Delete Your Trash Securely

Task #43

Difficulty Level 2

When you empty your Trash by clicking Finder → Empty Trash or with the z+Shift+Delete keyboard shortcut, you may think that the contents are gone forever; however, that is really not true. Those files can still be read using a third-party disk utility such as Norton SystemWorks, and the data can be restored.

If you are working with sensitive or personal data that needs to be erased — permanently — then use the Secure Empty Trash menu command, which overwrites the contents of the Trash several times with random data and prevents those files from being restored in the future.

Did You Know?

Items that you have moved to the Trash remain there until you use one of the two Empty Trash commands. To restore a file from the Trash, simply double-click the Trash icon in the dock to display the contents and then drag the folder or file back to its original location.