You may not be aware that your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files often contain hidden or personal information, such as revisions or comments, that others can access. Depending on the nature of the information, this could place you in an embarrassing or compromising position. It could even potentially put the University at legal risk.

For example, during the discovery phase in a lawsuit, electronic copies of relevant documents could be subpoenaed. Any hidden comments or revisions in these documents could then possibly be used as evidence.

Examples of hidden or personal information that are stored in Office documents include:

• Tracked changes, comments, annotations, and versions, even if not displayed
• Hidden text or data cells
• Presentation notes
• Previously deleted text
• Your name and your computer's name

To protect any sensitive information from accidentally being made public, Computer Services recommends that you get into the habit of removing this information before distributing final electronic copies of your documents.

For a list of simple steps you can take to remove hidden information from your documents, please refer to the Computer Services article, Removing hidden information from Microsoft Office files.

If you have any further questions about this topic, please contact the Computer Services Help Desk at 215-204-8000.