF exported from it carries the pages, and, depending on the export options, the document properties, tracked changes and comments. So a PDF usually carries less, but not nothing, and it is no help when the recipient needs to edit. Either way, clean the .docx first; for a PDF, then export with the properties and markup left out, and check the PDF.
This page compares the two for a Word document. The export options for Excel and PowerPoint, and where a PDF keeps its metadata, are in metadata when exporting to PDF.
Side by side
| What | Sent as .docx | Sent as PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Author, company and other properties | In the file until removed | Included if Document properties is selected in the export options |
| Tracked changes | In the file, with deleted text, until accepted or rejected | Included if you publish the document showing markup |
| Comments | In the file until deleted | Can be included with the markup; check |
| Editing-session identifiers (rsid), document variables, custom XML | In the file | Not what the export is for; check the PDF |
| What is on the page, including text covered by a shape | In the file | In the PDF; covered text can often be selected |
| Hyperlinks, including links to files | In the file | Can be kept by the export (Microsoft says so for PowerPoint for the web); check |
| Camera or location details inside pictures | In the file | No Microsoft statement either way; check |
| The file name | As saved | Named after the document unless you change it |
The PDF column follows Microsoft's page Save or convert to PDF or XPS in Office desktop apps, which says: "If you want to include document properties in the PDF, make sure Document properties is selected", and "To include tracked changes in the PDF, under Publish what, select Document showing markup." That page does not list everything the export leaves out, so the PDF column is what to expect, not a promise: check the PDF itself.
Which to send
- The recipient needs to read or sign it: a PDF, made from a cleaned .docx, with the export options set as below.
- The recipient needs to edit the Word document or use Word's review features: the .docx, cleaned. For comments added in a PDF reader, or for copying text out, a PDF may be enough.
- You are not sure: send the PDF, and the .docx on request after cleaning it.
Cleaning the .docx (both cases)
- Work on a copy.
- Accept or reject every tracked change, and delete every comment, including resolved ones (accept or reject tracked changes; comments, ink and annotations).
- Remove the document properties: author, last modified by, company, and the custom ones (the author's name in Word).
- Look for the less visible places: hidden text, custom XML, embedded objects and links to files (custom XML and embedded objects).
- Delete text you do not want to send, rather than covering it with a shape or colouring it white.
- Read the visible text once more, including headers, footers and footnotes.
Then, for a PDF
- In Word for Windows, choose PDF in the save dialog and open Options. Clear Document properties, and under Publish what choose the document, not the document showing markup. Microsoft's page gives different steps for a Mac and the web; whichever you use, check the PDF as below.
- Save, then open the PDF's properties in your reader and check the Title, Author, Subject and Keywords fields, and the application that created it. In a reader that shows it, look at the additional or XMP metadata too, the second place a PDF keeps metadata (see metadata when exporting to PDF). If something unwanted is still there, fix the Word file or the export options and export again.
- Page through the PDF. Markup in the margins, or a name in a header, means something in steps above was missed.
- Rename the PDF if its name says more than it should.
In the browser
ScrubDrop cleans the .docx in your browser; the file is not uploaded. For free, it lists the supported kinds of hidden data it finds, with counts and short samples, and removes properties and comments and accepts tracked changes, one file at a time. Rejecting tracked changes or choosing by author, and removing the structural kinds such as custom XML, embedded objects, links to files and hidden text, is part of ScrubDrop Pro. White or tiny text is listed for you to review, in both versions, not removed. ScrubDrop reads the cleaned file again with separate parsers before it offers it. It refuses PDFs, so the export and the check of the PDF are yours.
Questions
Is a PDF always the better choice?
Only when the recipient needs to read, not edit. A PDF leaves most of the Word file's structures behind, but it can still carry the document properties and, depending on the options, the tracked changes and comments. If the recipient needs the editable file, clean the .docx itself.
Does a black box drawn over text hide it in the PDF?
Not reliably. Text under a shape is still on the page, and in the PDF it can often be selected or copied. Delete the text in Word before you export, rather than covering it.
Can ScrubDrop clean the PDF?
No. ScrubDrop reads .docx, .xlsx and .pptx files and refuses PDFs. Clean the Word file first, export it with the document properties left out, and check the PDF's properties yourself.
Sources: the Microsoft page linked on this page was checked on 19 October 2026.
Clean the Word file before you send it or make the PDF, 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.