• External Hard Drive For Mac
• Best External Hard Drives For Mac
• Ssd External Drive For Mac
• External Backup Drive For Mac
• Mac Compatible External Hard Drive
• Completely Free External Drive Software For Mac Windows 7

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Summary :

This post lists top 10 free hard drive data wipe software for Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP. If you want to completely erase all data on hard disk, SSD, external hard drive, USB, etc. on Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP PC, so as to prevent private data from leaking, you can check the tutorial below.

Brief Introduction of Data Wiping and Deleting

Deleting all the data on your hard drive doesn’t mean the data is no longer existed. They are still located on the hard drive. It just deletes the reference of the data in the allocation table and you can’t find it.

By using some data recovery software, you can recover the deleted data and files. Even if you overwrite some new data to the hard drive, some data may still be able to be recovered if the new data doesn’t occupy the entire cluster space of the old data. Some data may be retrievable from slack space.

If you want to completely wipe hard drive and make the data gone forever and unrecoverable, you can use the hard drive wipe software to remove the data on hard disk permanently.

There are some circumstances you may seek for a piece of free hard drive wipe software. For instance, if you’d like to change a new computer and sell the old one, you may think of completely wiping the whole hard drive of the old computer in case your personal data are wrongly used by other people. Still, before you dispose your old external hard drive or USB flash drive, you may also recur to free hard drive eraser software to erase data on them.

This post lists top 10 hard drive data wiping software for Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP to let you wipe PC hard disk, SSD, external hard drive, USB, etc. Therefore, you can keep your privacy safe.

Top 10 Hard Drive/Disk Data Wipe/Erase Software for Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP

#1 MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is an all-in-one disk partition manager. It combines many powerful functions into one tool, e.g. wipe disk/partition/volume, create/resize/extend/format drive partition, recover data/partition, clone disk, migrate OS to SSD/HD, convert disk, and more.

It allows you to manage your computer hard disk (basic or dynamic), SSD, external hard drive, USB flash drive, thumb drive, SD card, hardware RAID, etc. from every aspect.

You can utilize this free hard drive wipe software for Windows 10/8/7 to completely erase all data on PC hard drive, external hard drive, USB flash drive, etc. just in a few clicks. Check the 4 simple steps below.

How to completely wipe hard drive/disk data in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP PC

Firstly, download and install this 100% clean and free disk wipe software – MiniTool Partition Wizard – on Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP.

Step 1. Launch the free disk wipe software

You can double click MiniTool Partition Wizard icon on computer screen to run this program. And this software will auto load all drives in your computer.

Step 2. Choose Wipe Disk option

Click the target disk which needs data wiping, and click Clean Disk – Wipe Disk from the left action panel. Or you can right-click the target disk and choose Wipe Disk.

Step 3. Select hard drive wiping method

In the popup window, this free hard drive wipe software offers 5 kinds of disk erasing methods. You can choose one based on your own need. The longer time it takes, the hard drive data will be cleaned more thoroughly.

Step 4. Start wiping all data from PC drive

You can now preview this disk, it becomes all unallocated now. At last, you should hit Apply button on the top-left of this program to carry out the pending operations.

This hard drive data eraser software will start to wipe all data from Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP hard drive now. And the wiped data cannot be recovered by any data recovery programs any more. Your private data is safe.

How to wipe external hard drive, USB drive permanently in Windows (10)

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive, USB flash drive or SD card to your Windows (10) computer. And launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.

If you don’t find the target external drive you want to erase data from, you can click General > Reload Disk to check again. (Related: External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Fixed)

Step 2. Select the connected external drive and click Wipe Disk option.

Then follow the same 3, 4 step above to completely erase external hard drives in Windows 10/8/7.

Key features of MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate:

• Wipe computer/external drive: Support advanced data wiping algorithms. You can use it to wipe whole disk, or wipe separate partitions. It supports all popular file systems.
• Data recovery: Recover selected data or files from local drive, externa hard drive, USB drive, SD card, lost partition, unallocated space, etc.
• Manage basic disk: Migrate OS to new HD or SSD, recover lost partition, delete all partitions, copy/clone disk, rebuild MBR, disk surface test, etc.
• Manage dynamic disk: Wipe/format/create/delete/resize/move/copy volume, change volume cluster size, letter, label, etc.
• Convert hard disk: Convert GPT disk to MBR disk, convert FAT to NTFS or in reverse, convert dynamic disk to basic disk, initialize to MBR/GPT disk, etc.
• Manage hard drive partition: Wipe/format/resize/extend/create/delete/merge/split/move partition, change drive letter, partition label, cluster size, serial number, type ID, etc.
• Bootable media builder: You can create bootable media with it and use the bootable version to wipe hard drive data without losing operating system. And fix computer unbootable issue.
• Space analyzer: Scan and analyze hard disk space and freely delete space-consuming files or folders.
• Disk benchmark:Test hard drive read and write speed and its performance.

#2 DBAN

Another popular free and open source hard drive data wipe software is DBAN. Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is designed for completely wiping the entire drive permanently. You can choose different wiping methods to erase data from various kinds of drives in Window 10/8/7. It also supports several advanced algorithms like DoD 5220.22-M, random data.

