Secure File Deletion in Mac OS X
For Apple computers that either have a SSD, or are running at least Mac OS X version 10.11:Secure Delete is ineffective on computers that use Solid State Drives (SSDs), and the Secure Delete option has been removed as of Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) as Apple moves to SSDs in all of their new computers.
For computers with SSD's, we recommend you encrypt the computer with File Vault.
When deleting a file on a computer where File Vault is enabled, the deleted file data will remain encrypted.
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If you are using a Mac that is running macOS version 10.10 or earlier, and it has a spinning hard drive (typically all desktop Macs and most laptops that have a CD/DVD drive), you can either also use File Vault, or continue to follow the directions below to use Secure Delete when emptying the trash.
To check if your computer has a SSD or spinning hard drive (MacOS 10.11 or earlier):
- Click on the Apple logo in the menubar and select About this Mac.
- Click either System Report or System Info
- In the System Information report, go to Hardware > Storage.
- If there are two panes on the right, in the top right pane, click on the drive that is your main hard drive (typically Macintosh HD).
- In the bottom right pane, look for the Physical Volume section.
- Look for the Medium Type field.
- It will either say Rotational (spinning hard drive), or SSD.
- If it is Rotational, you can use the Secure Empty Trash below, or encrypt via File Vault.
- If it is SSD, you can only secure your files via File Vault.
To Secure Empty Trash on a spinning hard drive:
- Drag the files or folders you wish to securely delete to the Trash, located at the far right end of the Dock.
- Click once on the Trash icon to open the Trash folder and make sure you are ok with permanently deleting all files and folders in the Trash.
- From the menubar, choose Finder > Secure Empty Trash.
- You will see a warning message alerting you that the files will be deleted. Click OK to start the secure deletion process.
- NOTE: The Secure Empty Trash process takes slightly longer than a normal emptying of the Trash because the files and folders are overwritten several times to make them unrecoverable.
- Once the progress bar disappears, all files and folders that were in the Trash have been securely erased and are completely irrecoverable.