Free Software To Erase Free Space In Mac

1. Free Software To Erase Free Space In Mac Computer
2. How To Free Disk Space On Mac
3. Erase Free Space Mac Ssd
4. How To Free Up Space On Mac

Oct 03, 2017  Secure Erase free Space/cleaning the data from MAC: Before one is selling a mac, all the data from it or it can be done just to increase the speed of the MAC operating system. This is a very crucial step because any information left on the device can have serious drawbacks. There are following steps that can be used to remove the data. Jul 12, 2018  The Secure Erase Free Space feature in Disk Utility on your Mac added a layer of privacy and security to file deletion. The feature allowed you to overwrite the free space on a drive to prevent. Erase free disk space mac free download - Disk Inventory X, Disk Drill, StarCraft Demo for Mac (Classic OS), and many more programs.

After reading that title, you must be asking yourself: How will I delete hard drive space that is already ‘free’?

Well, you might not know this, but once you delete any file from your Mac the usual way, the file actually remains there, only that it is no longer usable by your Mac. Then, when you add more files to your Mac, they ‘overwrite’ the space taken by those unusable files that you deleted previously.

What this means is that an advanced user who might come into possession of your Mac can actually recover files that you have deleted previously. Unless, of course, you delete them securely first.

For this, using the Terminal utility is perhaps the best way out, since it allows you much more control over what you are doing.

Important Note: Always remember to use Terminal ONLY when you are confident in what you are doing, since a simple mistake when using this utility can cause some serious damage to your Mac.

So let’s learn how to securely erase all that free space on your Mac’s hard drive with Terminal.

First, here is the Terminal command we will be using. Just keep it there for now, since you will need to slightly change it before proceeding.

diskutil secureErase freespace 1 /dev/disk0s2

This is because this command uses slightly different values for each Mac, so before using it on Terminal, you will have to find the exact values for your Mac first.

– The first value to change is the number ‘1’. You can actually choose between ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3’ here. Using number ‘1’ erases your disk’s free space using a random single pass (one ‘pass’ means that the system overwrites the deleted files once). Number ‘2’ uses a 7-pass secure erase and number ‘3’ uses a special algorithm to perform a huge 35-pass secure erase.

Obviously, the higher the number you choose, the longer the process will take. Usually, using numbers ‘1’ or ‘2’ should be more than enough to perform a safe erase.

– Now, the second value you need to know is the Identifier number of the disk where you want to perform the process. For this, open Terminal and copy and paste this command:

diskutil list

This will display a list of all your Mac’s hard drives. What you need to copy is the Identifier number beside your selected disk. In my case, I want to securely erase the free space on the disk with 120.5 GB, so its Identifier number would be ‘disk0s2’.

With this information, you can now use the first command from above:

diskutil secureErase freespace 1 /dev/disk0s2

Just make sure to keep the number on ‘1’ or to change it to either ‘2’ or ‘3’ depending on how secure you want the erase process to be. Also, change ‘disk0s2’ to your hard drive’s own Identifier number. Once ready, press Enter/Return.

After you do, just sit back and watch Terminal do its magic securely erasing all your hard drive’s free space.

The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#hard disk #terminal

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Every time you delete any file or document on the Mac hard drive it creates a free space. This free space can be utilized for storing other data. However, if this free space doesn’t get overwritten, then it can be used to retrieve the previous data that it held using a data recovery tool. Now, if you are selling the hard drive of your Mac and don’t want the person buying it to recover the documents that you deleted then you must erase free space on Mac hard drive. However, make sure that the erasure is done in a secure manner without damaging the hard disk.

Part 1: How to Erase Free Space on Hard Drives in Mac OS X

You will have to use the Disk Utility app provided by your Mac OS X to erase free space on Mac hard drive. It offers you the chance to overwrite on the free space left on your hard disk so that no one is able to retrieve the data that was previously stored on it. However, do keep in mind that this method for free space erasure is only applicable for traditional hard drive and won’t work on SSD versions that utilize flash memory.

1. The initial step is to start the Disk Utility app. This app is located in the Utilities menu which can itself be found in the Applications menu. You can use the Launchpad for launching this app as well.
2. If the hard drive whose free spaces you want to erase is an external hard disk then you would have to connect it to the Mac and then select it from the menu located on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Click the Erase free space button after opening the Erase tab.
4. Pick the level of erasure you want and the click the Erase free space to start the overwriting process on the hard drive’s vacant spaces.
5. There are three different erasure options available to you which are Fastest, Secure and Most Secure. Fastest option overwrites the free space just once while Secure and Most Secure options do that three and seven times respectively.
6. Select any of the erasure options that you like and then click the Erase free space button.

Part 2: How to Secure Erase Free Space on Hard Drives in Windows

Although the Disk Utility app of Mac OS X can erase free space on Mac hard drive, there is a chance that it might not be able to do so in a secure manner. To make sure that the erasing of the free space is completed without any damage to the hard drive then using a data erasure tool is the best option. There are various such tools available on the internet but the best one among them is Stellar BitRaser for File. It has the capability to secure erase free space on hard drives and ensure that the deleted data can’t be recovered.

Free Software To Erase Free Space In Mac Computer

• Completely erases the data, ensuring that it can’t be recovered using any data recovery tool.
• Supports multiple data erase algorithms which can be used for erasing data.
• Provides a search feature for quickly search the file or document which needs to be erased from the hard drive.
• Offers the chance to erase the chat history of messaging services like Yahoo and Skype.
• Capable of erasing all traces of internet activity including the internet history maintained by popularly used browsers.

Step 1: Download Stellar BitRaser for File on your Windows PC, take out the hard drive on Mac and connect it to Windows computer.

Step 2: Click the 'Erase Unused Space' option on the left, to select your Mac hard drive.

Step 3: Selected your Mac hard drive and click 'Erase Now' button to process.

Step 4: After a while, the Mac hard drive erase complete and you can reboot the system.

How To Free Disk Space On Mac

While other data erasure tools take several passes to erase the free space on a hard drive, Stellar BitRaser only requires a single pass to erase it permanently. However, if you feel the need to take another pass then you can take two more passes. This will ensure beyond doubt that the free space on your Mac hard drive is erase forever.

In order for you to use Stellar BitRaser for File to erase free space on Mac hard drive, you need to take it out from your Mac first. The reason for this is that this data erasure tool isn’t compatible with Mac OS X and works only on Windows. So, you need to connect the Mac hard disk to a Windows PC before you erase the free spaces on it using Stellar BitRaser for File.

In short, deleting data on the Mac hard drive doesn’t securely erase it. It just creates free space which can be used for recovering the deleted data using a data recovery tool. So, you need to erase free space on Mac hard drive. The Disk Utility app of Mac OS X can be used for erasure of these free spaces. However, for secure erasure, you need to make use of a reliable data erasure tool like Stellar BitRaser for File. It can erase the vacant spaces on your Mac hard drive and make sure that the data that they contained previously can’t be retrieved using any professional Mac data recovery tool.

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