Anonymize a Word document for ChatGPT — in your browser
Meeting notes, interview transcripts, and case write-ups live in Word. Data Alias extracts the body text of a .docx entirely in your browser, turns each line into a reviewable row, and suggests in-place aliases for the emails, phone numbers, and other contact details scattered through the prose — so the document's meaning survives while the identities don't travel.
How it works, step by step
Upload your DOCX
Drop the .docx into the workspace (a Pro format, free during the beta). The body text is extracted locally in your browser — the document is never sent to a server.
Review what was detected
Detected emails, phones, and IPs are suggested for in-place aliasing with the surrounding sentences preserved; credential patterns default to removal. Optional on-device name detection (English and Korean) can suggest person names as aliases. Everything is reviewable before it applies.
Download the .safe.txt extract for ChatGPT
You get an AI-ready .safe.txt extract of the document — not a rebuilt .docx. Hand that to ChatGPT for summarizing or analysis, and keep the mapping locally to de-alias the response.
Example: session-notes.docx → session-notes.safe.txt
Why anonymize before ChatGPT?
Opting out of training is not the same as no retention
Consumer ChatGPT lets you opt out of model training via Data Controls, but OpenAI's own documentation notes retention for abuse monitoring — up to 30 days even for content you delete. An opt-out changes what training sees, not whether your pasted data reaches and briefly lives on OpenAI's servers.
Source: OpenAI Data Controls FAQ ↗Business-tier defaults are not consumer defaults
OpenAI documents that business tiers default to not training on customer data — but much real-world pasting happens in personal accounts, where the defaults and retention rules differ. A copy that never contained real identities doesn't depend on which account type someone used.
Source: OpenAI enterprise privacy ↗These are OpenAI's own documented behaviors as of our research (July 2026). Policies and defaults change — an anonymized copy is the control that doesn't depend on them.
What to know about word (docx) files
Body text extraction, stated plainly
The extract is the document's body text. Formatting, comments, and embedded objects are not part of the output — the preview shows exactly what was extracted, so you can check nothing important was left behind before you rely on it.
Consistent aliases across a set of documents
With the Pro alias vault, the same participant keeps the same alias (PERSON_003) across every transcript in a project — the mapping is encrypted with your passphrase and stored only in your browser. Useful when a project spans many interview files.
Common questions
- What parts of the document are extracted?
- The body text. Headers, comments, and formatting are not included in the extract. The review table shows the extracted lines before anything is transformed, so you can verify what will be in the safe copy.
- Why is the output a .txt file?
- Data Alias produces an AI-ready text extract rather than rebuilding a Word file. Reconstructing a .docx would risk silent content changes; a plain extract is honest about what it is and pastes cleanly into any AI tool.
- I anonymize interview transcripts — anything for researchers?
- Yes. Consistent PERSON_00x aliases across interview files (via the encrypted alias vault), an on-device anonymization report, and a locally kept reversible mapping are built for qualitative research workflows. See the research page for the full mapping to IRB-style de-identification needs.
An honest note on detection
Data Alias reduces exposure risk but cannot catch every sensitive value, and no automated detector can. That is why nothing is applied without your review: check the safe copy before you share it with ChatGPT or anyone else.
No account needed. Files stay in your browser — verify it yourself.