3 min read · word · http · deployment
Why Pages and Google Docs do not trip a Word honeytoken
Opening the .docx in Pages or Google Docs does not load Word's linked image. Use Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, or the HTML download.
If you opened a HorasEye .docx in Apple Pages or Google Docs and Trigger History stayed empty, that is expected. Those apps do not fetch the remote linked image Microsoft Word uses as a beacon.
The .docx is a real Word file with a tiny picture whose source is your HTTP beacon. Word and LibreOffice Writer typically request that URL when they lay out the page. Protected View can wait until Enable editing.
Pages is not Word. It often ignores that external image. Google Docs converts the upload and usually strips or never fetches linked remote pictures. Drive preview is the same idea as Gmail PDF preview: sandbox, no call home.
TextEdit and Quick Look also stay silent. They do not run Word layout.
What to do instead: open the same file in Word or LibreOffice Writer, or download HTML from that Word token and open the .html in a browser. Planting both files in the same folder is the usual Mac setup. Full placement notes are in How to use Word and Excel honeytokens.
A new Word download may print a web address at the top of the page. Clicking that address can alert. Opening the file in Pages or Docs still will not.