However, you need to burn the ISO image of this software to a flash drive or DVD/CD with a DVD burning software, and then run it from external hard drive when restarting Windows.

#3 Disk Wipe

Disk Wipe is also a top data removal tool. Unlike MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate or DBAN which allows you to create a bootable CD/DVD, so that you can use them to wipe personal hard drive data without operating system.

Disk Wipe is a windows app, so you can only run this tool in the existing Windows OS. You cannot use it to wipe hard drive which runs the current operating system. But you can use it to erase internal SSD, external hard drives.

#4 KillDisk

It is also a top free disk wipe tool for Window 10/8/7. It has free version and advanced version. Its free version only has one type of hard drive erasing method, namely, erase hard drive with one pass zeros. If you want to try other ways to wipe hard drive, you need to pay for the professional version.

#5 CCleaner

This cool Windows (10) PC wipe tool also allows you to wipe computer or external drives. You can use it to wipe data from free space on hard drive or wipe the entire drive. Advanced version also needs to pay.

#6 PCDiskEraser

This free disk wipe software enables you to permanently erase all data in the hard drive. It also uses some professional data erasing standards like U.S. Department of Defense 5220.22. The downside of this tool is that it is also downloaded as an ISO file, and you need to burn it to a disk or USB drive before you can use it.

#7 CBL Data Shredder

You can either use this disk wipe freeware in Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP to wipe external hard drive clean, or boot from it via USB or CD/DVD to erase computer hard drive with OS.

Aside from the provided data sanitation methods, you are also allowed to create custom wiping method.

#8 Eraser

This free hard drive data destruction software provides 10 popular data wiping methods for your choice.

This tool also only runs within Windows, so you can’t use it to wipe computer hard drive which runs the OS. It is compatible with Windows XP-10.

#9 Super File Shredder

This free disk wipe software enables you to drag and drop the hard drive into the program, and then choose one data wiping way to completely destruct the data. It supports traditional hard drives, SSDs, and can work on Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP.

#10 WipeDisk

This hard drive eraser software offers you several data wipe methods: DoD 5220.22-M, Gutmann, Random Data, Write Zero, etc. You can freely choose to wipe data from free space or all files in the hard drive with this top file eraser. Windows 10 is supported.

Other Free Ways to Wipe Windows 10/8/7 PC Hard Drive

Some of you may think of using Windows own free disk manager Diskpart Utility, Disk Manager to try to erase the entire hard drive.

You can open Windows Disk Manager by pressing Windows and R keys on the keyboard at the same time, and then input diskmgmt.msc. In the Disk Manager window, right-click the disk you’d like to wipe clean and click Format. You can also use Windows Diskpart tool to clean all data on selected hard drive.

However, formatting or cleaning up disk doesn’t mean wiping data for good. You can check below the differences between formatting and wiping a hard drive.

What’s the Difference between Formatting and Wiping a Hard Drive?

The first and most importance difference of formatting and wiping a hard drive is: the data in the formatted hard drive can be recovered with some data recovery software, while data in the erased hard drive can’t be restored.

Disk formatting:

Formatting a hard drive is the process of initializing the hard drive, SSD, USB drive. The formatting process often include: low-level formatting (basic medium preparation), partitioning (make the storage device visible to OS), and high-level formatting (generate a new file system). Formatting a drive generally leaves all data on the disk, and you can use some data recovery tools to get the data back if the drive is not overwritten. If you want to avoid the recovery of your private sensitive data, you can use one of top 10 free hard drive data wipe software to permanently erase the data.

Disk wipe:

Also known as data erasure or data sanitization. It is the real permanent data removal process and it’s impossible to retrieve data from a wiped disk. Data wiping aims to completely destroy all data from the hard drive or other storage devices. It uses zeros and ones to overwrite data to fill into all hard disk sectors. Through this overwriting, the old data on the hard drive is unrecoverable any more. Most of the disk wipe software listed above allows you to select a specific wiping standard based on your own needs, and lets you remove all data from the device.

How to Destroy a Hard Drive

If you think the completely hard drive data wiping is not enough, and you still worry about your privacy, then you may turn to the last draw: destroy the old hard drive permanently with professional hard drive destruction tools before disposing it.

You may try these hard drive destroy solutions: destroy the magnetic platter inside, use screwdriver to remove and destroy most parts of the hard disk, or use a hammer to totally destroy the hard drive.

How to Clean Hard Drive with Best Free Hard Drive Cleaner

If your hard drive is running out of space, and you only want to free up some space, then wiping the hard drive is not your choice.

A professional hard drive space analyzer and cleaner would help. MiniTool Partition Wizard new function – Space Analyzer – helps you easily scan the disk or specific partition to figure out which files occupy most space and allows you to directly delete unneeded large files. You can also use it to easily extend the C drive.

Check the related guides:

How to Recover Data from Hard Disk, External Hard Drive, USB, etc.

Once you wipe the hard drive with professional hard drive data eraser, the hard drive will leave no traces of the old data.

