10 Free Tools to Permanently Delete Files and Prevent Data Recovery
6. Blank and Secure
This is another useful portable tool by SoftwareOK and it’s only a few hundred KB. It’s very easy to use and has not many options, but the options that are available are useful. Blank and Secure can overwrite files and folders between 1 and 35 times. The overwrites will all be with random numbers before the files are deleted. The overwrite and delay before deletion options are drop down menus in the middle of the window.
Files and folders are added to Blank and Secure via drag and drop. Alternatively, you can enable a context menu entry or a “Send to” entry from the menu at the top left. Another feature in the menu is the ability to wipe the free space of a drive and fill it with random numbers. That’s useful if you have previously deleted important files but not used a secure deleted option.
7. Eraser
The Eraser application is definitely a more serious and focused shredding tool with some advanced features compared to many other tools of this type. One such addition is the erasing scheduler which allows you to run tasks to shred files, folders, free space, or the Recycle bin contents at specific times or on system restart, etc.
It also has 13 different erase algorithms to choose from, Windows Explorer integration, an option to unlock locked files before erasing them, free space erase when you right click the drive in Explorer, and the ability to replace erased files with pre-selected files to allow for “plausible deniability”. Eraser defaults to 35 passes for file shredding so it’s best to go into settings and change it to something more sensible, like 1 or 2 passes of random data.
8. Zer0
Made by KCSoftwares, Zer0 is a plain and simple tool that will allow you to drop files onto its window (folders are not accepted), and then deletes them securely. There appears to be very little information about the erasing method used by Zer0 although some online comments suggest it could be as many as 100 passes for each file. Because of this lack of clarity, we’d recommend you avoid using the program on SSD drives.
However many passes are used, the procedure is still fast thanks to the multithreading nature of the program. Zer0 has both a portable and installer version, installing will add a “Delete with Zer0” option into your right click context menu. There is an ad button for another KC Softwares product near the top so don’t click on it thinking it’s a function or feature of Zer0 itself.
9. DP Wipe
DP Wipe is easy to use and only requires you to drop what you want to erase onto the main window. Dropping folders onto the window is supported, and also the erase method to use is selectable. Zero’s, pseudorandom, RCMP, 2 US DoD’s, and Gutmann methods are available so you can decide based on the importance of the data to shred. The single pass pseudorandom option should be enough for most use cases.
It does only come as a setup installer which will place a Send To icon in the right click menu. However, the program is really only a single executable so extracting the setup installer with 7-Zip will easily create a portable version, minus the send to shortcut.
10. SDelete
SDelete is different from the other software here because it’s a command line tool making it more useful in scripts and batch files. SDelete is made by Microsoft owned SysInternals, the same people behind Process Explorer and AutoRuns. In addition to being able to wipe files and folders with the number of passes you choose, it can also clean or zero the free space on a selected drive. The syntax is:
SDelete -p {number of passes} {files and folders to erase}
or
SDelete -p {number of passes) {-z for zero pass/-c for clean} {drive letter:}
You can also use -s to recurse into subfolders and -r to remove file read only attributes. The default number of passes is one so you only need the -p command to increase it. SDelete overwrites a file three times using the DOD 5220.22-M standard, firstly zeros, then ones, then random data. As a single pass already overwrites three times, there really shouldn’t be any need to use more passes.
Final Note: As we have a separate article on wiping free drive space, there are some tools listed there that can also shred files that we haven’t listed here. They include Hard Disk Scrubber and ASCOMP Secure Eraser. The secure file delete function is also found in many other programs like optimize/repair suites, antivirus suites, and privacy tools like CCleaner and BleachBit.
Memory based drives like SSD’s and USB flash drives have a limited number of write cycles. We don’t advise you to use too many erase passes because it will place extra wear on the drive reducing its lifespan. SSD functions like TRIM and garbage collection naturally erase the files anyway after a period of time so securely deleting a file from an SSD is only required if you need to shred its contents straight away.
hi, i use ‘cleandisk absolute’ file shredder not on your list, would you recommend it?
needed to clean my pc so did a 7 pass/wipe then reset to basic windows 10 would this prevent recovery of files?
richard
ps raymond is a a good learning website
I’ve tried a few different downloads but none are working for me. Is it because I’ve already deleted the files from the recyle bin? I’m trying to find a just a few photos and done the Recuva recovery but it brings up tens of thousands of files and folders so it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. I would like to just get rid of a lot that I know are irrelevant and have not yet been written over but nothing seems to work. Is it possible?
Satellite & Terrestrial TV PVR Files – often won’t delete if put on Windows or Apple OS PC, it doesn’t matter if they are scrambled or not.
Some files not created on a Windows OS, or Apple OS when put onto an ordinary Windows OS, or Apple OS PC won’t drag, rename or delete – best to just leave them on a USB stick if you want to edit them.
These files are often from TV PVR’s, usually made by a Linux OS, but sometimes because TV Stations put a (.ts) file in a (.mpg) container, or there are transmission received errors, the file received is not perfect so most OS’s say WTF. These Files can be edited to a more correct and friendly format but some OS’s just refuse to delete the original file, it may slow or even lockup your OS.
