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How to I Permanently Shred Files? Your Complete Guide Is Here

How do you permanently delete files so that they cannot be recovered? Shredding files using a reliable file shredder is the best way. On this page, you'll learn what does shred means, under what circumstances you need to shred files, and how to permanently shred files in Windows 10/8/7 on your own with reliable file shredders.

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Updated by Daisy on Oct 31, 2023
Written by Tracy King

Do you know that files that were "permanently" deleted by emptying the recycle bin or using Shift + Del keys are all still recoverable? So how can you permanently delete files so they cannot be recovered? Here comes the answer: it's to shred files.

Follow this page, you'll learn a complete guide to permanently shred files in Windows 10/8/7 on your own. Let's start now!

Note that the shredded files can never be restored. So please make sure you have backed up all important files to another secure location before shredding files.

Shred File Overview - What Does It Mean to Shred a File

Normally, in many antivirus software, the feature - shred means to destroy the structure of a target file or document, making the file unrecoverable. 

However, in many cases, shred files doesn't mean to destroy a file but to overwrite the file on a hard drive. And this is what most file shredder software doing currently. 

In a word, to shred files is a process to permanently delete files, making them all unrecoverable.

So how do you permanently shred a file on your computer or external hard drive? Move to the next part, we'll answer all of your questions.

How Do I Permanently Shred a File

As we mentioned at the beginning of this page, you can't trust "Shift+Del" or Empty Recycle Bin can shred your files. To permanently shred a file, you'll need to turn to a professional file shredder for help. 

Check the table here, we picked two top recommended file shredder tools that can help you shred files in different locations on your computer or storage devices for different purposes.

Let's see: 

Where to Shred Files Recommended File Shredder Software & Tools
#1. Shred Files/Folders on Desktop& Recycle Bin CCleaner
#2. Shred Files in Partition - Wipe All Data EaseUS Partition Master
#3. Shred Files in HDD/SSD - Erase Disk

Note that some anti-virus programs can also work to shred files in a specific location. If you are interested, you can run one on your computer and have a try. 

Here, to save your time and energy, we picked up two reliable file shredder software to help you with the target. Follow the guide below and learn how to shred files on your own now.

#1. Permanently Shred Files in Folders, Recycle Bin, Dekstop, or Partition

File Shredder: CCleaner

Applies to: Permanently shred a single file or multiple files in a folder, in Recycle Bin, Dekstop, or partition.

How to Use:

Step 1. Click "Cleaner" and check the files that you tend to shred, such as "Empty Recycle Bin", "Temporary Files", etc. 

If you don't want to shred some important documents here, you can also uncheck the boxes in the list.

Select files to shred

Step 2. Click "Options" > "Include" > "Add" > "Browse" under the Drive or Folder section to select a single file or folder in your computer desktop or hard drive partition.

Click "OK" to confirm.

Add files to shred

Step 3. Re-click "Cleaner" and select "Run Cleaner" to start shredding the selected files on your PC.

Confirm to shred files

#2. Shred Files in Partition - Wipe All Data 

File Shredder: EaseUS Partition Master

Applies to: Permanently shred all existing files in a partition or volume, shred all files and restore SD card or external hard drive to full capacity at one time.

Free Download 

Windows 11/10/8/7100% Secure

How to Use:

We've set two options for you to wipe data. Choose the one you need.

Option 1.  Wipe Partition

  • Right-click the partition you want to erase data from, and choose "Wipe".
  • In the new window, set the time for which you want to wipe your partition, then click "OK".
  • Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button in the lower right corner, check the changes, then click "Apply".

Option 2. Wipe Disk

  • Select the HDD/SSD. And right-click to choose "Wipe Disk".
  • Set the number of times to wipe data. (You can set to 10 at most.) Then Click "OK".
  • Click "Execute 1 Task(s)" and then click "Apply".

#3. Shred Files in HDD/SSD - Erase Disk

File Shredder: EaseUS Partition Master

Applies to: Permanently shred all data on a whole hard drive, shred HDD/SSD with all files, erase data and reset hard drive at one time. 

Free Download 

Windows 11/10/8/7100% Secure

How to Use:

We've set two options for you to wipe data. Choose the one you need.

Option 1.  Wipe Partition

  • Right-click the partition you want to erase data from, and choose "Wipe".
  • In the new window, set the time for which you want to wipe your partition, then click "OK".
  • Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button in the lower right corner, check the changes, then click "Apply".

Option 2. Wipe Disk

  • Select the HDD/SSD. And right-click to choose "Wipe Disk".
  • Set the number of times to wipe data. (You can set to 10 at most.) Then Click "OK".
  • Click "Execute 1 Task(s)" and then click "Apply".

2

You May Also Like - List Of File Shredder Software & Tools in 2022

Besides the above two recommended file shredder software, there are still many tools that you can apply to shred files. And here is a list of recommended file shredders for you to try in 2022.

List of Referral File Shredder Software & Tools in 2022:

Anti-Virus File Shredder File Shredder Software
  • Norton Security
  • Avast
  • AVG
  • McAfee
  • BitKiller
  • File Shredder
  • Moo0 File Shredder
  • CCleaner
  • EaseUS Partition Master

To Securely & Permanently Shred Files Is Easy, Follow to Free Up Space on Your Device Now

On this page, explained what does shred files mean, and offered 3 methods with reliable file shredder software to help you shred files on different locations on your device:

  1. #1. Shred single or multiple files in a folder, recycle bin or Desktop.
  2. #2. Shred all files in a partition.
  3. #3. Shred all files in a hard drive or SSD.

As for the easiest file shredder tool, here is Editor's Pick:

  • If you want to shred a single file or a folder, try CCleaner.
  • To permanently shred a whole partition or an entire hard drive, let EaseUS Partition Master help.

Free Download 

Windows 11/10/8/7100% Secure

After following the above steps, you've successfully shredded files on your storage devices or a local hard drive in Windows 10/8/7. You can save more valuable data to the space that was freed up by shredding files with the above-provided solutions. 

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About the Author

Updated by Daisy

Daisy is the Senior editor of the writing team for EaseUS. She has been working at EaseUS for over ten years, starting as a technical writer and moving on to being a team leader of the content group. As a professional author for over ten years, she writes a lot to help people overcome their tech troubles.

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Written by Tracy King

Tracy became a member of the EaseUS content team in 2013. Being a technical writer for over 10 years, she is enthusiastic about sharing tips to assist readers in resolving complex issues in disk management, file transfer, PC & Mac performance optimization, etc., like an expert.

Read full bio

Product Reviews

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  • I love that the changes you make with EaseUS Partition Master Free aren't immediately applied to the disks. It makes it way easier to play out what will happen after you've made all the changes. I also think the overall look and feel of EaseUS Partition Master Free makes whatever you're doing with your computer's partitions easy.

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  • Partition Master Free can Resize, Move, Merge, Migrate, and Copy disks or partitions; convert to local, change label, defragment, check and explore partition; and much more. A premium upgrade adds free tech support and the ability to resize dynamic volumes.

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  • It won't hot image your drives or align them, but since it's coupled with a partition manager, it allows you do perform many tasks at once, instead of just cloning drives. You can move partitions around, resize them, defragment, and more, along with the other tools you'd expect from a cloning tool.

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