WD2000: Opening Word Document in Text Editor Displays Deleted Text

If you open a Word for Windows document in a text editor such as Windows Notepad, the file may contain text that was previously deleted.

When you save a document with the Allow fast saves option selected, Word records only the changes to the document and appends them to the end of the file. This means your document still contains the deleted text, even though it does not appear on the screen. Word removes deleted text from your document only when you perform a full save. (To display the Allow fast saves option, click Options on the Tools menu, and click the Save tab.)

Use one of the following methods if you do not want a document to contain deleted text.

Method 1: Turn Off Allow Fast Saves

To prevent a document from containing deleted text that someone could view with a text editor, turn off the Allow fast saves option and perform a full save. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and click the Save tab.
2. Click to clear the Allow fast saves check box.
3. Save your document.

When you do this, Word incorporates all the changes into your document and removes deleted text.

Method 2: Copy and Paste into a New Document

This method allows you to continue to use the Fast Save feature. To use this method, follow these steps:

1. When all revisions are completed, select the entire document and on the Edit menu, click Copy.
2. Start a new document. On the Edit menu, click Paste to copy the original document into a new document.

The new document will be free of previous editing changes (deleted text).

Word always performs a full save when the Allow fast saves option is turned off. In addition, even with the Allow fast saves option turned on, Word periodically performs a full save of your document.

The Allow fast saves option provides greater operating speed while you work in Word. It requires less time to append changes (fast save) than to incorporate them in your document (full save).