Erasing your disk: For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away or trading in your Mac, you should erase your entire disk.
Disk Wiper from Paragon software group is the most popular software in the data wiping software category. The software has major Government and Military standards support to ensure the standards of wiping data. You can have your customized wiping pattern with.
- Sep 22, 2017 Disk Wipe Disk Wipe is a portable disk wiping software that works on Windows and can’t be used to wipe the primary hard drive. It is perfect for sanitizing other drives, including USB sticks, external hard drives, and memory cards. It supports DoD 5220-2.M and Gutmann data sanitization methods.
- Disk wiping software, free download - Disk Wipe, Disk Drill, Disk Drill, and many more programs.
- Mar 15, 2018 When you connect a Mac-formatted drive to Windows, you’ll be informed that “you need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it.” Don’t click the “Format disk” button or Windows will erase the contents of the drive–click “Cancel”! This message appears because Windows doesn’t understand Apple’s HFS+ file system.
- Apr 18, 2019 The process for wiping a drive in macOS is no harder than Windows, though it will be slightly different depending on the type of drive you plan to wipe. To start, you'll need to use the Disk.
Erasing a volume on your disk: In other cases, such as when your disk contains multiple volumes (or partitions) and you don't want to erase them all, you can erase specific volumes on the disk.
Erasing a disk or volume permanently deletes all of its files. Before continuing, make sure that you have a backup of any files that you want to keep.
How to erase your disk
- Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.
If you're not erasing the disk your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery. Just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. - Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar in Disk Utility. The sidebar now shows your disks (devices), and any containers and volumes within them. The disk your Mac started up from will be at the top of the list. In this example, Apple SSD is the startup disk:
- Select the disk that you want to erase. Can't see your disk?
- Click Erase, then complete these items:
- Name: Type the name you want the disk to have after you have erased it.
- Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journalled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
- Scheme: Choose GUID Partition Map.
- Click Erase to start erasing your disk, and every container and volume within it. You may be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgotten your Apple ID?
- When it's finished, quit Disk Utility.
- If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the disk you erased, reinstall macOS on the disk.
How to erase a volume on your disk
- Start up from macOS Recovery. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window and click Continue.
If you're not erasing the volume your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery. Just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. - In the sidebar of Disk Utility, select the volume that you want to erase. The volume your Mac started up from will be called Macintosh HD, unless you have changed its name. Can't see your volume?
- Click Erase, then complete these items:
- Name: Type the name you want the volume to have after you have erased it.
- Format: Choose APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journalled). Disk Utility shows a compatible format by default.
- If you see an Erase Volume Group button, the volume you have selected is part of a volume group. In that case, you should erase the volume group. Otherwise, click Erase to erase just the selected volume. You may be asked to enter your Apple ID. Forgotten your Apple ID?
- When it's finished, quit Disk Utility.
- If you want your Mac to be able to start up from the volume you erased, reinstall macOS on that volume.
Reasons to erase
You can erase at any time, including in circumstances such as these:
- You want to permanently erase all the content from your Mac and restore it to factory settings. This is one of the final steps before selling, giving away or trading in your Mac.
- You’re changing the format of a disk, such as from a PC format (FAT, ExFAT or NTFS) to a Mac format (APFS or Mac OS Extended).
- You’ve received a message that your disk isn’t readable by this computer.
- You're trying to resolve a disk issue that Disk Utility can't repair.
- The macOS installer doesn’t see your disk or can’t install on it. For example, the installer might say that your disk isn’t formatted correctly, isn’t using a GUID partition scheme, contains a newer version of the operating system or can’t be used to start up your computer.
- The macOS installer says that you may not install to this volume because it is part of an Apple RAID.
About APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility in macOS High Sierra or later can erase using either the newer APFS (Apple File System) format or the older Mac OS Extended format, and it automatically chooses a compatible format for you.
Disk Wipe software, free download
How to choose between APFS and Mac OS Extended
Disk Utility tries to detect the type of storage and show the appropriate format in the Format menu. If it can’t, it chooses Mac OS Extended, which works with all versions of macOS. If you want to change the format, answer these questions:
- Are you formatting the disk that came built into your Mac?
If the built-in disk came APFS-formatted, Disk Utility suggests APFS. Don't change it to Mac OS Extended. - Are you about to install macOS High Sierra or later for the first time on the disk?
If you need to erase your disk before installing High Sierra or later for the first time on that disk, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled). During installation, the macOS installer decides whether to automatically convert to APFS — without erasing your files. - Are you preparing a Time Machine backup disk or bootable installer?
Choose Mac OS Extended (Journalled) for any disk that you plan to use as a Time Machine backup disk or as a bootable installer. - Will you be using the disk with another Mac?
