Deleting a file in a safe and definitive way means that it cannot be recovered in any way anymore, that file disappears forever . Perhaps not everyone knows that when you delete a file on your computer in the standard way, i.e. using the desktop recycle bin, Windows does not overwrite the file making it disappear immediately but indicates that the space occupied by that file is unavailable to be written by something else. Practically it disappears, visually, from the computer but remains present on the disk until the data that form it is replaced by that of another new file. For a certain period of time, therefore, it is possible to recover deleted files using one of the professional file recovery programs or the free ones reported in another article on recovering deleted data from the hard disk or from a USB stick and memory card .
Not even formatting the PC will delete files because it only serves to make the files invisible to the system.
To make a data unrecoverable and to erase it completely and permanently, you need to use a program that writes and overwrites the file over and over again.
The definitive cancellation procedures have even been developed by the US Department of Defense and many free programs use this procedure among their options.
Why then delete a file permanently ">
The best programs to delete a file permanently and with almost no chance (99.9%) of recovery are:
1) Eraser, a free program to permanently delete files from your PC so that they can no longer be recovered. Eraser is convenient because, once installed. adds an entry to the Windows recycle bin, visible by right-clicking, to perform a secure deletion. Another very useful option, which makes Eraser an excellent program, is the possibility to program, at a pre-established time, the definitive deletion of the files that are in the recycle bin or inside a chosen folder. With Eraser you can delete individual files, entire folders or partitions of the hard disk. You can choose the type of cancellation, for example a random overwrite with a single pass, or by executing multiple passes. Eraser is very easy to use and integrates into Windows in the right mouse button menus.
2) SecureDelete, great for Windows 10, safely overwrites deleted files using the Gutmann and DOD 5220.22M algorithms so that the files can never be recovered. It also uses another faster, though less secure, algorithm to delete files. The procedure is simple, just add files or folders on the app, and click the option to delete them. Then press Empty Trash to safely delete files and folders. SecureDelete also has options to clear the paging file on shutdown.
2) Alternate File Shredder is a small application that allows you to permanently delete files, with a super easy to understand interface and a safe deletion option to add to the right click menu of each file. File Shredder has only one erasure method: writing random data over files. When the deletion is complete, programs like Recuva will no longer be able to recover the files.
3) Freeraser allows you to delete files from the system without leaving traces and in a complete and definitive way. Very easy to use, it presents itself, graphically, as a virtual recycle bin and to delete the file just drag it onto this instead of the normal Windows recycle bin. Freeraser is also a portable software that does not require installation and that can be launched immediately from a USB stick. The portability of these programs is useful if you use a public or shared PC so as not to leave traces of the files that have been opened, created and modified.
4) Moo0 File Shredder is a portable program that allows you to delete files and folders and make them no longer recoverable. This software is perhaps the fastest one to erase and ensures the impossibility of finding the files that have been erased.
5) Prevent Restore makes deleted files from your hard drive unreadable and unrecoverable. Technically, if a file consists of binary code data, it works by writing all zeros on the space occupied by the deleted files. This cancellation system leaves a small chance of recovery in the case of sophisticated rather rare and very expensive hardware equipment. Deleted documents will become lost forever while file names remain readable by file recovery programs.
6) File Shredder is another program designed to permanently delete files. The interface is a bit more complex than most of the other programs included in this list, but still remains easy to use and with options in the context menu. After File Shredder erases all files without possibility to recover them with Recuva or similar programs.
7) WipeFile is able to delete a file / folder (Wipefile) safely and completely. There are 14 safe erasing modes to choose from, from the one-letter writing with all zeros, to the NATO standard of 7 passes up to the one called "di Gutmann", with 35 passes.
8) Disk Scrubber is an excellent software that erases all the data of a hard disk or only the files that are selected.
9) Shredder8 is an app for Windows 10 that allows you to permanently delete files and folders, for free. at the same time. This app frees up space by cleaning nested folders from any storage device.
10) OverWrite is a software which overwrites the space occupied by the deleted data so that they cannot be recovered. However, unlike other software on this list, it must be used via command lines.
11) DBAN is the most powerful of programs to format and delete files completely from a hard disk and it is discussed in a dedicated article.
12) RightDelete is another very good free program that can delete files and permanently delete them.
Permanently erases any chosen file on the hard disk without any possibility of recovering it, by overwriting it up to 7 times.
RightDelete also integrates into the Windows menus and can be launched by right-clicking on any icon in a file.
I want to repeat that with these programs, the cancellation process is much slower depending on how many passes you make.
13) With other programs you can then delete the free space of the disk and make the files unrecoverable without touching those currently present.
IMPORTANT : Safe erasing with multiple passes and repeated overwriting of data increases the wear of the hard disk and if it is done too often it will decrease its performance. No cancellation method, even the 35 pass method, is 100% safe and definitive; I don't know how it can be done but the possibility of seeing what was present on a computer's hard disk is there, even if only a few can do it in the world and for serious reasons.
