Remove a Watermark from a Word Document
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The short answer
Word keeps a watermark as a shape in the page header, so it can be deleted on its own. Add your .docx file below and press Remove the watermark. Everything else in the document, including the text, tables and pictures, is left exactly as it was.
Use this only on files that are yours, or when the owner has said you may remove the mark. Taking a watermark off someone else's work to use it as your own, or to avoid paying for it, can break copyright law.
What it can and cannot remove
- Word and PowerPoint: a watermark added with the program's own watermark feature is deleted cleanly, and nothing else in the file changes.
- PDF: a watermark the file marks as one, a layer called Watermark, and watermark notes are deleted, and the text stays text. A mark that was painted into the page can only be cleaned as a picture.
- Photos and scans: a pale mark on a plain page can be whitened, and a marked part can be filled in from its surroundings. On faces, text or busy patterns the fill can look smudged. It is not AI and cannot bring back what was hidden under the mark.
- Passwords and locked files are not opened. Everything stays on your device.
Your files stay on your device. This tool runs entirely in your browser and nothing is uploaded to a server.
How to: Remove a Watermark from a Word Document
- 1Choose your Word file. Older .doc files must be saved as .docx in Word first.
- 2Press Remove the watermark.
- 3If it says none was found, type the watermark's words, or tick the option to clear the header pictures.
- 4Download the new file and open it in Word to check.
At a glance
- File type
- .docx (not the older .doc)
- Found by
- Word's own watermark shapes in headers and footers
- Rest of file
- Left exactly as it was
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove a watermark in Word itself?
On the Design tab, choose Watermark, then Remove Watermark. This tool is for when you want to do it without opening Word, or on a file you only have as a download.
What if the mark is a normal picture and not a watermark?
Then it is not found by name. Type its words if it has any, or tick the option to clear every picture and shape from the headers and footers. Logos there go too.