Securely Empty Trash on OX El Capitan with Terminal You should notice that using secure empty trash feature to delete files will takes a bit longer than simply emptying the Trash. To empty the Trash securely by default, choose Finder > Preferences > Advanced, then select 'Empty Trash securely.' If your Mac/MacBook runs on OS X 10.10 Yosemite or earlier, you can use the built in secure empty trash feature easily:ĭrag the files into the Trash, then choose Finder > Secure Empty Trash.

Secure Empty Trash on OS X Yosemite and Earlier But since El Capitan, Apple has cut the feature because it is can not work on flash storage, such as SSD (which is adopted by Apple to its new Mac/MacBook models.) Therefore, if your Mac/MacBook are running on El Capitan or later, you'll need other ways to empty the Trash securely. The secure empty trash feature used to be available on OS X Yosemite and earlier. That's why you need secure empty trash feature, which make the files unrecoverable by writing a series of meaningless ones and zeroes over deleted files. If someone use a recovery software on your Mac before the files are overwritten, they could scan out the deleted files. When you simply empty the Trash, the files and folders in the Trash are not totally erased but still remain in your Mac until they are overwritten by new data. Securely Empty Trash on OX El Capitan with Terminal.Secure Empty Trash on OS X Yosemite and Earlier.

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