Deleting Files Permanently

[martosprint]

From this article, is it really safe to do it like this without losing anything important especially using the Erase Tab? thanks for a reply.....
Really delete filesKeeping drive space free helps boost Mac responsiveness. Files aren’t truly deleted when you delete. Traces of them continue to exist until the now "free" space they used to occupy is overwritten. To make the most of the space you've created on a hard drive (HDD) Mac by deleting things you don't need anymore, follow this tip:

Empty Trash in Finder
Launch Disk Utility
Select your computer hard drive
Select the Erase tab
Now press Erase Free Space… button
You'll see a new dialog appear, (pictured). The sliding scale lets you choose between the Fastest and Most Secure options to write over unused space.
Choose Fastest for a simple free space over write.
Click Erase Free Space
Now all your deleted items will truly disappear.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

What article do you refer to?

And yes, if you want to make sure, data is not recoverable, you have to overwrite the deleted data via ERASE FREE SPACE or SECURE EMPTY TRASH.

 

[Alrescha]

When the operating system deletes those files it forgets about them. Writing different bits on top of the old bits is not going to make anything faster.

Wiping the free space is a good security exercise, but I imagine that few of us have those kinds of concerns.

A.

 

[martosprint]

What article do you refer to?

And yes, if you want to make sure, data is not recoverable, you have to overwrite the deleted data via ERASE FREE SPACE or SECURE EMPTY TRASH.

Yes that was what I was referring to. Your link was very helpful by the way.

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Thanks for all the replies...