Hide Confidential Data in a Word 2007/2010 Document

Prevents redacted text from being revealed

When sharing a Word 2007 document, you may need to delete or hide confidential information. You can search for the data and remove it manually, but this can be error prone and time consuming. If you often need to hide confidential data in a Word 2007, there is a free add-in for Word 2007, called theWord 2007 Redaction Tool, that can be used to hide text within Word 2007 documents easily and much more efficiently.

Redacted text appears in a new copy of your original document as a solid black bar. Text beneath the bar is converted to vertical lines (|||||), preventing the redacted content from being retrieved under any circumstances, even if the party with whom you are sharing the document views the redacted document in a text editor, such as Notepad.

DownloadWord 2007/2010 Redaction Toolfrom

http://redaction.codeplex.com/releases/view/32251.

The following items are required to install theWord 2007 Redaction Tool:

However, you do not need to install these separately. If either of these items are not installed on your system, theWord 2007 Redaction Toolsetup program will download and install them automatically. Installation of these two items may cause a reboot.

To install the add-in, double-click on the.exefile you downloaded. Read through the license agreement for the.NET Framework Client Profileand click theAcceptbutton to continue.

Read through the license agreement for theVisual Studio Tools for Officeand click theAcceptbutton to continue.

TheWinZip Self-Extractoropens and automatically starts the installation process.

The necessary files are downloaded.

The.NET Frameworkand theVisual Studio Toolsare installed.

TheMicrosoft Office Customization Installerdisplays asking if you are sure you want to install this customization. ClickInstallto continue.

A dialog box displays when the installation has successfully finished. ClickClose.

NOTE:If you get an error at this point, run the installation file you downloaded again. We got an error when we first installed the add-in. Running the installation again seemed to work.

Once you have installed theWord 2007 Redaction Tool, aRedactgroup is added to theReviewtab.

To redact, or black out, private text in your document, you first need to mark the text to be redacted. To do this, highlight the desired text and click theMarkbutton.

If you want to mark the same text in multiple places in the document, click the arrow on theMarkbutton and selectFind and Markfrom the drop-down menu.

TheFind and Markdialog box displays. Enter the text to find in theFind whatedit box. To see more options, click theMorebutton.

Search Optionsdisplay under the buttons on the dialog box and theMorebutton becomes aLessbutton. Select any desired options. To hide the extra options again, click theLessbutton. ClickMarkto find and mark the entered text.

The dialog box displays how many occurrences of the specified text were found and marked. To close the dialog box, clickCancel.

The marked text appears highlighted in gray in your document.

If there is any text you have marked that you don’t want to redact, you can select that marked text again and selectUnmarkfrom theUnmarkbutton’s drop-down menu to prevent that text from being redacted.

To move among the redaction marks in your document for final checking, use theNextandPreviousbuttons.

Once you are sure you have all the text marked that you want redacted, selectRedact Documentfrom theMarkdrop-down menu to black out the marked text.

A new redacted version of your document is created with the marked text replaced by black bars. A dialog box displays when the process is complete asking you to run theDocument Inspectorto check for and remove any hidden metadata within the document before it is distributed. ClickInspectto run the inspection or clickCloseto skip the inspection.

TheDocument Inspectordialog box displays. Different types of metadata is listed in the dialog box with a check box beside each item. Select the check boxes for the items you want inspected for metadata. Click theInspectbutton to start the inspection. To close the dialog box at this point without doing an inspection, clickClose.

The results of the inspection are displayed on theDocument Inspectordialog box. If any metadata was found, an exclamation mark displays to the left of the item that was found. To remove the metadata from the document, click theRemove Allbutton to the right of the item.

NOTE:TheDocument Inspectornotes at the bottom of the dialog box that some changes cannot be undone. Be sure you want to remove the metadata before clicking theRemove Allbutton.

TheDocument Inspectordialog box informs you of the changes made. ClickClose.

In the new document, black bars are inserted over all the private text you marked.

Remember that you cannot remove the black marks from the text in the new document. Be sure you save the file with a different name than the original and share the new document, not the original. You can go back to the original document and selectRemove All Marksfrom theUnmarkbutton menu to clear your marked text, if desired.

To further secure your redacted document, you can choose to protect it from modification when saving it as a new document. This allows you to distribute a document that cannot be changed.

To do this, selectSave As | Word Documentfrom theOfficemenu.

On theSave Asdialog box, enter a new name for the redacted copy of the document int heFile nameedit box. Click theToolsbutton at the bottom and selectGeneral Optionsfrom the drop-down menu.

On theGeneral Optionsdialog box, enter a password in thePassword to modifyedit box, and selectRead-only recommended, if desired. ClickOK.

TheConfirm Passworddialog box displays. Enter your password again and clickOK.

You are returned to theSave Asdialog box. Click theSavebutton to save your new redacted, secure document.

By using theWord 2007 Redaction Tooland protecting the document from modification, you can protect your confidential information and preserve your document when you must distribute it. TheRedaction Toolworks just as well in Word 2010. Enjoy!

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications.Read Aseem’s Full Bio

Welcome to Help Desk Geek- a blog full of tech tips from trusted tech experts. We have thousands of articles and guides to help you troubleshoot any issue. Our articles have been read over 150 million times since we launched in 2008.

HomeAbout UsEditorial StandardsContact UsTerms of Use

Hide Confidential Data in a Word 2007/2010 Document#

Hide Confidential Data in a Word 2007/2010 Document