So if you wish to edit out the ads from PVR recordings, its best to keep the files on a USB stick while you edit. The resulted edited files can be saved on the PC not the USB stick.
how can i prevent already deleted files from being recovered, because i deleted my files without using any software and though it will be erased for good and now after doing research i think it can be recovered,please help!
This article is what you are looking for:
“10 Free Tools to Securely Wipe Free Disk Space Preventing Recovery”, it’s in the blue ‘you might also like’ links box above or the url for it is:
raymond.cc/blog/make-your-recoverable-datas-unrecoverable/
Those tools wipe the free space on your drive while leaving the existing files alone.
The distinction between your files being deleted and non-recoverable is a value that makes them visible. When they are “deleted” the value that makes them visible is erased, but they still reside on your hard drive until they are overwritten. An easy way to prevent recovery is to download a utility called Bleach Bit and select the option to “Wipe Free Space”. May take awhile depending on your hard drive size, but this should fix your problem.
That’s all in our article I mentioned above….
How to delete deleted data that is still on the disk. (Formating is one option but is there any alternative?)
The links in paragraph #2 of this article will help you.
HOW TO RECOVER FILES THAT WAS SHREDDED
You can’t, that’s the whole point of shredding a file in the first place.
If a file is securly shreaded… you cannot likely recover it even with professional grade software. Because it has been over written many times over. That is what it means to shread a file.
Great article Raymond..Helpful for those in search of erasing tools..Keep up the good work..
Thanks you for the article. It’s very useful to me………..
Nice Article..!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for the article, I’m using Gutmann method, it seems more efficient.
Great Job!
PartitionGuru is able to delete files permanently as well as wipe deleted files for good.
this tool is for free
Nice console ….
I would like to see a simple utility that securely deletes my Recycle Bin (or replaces it). I still like sending files to the Recycle Bin, and like to right-click to empty. There’s a few utilities that do this, but they are bloated beyond my liking.
Hello,
I’m looking for a eraser program that can automatically delete a log file that is in use at every restart. I had eraser but there are a few problems with it. The pc shutdown is very slow because eraser.exe hangs to long in memory and the pc has difficulty for shutting it down and it misses the function of erasing a ‘file that is in use’ on ‘every’ logon. I’m looking and I have tested a lot of programs but so far no one can delete a ‘file that is in use’ and that on ‘every time’ the pc logs on. Is there someone here that can help me with finding the right program for this job?
Regards
I have used many of the listed apps. The one I am mostly using now is from Moo0 File Shredder. A free tool, with multiple levels of shredding, from one-pass pseudo-random data (including cluster tip and ADS, and changes file name and attributes as part of delete process), up to the over-kill level.
The only strange thing about it is the way it identifies amount of overwriting:
Shred Once = 1 pass (pseudo-random data)
Extra Carefully = 3 pass (DoD 5220.22M)
Into Ashes = 7 pass (DoD 5220.22M)
Vaporize = 35 (Gutmann).
It would be useful, IMO, to explain to folks that the so-called Gutmann 35 pass is truly overkill, as it (a) technically would run less, as some of the 35 passes are methodologically designed for HDs no longer being sold, (b) takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R (it seems) for all the passes to complete, (c) will really exercise your HD, so may not be best if it is in marginal condition and planned for re-use.
Thanks for great info site.
We went into a bit of an explanation in the “8 Tools to Wipe a Hard Drive Before Selling or Lending It” article about the fact the Gutman pass method is pretty much irrelevant today.
35 passes on a whole hard drive is obviously madness whereas 35 passes on a few small documents or files won’t take too long. I’ve heard Zer0 uses up to 100 passes and that tool is pretty fast. :)
WipeFile seems nice. Thank you Raymond :-)
thnks for the information.
Nice article Bro. I use Secure Wipe that’s not included in the list. :)
Won’t you consider to try and review secure wipe?
Thanks
Thanks mate for the nice article ;).
Thanks for share. Very useful
Welcome back Mr Raymond and superb , Useful Article Thank you very much
Thanks for the info. Very useful :)
Hey Hal, I found the best way for wiping an entire drive and it’s pretty fast. Most drives come with a secure delete built into the hard drive itself. The computer manufacturers disable it in the bios but there is a way. A university, It is at University of California, San Diego, the place where they created it is called [Center for Magnetic Recording Research ] They made a program that you can boot from and it will securely wipe a drive where it’s unrecoverable. It’s it’s called Secure Erase and it’s free. And it is pretty much created by a bunch of genius scientists. I actually used it recently on a 6 year old computer and it worked like a charm. This is what the government really uses, not that DOD 7 pass crap.
Here is the link to the site cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/secure-erase.html
Thank you, Dear friend Raymond…
Thank you very much Raymond for sharing !
This is a nice read Hal :-)
Thanks Saturn, an important subject that can sometime get overlooked…
Superb article – congrats!
I work with HardWipe and i just can say that never failed.
Regards