Deleting files safely

Deleting a file from the operating system using the Delete command usually does not prevent the restoration of the file at a later time.
Pay close attention to the deletion of sensitive data.

If you need to safely delete all the data of a device (such as computer, usb hard drive), contact Helpdesk and tell them where and when they can collect the device for wiping.

NOTE! Deleting a file by overwriting it does not necessarily destroy it permanently in the case of an SSD hard drive. To be sure, order the wiping of the entire drive from Helpdesk. See below for instructions on how to determine the hard drive type of your device.

Windows

Delete a file using the operating system’s Delete command. Then right-click the Windows button and choose Windows Powershell in the menu which opens to start the PowerShell. To permanently delete a file or folder, use the command cipher /W:[directory], for example cipher /W:Z:\file to delete.

MacOS

Start the Terminal command line application. Command rm –P [file location] removes and overwrites the file. Use –pr SHRED? to remove a folder.

Linux

The command line commend shred (instructions: shred --help) removes and overwrites the file three times by default.

If you don’t know the drive type of your computer, you can determine it as follows:

Windows 10

• Click Start > Windows PowerShell > Windows PowerShell.
  

• At the prompt, enter Get-PhysicalDisk (Item 1 in the figure).
• Column MediaType (2) shows the information of your computer’s hard drives. In this example, the computer has two drives, one normal HDD drive and one SSD drive.
  
  

Mac

• Open Apple Menu > About This Mac > System Report.
• In the Overview tab, open System Report.
  
  
• Open Hardware > Storage. The types of the computer’s hard drives are shown in the right under Medium Type.
  
  

Linux

• At the prompt, enter lsblk -d -o name,rota ((1), rota comes from the words rotational device. For SSD drives, its value is = 0)).
• Column (2) shows the information of your computer’s hard drives. In this example, drive sda is an SSD drive and sdb is an HDD drive.