How to Securely Empty the Trash on a Mac

When you move a file to the trash on your Mac computer and then empty the trash, the file's data disappears from your computer, but it is not entirely erased from the system's hard drive. This allows you to recover the data in case you accidentally deleted a file you want back. If you have private data that you want to permanently delete from your computer, however, you can securely empty the trash and make the deleted data unrecoverable.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mac running OS X 10.4 or later

1. Click anywhere on the desktop of your computer to switch to the Finder.

2. Drag the files that you want to permanently delete from your computer to the Trash icon in the Dock.

3. Click on the Trash icon in the Dock to view all items currently located in the Trash. Remove any files from the trash that you do not want to be permanently deleted.

4. Open the "Finder" menu at the top of the screen and choose the "Secure Empty Trash" option.

5. Click "OK" on the confirmation pop-up window to confirm your decision to securely empty the trash.

References

• Emptying the Trash