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Limina supports scanning Microsoft Word DOC & DOCX files for PII and creating de-identified or redacted copies. Limina’s supported entity types function across each file type, with localized variants of different PII (Personally Identifiable Information) entities, PHI (Protected Health Information) entities, and PCI (Payment Card Industry) entities being detected. Our Supported Languages and Supported Entity Types page provides a more detailed look.
If you’d like to try it yourself, please visit our free interactive web demo. No code or account is necessary.

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How DOCX Files Are Processed

Word document support is a new feature. Depending on the complexity of the processed documents, some of their elements might not be properly de-identified. We are working on expanding support; please consider rendering and processing as a PDF. This will ensure all content is processed and redacted.
DOCX files are processed by extracting each element and processing according to the table below. The de-identified or redacted file is created according to the behaviour specified in the table.
Property TypeDetailsDefault BehaviourOptions
Core propertiesAuthor, Category, Comments, Content Status, Identifier, Keywords, Language, Last Modified By, Subject, Title, VersionRedactKeep, Redact
Headers and footersAny content in headers and footers, such as text and imagesRedactKeep, Redact
TablesTable objects with text and imagesRedactKeep, Redact
ImagesThe Images page provides a more detailed look at Image processingRedact, unsupported image types are removedRedact
Text contentMain body contentRedactKeep, Redact
Text boxesFloating text boxesRedactKeep, Redact
Embedded linksHyperlinks to internet pages or documentsRemoveKeep, Redact
External elementsTables and charts embedded from another document or file, such as an Excel chartRemove external file, redact cached valuesRemove external file, redact cached values
Embedded audio & videoVideos and audio clipsRemoveRemove
Review commentsComments from document reviewsRedactKeep, Redact
Shape objectsShapes containing textRedactKeep, Redact
Ink DrawingsDrawings in DOCX documentsRemoveKeep, Remove
See the API Reference for changing the default behaviour.
Graphical content (images) where text is present will be OCRed and then redacted. You can configure the OCR System by setting it as an Environment Variable or sending it in the request object. Check out our OCR Guide to further understand the OCR modes and their usage.

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How DOC Files Are Processed

DOC files are processed by converting into DOCX files, followed the process described above and then converting back to DOC files.

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Constraints

  • If a piece of PII text has more than one style (different fonts, font sizes, underline etc.), the redaction marker will use the first style.
  • Charts in DOCX files contain an underlying .XLSX document that is automatically removed during deidentification. The cached chart values are deidentified by default.
  • Certain MHT files can be natively opened with Microsoft Word by changing the extension from MHT to DOC. Those files are not supported. We recommend that you use Microsoft Word to convert those files to DOCX.
  • We recommend using Microsoft Word to open the processed DOC/DOCX files. Other editors may not give ideal results.

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Support Matrix

CPU ContainerGPU ContainerCommunity APIProfessional API
SupportedYesYesUp to 10 MiBNo

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Sample Request

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{
  "file": {
    "data": "<file_content_base64>",
    "content_type": "application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document"
  },
  "entity_detection": {
    "return_entity": true
  }
}

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Sample Response

Response
{
  "processed_file": "Base64 Encoded File Content of the Redacted File",
  "processed_text": "string",
  "entities": "List[Entity]",
  "entities_present": true,
  "languages_detected": {"lang_1": 0.67, "lang_2": 0.74}
}