When you delete a file and empty the Trash, the file’s data usually stays on the drive until something else is written over it. That’s what makes recovery possible, and it’s also why a card or USB stick you give away can still hold your photos. Reco’s Forget for Good writes over files before deleting them, so a recovery app won’t find them. Drop a whole drive on it and it writes zeros over every byte, then formats it again.
It’s free, and it tells you plainly where a drive can’t promise a file is gone.
The free built-in option first
To erase a whole external drive, Disk Utility can do it: select the drive, click Erase, and, where the button appears, use Security Options to write over the data. Apple only offers that for some drives, and not for SSDs. To clear a whole Mac before selling it, use System Settings ▸ General ▸ Transfer or Reset ▸ Erase All Content and Settings. Forget for Good is for single files and folders, and for drives where you want proof in plain words.
Forget files and folders
- Open Forget for Good from More ways Reco can help or the Tools menu, or drop files straight onto its card.
- Add what to forget. Drop files or folders, or click Choose files…. Nothing happens until you confirm.
- Read what the drive can promise. On a hard drive, card or USB stick, writing over a file usually reaches its data. On an SSD it can’t be guaranteed, and Reco says so before you start.
- Tick “I understand” and click Forget for good.
- Read the result. Each file is reported as written over and deleted, deleted but not guaranteed gone (with the reason), or left as it was (with the reason).
If Safety Net kept copies of those files, they’re dropped first, so nothing can put them back.
Wipe a whole drive, card or USB stick
Overwriting only the files on a drive isn’t enough: files deleted earlier still sit in its free space, which is exactly what recovery apps read. So when you drop a whole drive on Forget for Good, Reco takes it out of Finder, writes zeros over every byte of it, then formats it again with the same name.
- Reco says plainly that every file on the drive will be deleted, and you confirm before it starts.
- macOS asks for your password once.
- It shows progress and the time left, keeps your Mac awake, and can be stopped. Stopping still formats the drive, but anything not yet written over may still be found, so run it again to finish.
- A 1 TB hard drive takes a few hours.
Tested on a 1 TB drive: a full deep scan afterwards found 0 files.
Honest limits
- SSDs: overwriting individual files can’t be guaranteed, because SSDs move data around inside. With FileVault on, what’s left can’t be read without your password.
- APFS: snapshots, including Time Machine’s local ones, can still hold old contents. Reco reports those files as deleted but not guaranteed gone. Whole-drive wiping works on exFAT, FAT32 and Mac OS Extended drives; for an APFS drive, Reco asks you to erase it in Disk Utility instead.
- Not your startup disk as a whole drive, and never files on a drive Reco is recovering from.
- Copies elsewhere aren’t touched: backups, Time Machine, iCloud, or anything you sent to someone.
- Files that belong to macOS, and files with a second name on the drive (hard links), are left alone, and Reco says why.
Passing a drive on but keeping its files? Before You Pass It On clears only the empty space, and shows you the before and after.
Questions
Does emptying the Trash delete files permanently on a Mac?
Not on every drive. On SD cards, USB sticks and hard drives the data stays until it’s overwritten, and a recovery app can often find it. Mac SSDs usually erase deleted data soon after, through TRIM.
How long does it take to wipe a whole drive?
About as long as filling it. A 1 TB hard drive takes a few hours; a small card takes minutes. Reco shows progress and the time left and keeps the Mac awake.
Can I securely delete files on a Mac SSD?
Not with a guarantee. SSDs move data around inside and keep snapshots, so writing over a file can’t reach every old copy. Reco writes over and deletes the file, and says so. FileVault keeps what’s left unreadable without your password.
Can I undo Forget for Good?
No. That’s the point of it. Reco asks you to confirm before it starts.