Your Guide To Deleting Files Forever

Posted on Apr 27 2015 - 7:01am by Alexandra Ashton

We all know how to delete files, right? If you are PC user you just need to right- click file and select Delete and if you are Mac user then you need to move it to Trash. That is it, right? No, you have one more step. You need to empty Recycle Bin/Trash folder and now you are done. Or are you? Do you think a file can be deleted forever? Well, this way it can’t. By emptying Recycle Bin/Trash you are just deleting links to data but some part of information still exists on hard drive. You can only completely remove some file when it gets overwritten with other data, but till then everybody can simple recover it. This is fine for many users and most files because they don’t have any important data they want keep secure. But do you really want to risk it with sensitive files like banking details, passwords or even important emails? Better safe than sorry.

It is not that difficult to learn how to properly delete sensitive documents from your computer as you might think. You don’t have to be experienced hacker; you just need to download permanent deletion programs. One great program that PC users can choose is File Shredder. This program allows you to choose up to 5 different shredding algorithms of various strengths. This means that you can select best method for deletion depending on content. Do not worry, Mac users are not forgotten. They don’t even have to download any programs. They can use mac’s Secure Empty Trash command which is up to the US Department of Defence’s standards. If that is not safe, then nothing is. Find out more about permanently deleting files from your computer in this great infographic. Just follow this excellent guide and you will definitely improve your personal data security.

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About the Author

Alexandra Ashton, Communications at Neomam Studios , the UK based Infographic Agency. Alexandra is a content and design enthusiast with a keen eye for detail.