What Document Inspector misses: link paths, embedded files, rsids and more, with a check for each

Q: Does Document Inspector remove custom XML?

Microsoft lists custom XML data among what it finds and removes in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Its page does not mention Word's document variables, a separate place that macros and add-ins write to, so check those by hand.

Q: If Document Inspector finds an external link, is the path removed?

No. In Excel, Microsoft lists external links among the things Document Inspector finds but cannot remove. The link, with the path of the other workbook, stays until you break it yourself.

Q: Does Document Inspector find picture metadata?

Microsoft's Document Inspector page does not list it. The ICO's guidance says Document Inspector can help find EXIF information in image files. Check the pictures before you insert them, either way.

Last updated: 19 October 2026

Short answer: Document Inspector removes comments, properties, tracked changes, custom XML and several other kinds well. What it misses falls into three groups: things Microsoft says it cannot detect, such as text coloured like the background; things it finds but leaves, such as Excel's links to other workbooks and embedded files; and things its list does not mention at all, such as Word's rsids and links to files in Word and PowerPoint. Run it, then check those places by hand with the steps below.

This page is a checklist of the gaps. For a full item-by-item list of what Document Inspector removes, set against what ScrubDrop does, see Document Inspector and ScrubDrop compared. All the Microsoft statements below come from its page Remove hidden data and personal information by inspecting documents, presentations, or workbooks.

Most checks below open the file's parts. To do that, make a copy of the .docx, .xlsx or .pptx, rename it to .zip and unzip it.

1. What Microsoft says it cannot detect

Text hidden by other means, such as white text on a white background (Word). Check: the ICO suggests using Find and Replace to search for text that is the same colour as the background; or, on a copy, select all the text and give it a dark colour.
Objects covered by other objects (Word, Excel and PowerPoint). Check: open the Selection Pane on each page, sheet or slide; it lists every object, covered or not.
Shapes, charts, controls, pictures and SmartArt in hidden columns (Excel). Check: unhide every column and look again.
Off-slide objects with animation effects (PowerPoint). Check: zoom out on each slide and look at the area around it.

The UK regulator's guidance adds two more: Document Inspector "cannot detect text hidden by changing its colour or Microsoft Excel charts located in hidden columns" (ICO, hidden information in documents), and it "cannot identify when personal information is hidden in remote rows and columns" of a spreadsheet (ICO, hidden information in spreadsheets). Check: on each sheet, scroll right and down past your table, or select the whole sheet and look for content beyond it.

2. What it finds but leaves in the file

For Excel and PowerPoint, Microsoft lists information "the Document Inspector finds but can't remove", because removing it might stop the file working properly:

Links to other workbooks (Excel). Each keeps the other workbook's path, which can include a user name or a share name. Check: look in xl/externalLinks/_rels; each Target is a path. Break the links from the Workbook Links pane; see Excel links and full paths.
Embedded files and objects (Excel and PowerPoint). An embedded workbook or document keeps its own properties, comments and hidden sheets. Check: look in xl/embeddings or ppt/embeddings; open each file there and inspect it in turn, or replace the object with a picture.
PivotTables and their caches, scenarios, filters and hidden names (Excel). Check: for caches and names, see hidden sheets, names and personal information. For scenarios, open the Scenario Manager from What-If Analysis on the Data tab (Microsoft's scenarios page) and look at each saved scenario. For filters, clear them (Clear or remove a filter) and look at the rows they were hiding.
Pictures in the notes (PowerPoint): Microsoft says it "cannot remove pictures that are added to the Notes section". Check: choose View › Notes Page and look at each notes page. Microsoft's page Create and print notes pages says pictures added there appear on the notes page "but not on your screen in Normal view".
Macros and VBA code (Excel and PowerPoint). Check: a file whose name ends in .xlsm or .pptm is macro-enabled; if the recipient does not need the macros, ask whoever wrote them how to send the file without them.

3. What its list does not mention

Microsoft's page does not list these for any program. That does not mean Document Inspector cannot touch them; it means you cannot rely on it to.

Editing-session identifiers (rsid) in Word. They hold no names, but they can show that two files came from the same document. Check: look in word/settings.xml for w:rsids and w:rsidRoot, and search word/document.xml for w:rsid attributes; see the rsid fingerprint.
Embedded files in Word. Microsoft's Word list does not name them. Check: look in word/embeddings.
Links to files in Word and PowerPoint: an attached template's path, linked pictures, a linked video. Check: search every .rels file for TargetMode="External"; each Target is a path or address. In Word, a file name can also sit in a field code such as INCLUDETEXT, INCLUDEPICTURE or LINK, and a field's text can be split across XML elements, so a plain search can miss it; see the custom XML and embedded objects guide below for how to look at field codes.
Hidden slides (PowerPoint). Check: look for show="0" or show="false" on the <p:sld element of each file in ppt/slides, or for a slash through the slide number in the thumbnails; see notes and hidden slides.
Document variables (Word). Microsoft lists custom XML data, which Document Inspector removes, but not document variables, which macros and add-ins can write. Check: search word/settings.xml for w:docVars; see custom XML and embedded objects.
Details inside pictures (camera, date, location). Microsoft's page does not list them; the ICO's guidance says Document Inspector can help find "EXIF (Exchangeable image file format) information in image files". The two sources do not settle it, so check the pictures themselves: open the copies in the media folder with a program that shows a picture's details.

A second look

A different tool misses different things, so a second look is the most direct check after Document Inspector. ScrubDrop reads the file in your browser; the file is not uploaded. For free, it lists the supported kinds of hidden data it finds, including rsids, links to files, embedded objects, hidden slides and picture details, with counts and short samples, from one file at a time. It does not read text inside pictures, and it does not decide whether what is visible should be sent. Finding nothing does not show that nothing is there.

Questions

Does Document Inspector remove custom XML?

Microsoft lists custom XML data among what it finds and removes in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Its page does not mention Word's document variables, a separate place that macros and add-ins write to, so check those by hand.

If Document Inspector finds an external link, is the path removed?

No. In Excel, Microsoft lists external links among the things Document Inspector finds but cannot remove. The link, with the path of the other workbook, stays until you break it yourself.

Does Document Inspector find picture metadata?

Microsoft's Document Inspector page does not list it. The ICO's guidance says Document Inspector can help find EXIF information in image files. Check the pictures before you insert them, either way.

Sources: the Microsoft and ICO pages linked on this page were checked on 19 October 2026.

Take a second look after Document Inspector, 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.