Guides Plain-language answers to the questions people ask before sending a photo or a Word document — what is hidden inside, where to see it, and how to check it.
Are comments in a PDF visible to others? Yes, if the comments are still in the file you send. Each note, the reviewer name and any highlights are stored in the PDF. What we found in a test file and how to check. Are resolved comments still in a Word document? Yes, in our test a resolved comment stayed in the file with its text and author, and accepting every change did not remove it. What stays, and how to check. Can someone see when I took a photo? Often yes. The capture date and time are saved inside the photo file. What the EXIF tags hold, what Apple says travels with a shared photo, and how to check a copy. Do you need to blur license plates in a video? It depends on where the video goes. What the EU data board and the UK regulator say about plates and blurring, and what our detector found and missed on real clips. Does a black box hide text in a PDF? Usually not. A black rectangle only covers text, and the words can still be copied out. What the PDF standard says redaction must do and what we saw in a test file. Does a photo file store my name? It can, in more than one place. Where a photo file keeps an author name, what the IPTC and XMP standards add, and what we found in test photos. Does a video file carry location and date? Yes, a phone video can store where and when it was recorded, the device, and names or comments. What we found in test videos and how to remove it without re-encoding. Does black or white text hide words in Word? Black shading, black text or white text hide words from the eye, not from the file. What we found in a test document and what Microsoft says its inspector cannot detect. Does Google Photos remove a photo's location? Not always. Google says it cannot edit a location your camera saved, and edits do not follow a file you download. What that means and how to check the copy you send. Does removing photo metadata change the picture? In our tests the decoded pixels were identical after metadata was removed from JPEG test photos. What stays on purpose, such as orientation, and what to look for. Does saving a Word file as PDF remove comments? It depends on two Word settings. What a PDF kept in our test of comments, tracked changes and author details, and what to look at before you send one. Is blurring a face in a video enough? Only if every frame is covered and the original is not sent. What YouTube, the UK regulator and the EU data board say about blurring, and what our own tests missed. Is EXIF the only hidden data in a photo? No. A JPEG can also hold XMP, IPTC and comment blocks, and some segments no tool can read. What each one is and what we found in test photos. What does a screen recording capture? Everything on screen while it runs, plus sound if you turn it on. What Apple documents for iPhone, and how well our tool found invented emails, phone numbers and codes. What does Word's remove-personal-information do? Word can strip names from a file on save. In our test it blanked author and company, but the comment text and tracked change stayed. What it removes and what it leaves. What hidden data can a PDF contain? A PDF can carry document details, comments, attached files, form values, scripts and earlier saves. What each is, and what we found in test files, one kind per file. What is EXIF data in a photo? EXIF is the information a camera writes into a photo file, such as time, device and sometimes GPS. What the tag list contains and what we found in test photos. What is inside a Word .docx file? A .docx is a zip of XML parts and your text is only one. What a small test file held, from comments to reviewer lists, and what the Microsoft inspector covers. What personal information shows up in a video? Faces, plates and on-screen text, but also voices and the file's own details. What regulators say counts, what our detectors look for, and what they never see. What to check in a photo before you post it Two places give a photo away: the data stored in the file and what the picture shows. What Apple and Google document, and what a tool can and cannot see. Where does a PDF's author name come from? A PDF can name its author even if you never typed one. What the PDF standard says, what Word did in our test, and how to leave the name out before you send. Do iPhone photos have location data? Often yes. Here is where an iPhone gets a photo's location, what else the file carries, Apple's three ways to leave it out, and how to check a photo before you send it. How to see who last edited a Word document Where Word shows who last edited a file and when, what the file stores about its author, and how to remove those names before you send it to someone else. Why can't I see tracked changes in Word? When Word shows a clean page, the changes are usually only hidden. Check the four settings that control what you see, and why hidden is not the same as removed. Want to check a file now? Check Any File →