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How to Permanently Shred Files on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro?
updated on 2023-12-16 to Mac Data Erasure
Page Content:
- 1. How to Permanently Shred Files/Folders on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro?
- 2. Permanently Shred Already Deleted Data on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro
- 3. FAQs: Permanently Shred Files on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro
- 4. Final Words
“Hi, I want to permanently delete a financial document from my MacBook Air. But, every time I delete it, empty Trash, restart the MacBook Air, the deleted document still can be recovered by data recovery program. That is not what I want...is there any way to permanently delete the document from my MacBook Air?” - Jessica
The deleted or lost files on your MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro are not Really lost, in fact, they can be recovered by most of Mac data recovery apps such as Magoshare Data Recovery, Disk Drill, Stellar Mac Recovery, etc.
Whether you delete the file using Command+Delete or delete+empty Trash, the deleted file is not lost forever. The file system only deletes the entry of the file and make the disk space of the file be available for new files. Before the deleted file is completely overwritten by new files, it can be easily recovered by data recovery software or manual data recovery service.
How to Permanently Shred Files/Folders on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro?
To permanently delete a file or folder on your MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro, you can use data erasure tool - such as AweEraser, developed by Magoshare. This data erasure tool offers certified data erasure standards to help in permanently delete files on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro:
- International data erasure standards: HMG Infosec Standard 5 (1 pass), Peter Gutmann's algorithm 2 (2 passes), U.S. Army AR380-19 (3 passes), DoD 5220.22-M ECE (7 passes), Peter Gutmann's algorithm 35 (35 passes).
- Flexible data erasure modes: Permanently delete files or wipe hard drive, making data recovery be impossible.
- Erase data on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro with Intel/T2 and Apple silicon chips.
- Once the data is erased by AweEraser, the data is gone forever, can not be recovered by any data recovery method.
Just download and install AweEraser on your MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro, then run it from Launchpad. (If your macOS requires password to open this app, just enter your login password and open this app.)
Now, we will show you how to shred files and folders on a MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro:
Step 1. Open AweEraser, then choose data erasure mode: Erase Files.
Step 2. Add files and folders or drag the target files/folders to the erasure list.
Step 3. Click on Erase Now button to permanently shred the files/folders. Once the process gets finished, the selected files/folders are gone forever, can’t be recovered by any method.
Permanently Shred Already Deleted Data on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro
As said above, the deleted data on your Mac can be recovered by data recovery software. To permanently erase the deleted data on your Mac, just try Erase Free Disk Space mode.
The deleted data on your MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro is stored on the free disk space. Just open AweEraser and choose data erasure mode - Erase Free Space. It will wipe the free disk space of your MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro and permanently ease all the deleted/lost data on the Mac SSD. (It will not erase the existing files on the MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro.)
FAQs: Permanently Shred Files on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro
1. Can Command+Delete permanently delete the file on my MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro?
No, the deleted file is not lost forever. With a data recovery app, you scan scan the Mac hard drive and find the deleted file. Restore it by only 1 click.
2. How to permanently delete a file on Mac?
- Download and install AweEraser.
- Open AweEraser.
- Choose Erase Files mode.
- Add the target file to the erasure list.
- Click on Erase Now button.
3. How to wipe Trash on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro?
Open AweEraser on your MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro, then choose Erase Free Space mode, select the Mac startup disk and click on Erase Now button.
4. How to wipe an entire hard drive on MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro?
- If you want to wipe the startup disk, just enter into recovery mode, choose Disk Utility, select the startup disk and erase it. Then use AweEraser to erase free disk space of the MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro.
- If you want to wipe an external hard drive or USB flash drive, SD card, just open AweEraser and choose Erase Hard Drive mode to wipe all data from the external device.
5. Will erasure damage my SSD?
No, it will not shorten the service life of the Mac SSD, and it won’t cause any physical or logical damage to your SSD.
Final Words:
To protect your privacy, you should permanently delete the files which contain sensitive information before you sell, donate or give your MacBook/MacBook Air/MacBook Pro to other person. Don’t just delete it or empty Trash, the deleted file can be recovered by data recovery software. You can use a tool - AweEraser to help you securely and permanently delete the file or folder, making data recovery be impossible.
