Fast Save / Document Security in Word 2011

[ObeseSquirrel]

I have read that a feature in Microsoft Word called "fast save" may be a security risk for users, because it keeps all changes made in the document file, and only appends the changes to the end of the document. This would be problematic and potentially embarrassing for people who send Word Documents to others via email.

I cannot find any information on whether this feature exists in Word 2011 for Mac, and the option does not show up in the Preferences menu. Does this mean that there is no "fast save" in Office 2011 for Mac or is the feature turned on with no option to disable it?

 

[miles01110]

Does this mean that there is no "fast save" in Office 2011 for Mac or is the feature turned on with no option to disable it?

Not necessarily. The behavior might be the same under a different name.

I still don't see why this matters, though. You'd be far better off worrying about the various threats that come through e-mail than saved Word documents.

 

[jahala]

I have read that a feature in Microsoft Word called "fast save" may be a security risk for users, because it keeps all changes made in the document file, and only appends the changes to the end of the document. This would be problematic and potentially embarrassing for people who send Word Documents to others via email.

I cannot find any information on whether this feature exists in Word 2011 for Mac, and the option does not show up in the Preferences menu. Does this mean that there is no "fast save" in Office 2011 for Mac or is the feature turned on with no option to disable it?

Fast save was eliminated in 2007 and later versions.

 

[ObeseSquirrel]

Not necessarily. The behavior might be the same under a different name.

I still don't see why this matters, though. You'd be far better off worrying about the various threats that come through e-mail than saved Word documents.

I'm worried that the same behavior is there under a different name. I can only find information about the Windows version, but nothing specific to the Mac version.

I am not worried about emails that I will receive. I am more worried that data miners will see potentially embarrassing revisions that I have made to the documents that I have sent out.

Fast save was eliminated in 2007 and later versions.

So, as long as I have "Track Changes" turned off and everything under File/Preferences is acceptable, I do not have to worry about data mining by employers, and this is all true for the Mac version as well?

 

[jahala]

I'm worried that the same behavior is there under a different name. I can only find information about the Windows version, but nothing specific to the Mac version.

I am not worried about emails that I will receive. I am more worried that data miners will see potentially embarrassing revisions that I have made to the documents that I have sent out.



So, as long as I have "Track Changes" turned off and everything under File/Preferences is acceptable, I do not have to worry about data mining by employers, and this is all true for the Mac version as well?

I would not go that far. There is a solution, however. Word has a function to clean up the document by removing hidden (including old versions) and personal information. See this article for more details. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/remove-personal-or-hidden-information-HP005190102.aspx

 

[ObeseSquirrel]

I would not go that far. There is a solution, however. Word has a function to clean up the document by removing hidden (including old versions) and personal information. See this article for more details. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/remove-personal-or-hidden-information-HP005190102.aspx

That article applies to Word 2003 (Windows, also .doc, not .docx) and I cannot find many of the options that it talks about. Previous versions saved in the same file? I hope not! And I cannot find this feature at all in the Word 2011.

Also, Autocorrect entries are saved in the document? Great, now they'll know that I'm a bad speller...