{"id":1364,"date":"2008-06-04T03:36:46","date_gmt":"2008-06-03T19:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=1364"},"modified":"2023-04-06T19:21:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T11:21:09","slug":"how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Technically speaking when you hit the <strong>\u2018Delete\u2019<\/strong> button attempting to remove any files from your computer, these files are not really removed from your hard disk. What the delete action does is un-link the file so it is not visible nor accessible. These deleted files have a high chance to be recovered with  hard disk recovery softwares. So if you want some files to be really removed from your hard disk, you need something more than just deleting them.<\/p>\n<p>Erasing, in the other hand means <strong>wiping its entire data beyond recovery<\/strong>. When you want to get rid of sensitive files or folders permanently, try this user friendly software \u2013 <strong><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sourceforge.net\/projects\/eraser\/\"><strong>Eraser<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>. It\u2019s free so you don\u2019t have to pay a penny<\/p>\n<h2>Erase Sensitive Files Permanently with Eraser<\/h2>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sourceforge.net\/projects\/eraser\/\"><strong>Eraser<\/strong><\/a> is a secure data removal tool that allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by <strong>overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns <\/strong>(Gutman, USDoD and others).<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-1.jpg\" alt=\"Eraser\" width=\"1000\" height=\"796\"><\/figure>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-2.jpg\" alt=\"Eraser\" width=\"1000\" height=\"850\"><\/figure>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-3.jpg\" alt=\"Eraser\" width=\"1000\" height=\"888\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>What Eraser erases:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Files and Folders<\/li>\n<li>Files\/Folders that were only previously \u2018deleted\u2019<\/li>\n<li>Index.dat on Reboot<\/li>\n<li>Contents of the Recycle Bin<\/li>\n<li>Windows Temporary Files<\/li>\n<li>Internet Cookies and Cache<\/li>\n<li>Encrypted Files and Drives<\/li>\n<li>Free space on 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP and DOS<\/li>\n<li>Paging (swap) file<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can simply drag and drop files and\/or folders onto the on-demand eraser and use the convenient Windows Explorer right-click extension or use the built-in scheduler for automated wiping of unused disk space or browser cache files.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Be careful when execute this program because the erased file will be gone forever.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/sourceforge.net\/project\/showfiles.php?group_id=37015&package_id=65323&release_id=567184\">Download Eraser<\/a> (8.53MB)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Technically speaking when you hit the \u2018Delete\u2019 button attempting to remove any files from your computer, these files are not really removed from your hard disk. What the delete action does is un-link the file so it is not visible nor accessible. These deleted files have a high chance to be recovered with hard disk&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3397],"tags":[4606,171,4601],"topic":[4521],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.8 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Technically speaking when you hit the &#039;Delete&#039; button attempting to remove any files from your computer, these files are not really removed from your hard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Technically speaking when you hit the &#039;Delete&#039; button attempting to remove any files from your computer, these files are not really removed from your hard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-06-03T19:36:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-06T11:21:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kay Tan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kay Tan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kay Tan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2cc0e5255c40cf92299153b853881bb0\"},\"headline\":\"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-06-03T19:36:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-06T11:21:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":265,\"commentCount\":14,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/eraser_kay-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Computer Security and Privacy\",\"Microsoft Windows\",\"Security and Privacy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Desktop\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows - Hongkiat\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/eraser_kay-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-06-03T19:36:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-06T11:21:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"Technically speaking when you hit the 'Delete' button attempting to remove any files from your computer, these files are not really removed from your hard\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/eraser_kay-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.hongkiat.com\\\/uploads\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/eraser_kay-1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat\",\"description\":\"Tech and Design Tips\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799,\"caption\":\"Hongkiat.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/hongkiatcom\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/hongkiat\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/hongkiat\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2cc0e5255c40cf92299153b853881bb0\",\"name\":\"Kay Tan\",\"description\":\"Kay is a tech-savvy and regular writer at Hongkiat.com. He also maintains K-Director, a technology blog.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.k-director.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/kay\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows - Hongkiat","description":"Technically speaking when you hit the 'Delete' button attempting to remove any files from your computer, these files are not really removed from your hard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows","og_description":"Technically speaking when you hit the 'Delete' button attempting to remove any files from your computer, these files are not really removed from your hard","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/","og_site_name":"Hongkiat","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom","article_published_time":"2008-06-03T19:36:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-06T11:21:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Kay Tan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hongkiat","twitter_site":"@hongkiat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kay Tan","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/"},"author":{"name":"Kay Tan","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2cc0e5255c40cf92299153b853881bb0"},"headline":"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows","datePublished":"2008-06-03T19:36:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-06T11:21:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/"},"wordCount":265,"commentCount":14,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-1.jpg","keywords":["Computer Security and Privacy","Microsoft Windows","Security and Privacy"],"articleSection":["Desktop"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/","name":"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows - Hongkiat","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-1.jpg","datePublished":"2008-06-03T19:36:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-06T11:21:09+00:00","description":"Technically speaking when you hit the 'Delete' button attempting to remove any files from your computer, these files are not really removed from your hard","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.hongkiat.com\/uploads\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/eraser_kay-1.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/how-to-delete-erase-sensitive-files-permanently\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Permanently Erase Sensitive Files in Windows"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/","name":"Hongkiat","description":"Tech and Design Tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Hongkiat.com","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/hkdc-logo-rect-yoast.jpg","width":1200,"height":799,"caption":"Hongkiat.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom","https:\/\/x.com\/hongkiat","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/hongkiat\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2cc0e5255c40cf92299153b853881bb0","name":"Kay Tan","description":"Kay is a tech-savvy and regular writer at Hongkiat.com. He also maintains K-Director, a technology blog.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.k-director.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/author\/kay\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4uxU-m0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1364"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66040,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1364\/revisions\/66040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1364"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=1364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}