If the other Mac isn't using macOS High Sierra or later, choose Mac OS Extended (Journalled). Earlier versions of macOS won't work with APFS-formatted volumes.
How to identify the format currently being used
If you want to know which format is currently in use, use any of these methods:
- Select the volume in the Disk Utility sidebar, then check the information shown on the right. For more detail, choose File > Get Info from the Disk Utility menu bar.
- Open System Information and select Storage in the sidebar. The File System column on the right shows the format of each volume.
- Select the volume in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info from the menu bar. The Get Info window shows the Format of that volume.
If your disk or volume doesn't appear or the erase process fails
- Shut down your Mac, then unplug all non-essential devices from your Mac.
- If you're erasing an external drive, make sure it's connected directly to your Mac using a cable that you know is in good working order. Then turn the drive off and back on.
- If your disk or volume still doesn't appear in Disk Utility or Disk Utility reports that the erase process failed, your disk or Mac may need a service. If you need help, please contact Apple Support.
Learn more
- If you can't start up from macOS Recovery, you can use a different startup disk instead.
- If Disk Utility shows a Security Options button in the Erase window, you can click that button to choose between a faster (but less secure) erase and a slower (but more secure) erase. Some older versions of Disk Utility offer the option to zero all data instead. These secure-erase options aren't offered or needed for solid-state drives (SSDs) and flash storage.
The fact with storage devices today is that your data is still accessible after you delete it. The data recovery software available can help you recover your data which you have deleted. So, what if this data goes to some unwanted hands? Data wiping software is basically developed to get you free from recoverable data by completely erasing the storage media.
Related:
DBAN
DBAN is basically designed for individuals with home use device to support data wiping needs. If you are looking for comprehensive, certified data erasure solution for companies and organizations, including reporting, an upgraded version of DBAN; Blancco is suggested. The software offers a long list of features including remapping sectors and hidden areas, secure SSD erasure, RAID dismantling, and user authentication.
Disk Wipe Software For Windows And Mac Pro
Eraser
ERASER allows you to completely remove your data by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. The software erases files, folders, and their previously deleted counterparts completely. ERASER is free software and its source code is released under GNU license. The software can be used to wipe data from any disk that supports Windows.
Safe Wiper
Most of you are using built in factory reset option on your device, which does not fully wipe your device. The data can be still accessed by many of the data recovery software out there. To completely remove your data and help you to never let the data recovered by others, SafeWiper is the option. Eraser writes a random of digits to existing data to make it unrecoverable. The software repeats this process multiple times so that none of the data recovery software can get access to your data.
Secure Wipe for Android
SecureWipe is the software specifically designed to erase data from Android platform running device. The software does not require root access to your phone. This software completely sanitizes your Android device, including the following three sectors; System, internal storage, and SD card. Many SD cards rotate blocks of memory in and out of using wear leveling, to avoid the possibility of having some data left in this condition, the software will have double run to hit all the blocks.
Stellar Wipe for Mac
Stellar Wipe Mac is the data eraser software basically designed for Mac platform users. The software has powerful wiping algorithms in it and ensures permanent erasing of data and beyond the scope of data recovery. The long list of features of this software includes complete wiping of internet browsing data, system traces, recent file histories, and instant messaging data. The software also allows you to schedule the wiping process. You can try the software and test the features for free and later choose to upgrade to full version.
Disk Wipe for Windows
Stellar Wipe Mac is the data eraser software basically designed for Mac platform users. The software has powerful wiping algorithms in it and ensures permanent erasing of data and beyond the scope of data recovery. The long list of features of this software includes complete wiping of internet browsing data, system traces, recent file histories, and instant messaging data. The software also allows you to schedule the wiping process. You can try the software and test the features for free and later choose to upgrade to full version.
Disk Wiper Professional – Most Popular Software
Disk Wiper from Paragon software group is the most popular software in the data wiping software category. The software has major Government and Military standards support to ensure the standards of wiping data. You can have your customized wiping pattern with 4 wiping patterns and up to 99 passes each. You also get a log of corrupt file locations on your partition. The software comes with a price tag, though you can try the demo version first.
How to Install Data Wiping Software?
Many of the data protection software listed above offer a setup file, allowing an easy installation of the software. Few of the software in this category are portable, giving you access from anywhere with just one requirement of bootable USB device. Data wiping software is basically designed for wiping of the data or covering the data with advanced algorithms to make it inaccessible by data recovery software. Mac os recovery partition.
While some software in this category offers free service for the basic need of data wiping, the number of features gets limited for the free version. If you are looking for fully featured software with advanced algorithms and more supported devices, the paid ones are for you. Cheque software for mac online. Each software offering some unique feature over others, it’s the question of personal preferences for selecting one of the best software listed here.