You can delete a file without erasing it, wipe a drive without wiping it, shred a file without erasing it, and erase hundreds of files at once… that were already deleted.
How to Shred (Erase, Destroy, Delete, and Wipe) Files or Folders
Confused? I’m not surprised! These four terms — wipe, shred, delete, and erase — are sometimes used interchangeably, but they shouldn’t be.
Each word implies something different happening to a file, folder, or even space that appears empty on a hard drive, flash drive, or other storage device.
Below you can read how these concepts differ from each other and why it is important that you understand exactly how they work:
