How to erase disk completely, without chance for recovery?

No matter which type of disk you have - HDD, SSD or USB Flash drive - if you want to completely erase all contents on the disk, so nobody will be able to restore anything from it - keep reading!

May I just format the disk?

No. This will only erase file allocation table, but deleted files are still available and may be recovered.

What is the proper solution?

Lets say you want to sell your external disk, or sell entire PC, or just remove all data from the USB Flash drive. So, which steps you should do to completely wipe all data on the disk forever?

1. If any files or folders still exists on the disk - delete them as usually (they will be moved to the Recycle Bin).

2. Empty Recycle Bin. This step is important because each disk has its own hidden Recycle Bin. And if you empty one on your Desktop, it will also empty all hidden ones on all connected disks.

3. Run "Prevent Restore" app, select the disk and wait until our app finishes processing.

That's all. All data on the selected disk has been destroyed and nobody will be able to recover anything from it. Disk format is not necessary, because the disk is empty.

- How to erase disk completely, without chance for recovery?
- Why option to purge MFT table is important and always enabled?
- How to purge contents of MFT table?
- Why even after emptying Recycle Bin deleted files still can be recovered?
- Why number of cycles of overwrite is important?

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Prevent Restore

How to erase disk completely, without chance for recovery?

May I just format the disk?

What is the proper solution?

Don't miss new version!