However, if you mistakenly delete some files or format the drive, you can easily recover the deleted or lost data with MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate.

This program equips two hard drive data recovery functions: data recovery, partition recovery. Here we’ll introduce how to recover deleted or lost data from computer hard drive, SSD, external hard drive, USB flash drive, etc.

Get MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate below and install it on your Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP computer. If you’d like to recover data from external drives, you need to connect it with your computer first.

Step 1. Launch this best data recovery software, and click Data Recovery function in the toolbar.

Step 2. Choose which device you’d like to recover data from. And click Scan. Optionally you can click Settings to choose to scan specific types of files.

Step 3. This software will begin scanning the chosen hard drive or partition, and display the recovered files in the plate.

Step 4. Find the files you need and click Save icon to store them to a new drive.

Conclusion

By browsing the top 10 free hard drive data wipe software, hope you find your desired way to completely erase the entire Windows (10) computer hard drive, SSD, external hard drive, USB/thumb drive, SD card, etc.

Need to mention that the all-in-one disk wipe software for Windows 10/8/7 – MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate – is also an easy-to-use data recovery program. You can also use it recover deleted/lost data or partitions with ease.

If you still have questions about how to completely destroy data in hard drive for protecting privacy, or have other suggestions about MiniTool software, please visit Help or FAQ page or contact [email protected].

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Jun 08, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

Is there any free data recovery software?

There are about 50 million results rendered when you search the term 'free data recovery software Mac' or 'best data recovery software Mac' on Google. On this post, which offers the reviews on the top 10 Free Mac Data Recovery software. Read on and pick up the most suitable one for you to rescue Mac data without paying anything, it is the best way to recover deleted files from Mac.

Top 10 Free Data Recovery Software for Mac

1. Recoverit Mac Data Recovery

When it comes to the free data recovery software for Mac, Recoverit Mac Data Recovery is reckoned to be the best one. With a 96% recovery rate, it enables you to recover lost or deleted data on Mac without any effort and knowledge base. It is a 100% safe and reliable free Mac file recovery program to help you retrieve any data from Mac hard drive or any external device on Mac.

Features:

Apple File System (APFS) is now the default file system for the latest macOS, coming with safer data storage, faster write-and-read speed and larger space available. However, the encryption feature makes lost data recovered more difficultly and even impossibly. Recoverit is the software for you to recover lost data from APFS-based Mac. Even more, it supports the Mac data recovery from other different file systems, like HFS, HFS+, FAT/exFAT, and NTFS.

Besides, it supports to recover data from various devices in different situations, such as accidental deletion, power failure, computer shutdown, damaged and corrupted hard disk drive, formatted hard drive, virus attack, lost partition or other data loss scenarios.

On top of that, the best free data recovery tool for Mac is capable of recovering data from a variety of data storage devices, for example, Mac hard drive, external hard disk, USB flash drive, SD card, media players, digital cameras, Drone cameras, camcorders, Android phone, etc. That's why you can be reassured no matter where you lost your Mac data.

Overall Reviews: ★★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages: all-around scan and deep scan; thumbnails and preview of lost files; recover 1000+ formats of files for free in all situations; intuitive interface.

Improvement: RAID hard drive recovery is not supported; recover 100 MB Mac files for free.

2. Ontrack EasyRecovery Home for Mac

Ontrack EasyRecovery is a user-friendly program for you to perform Mac file recovery precisely under different data loss scenarios, especially for accidentally deleted files. The free Mac recovery version, with a 1 GB limit, supports you recovering lost data from Mac-based device or recovering deleted backup files from Apple Time Machine.

Features:

You can use this Mac data recovery tool to recover hundreds of files types on different Mac OS like Mac OSx 10.14, 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, and legacy OS. The quick scan and deep scan options search through the storage device more effectively, including internal hard disk, removable media, and RAID hard drive.

Moreover, the Mac data recovery software claims that it can recover lost data from hard drive that is encrypted or password protected. After the test, we find that it does sometimes. Like Recoverit Mac Data Recovery, EasyRecovery for Mac also provides the preview function of recoverable files and recovers files with the original file names.

Overall Reviews: ★★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages: hundreds of supported files, data preview function, full version of software available for use in the trial version.

Improvement: low success rate, time-consuming recovery process.

3. Mac Free Any Data Recovery

Mac Free Any Data Recovery is able to help you reclaim a variety of files from the depths of damaged drives. It is one of the first free data recovery software that provides free trials for users - this data recovery solution is one of the few that allows users to experience the full version of the software for free. This Mac data recovery software is easy to use and kept simple with two scanning modes: quick and deep.

Features:

The common files can be recovered with the free data recovery software for Mac, including photos, videos, music, mails, PDF documents, Office documents, RAR/ZIP files, game files, system data and so on. It supports the Mac data recovery on Mac OS X 10.9 (Marvericks) or later. So if you want to recover your lost data from Mac OS X 10.8, it is not the option for you.

Overall Reviews: ★★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages: very speedy scan, retrieve a wide range of files, preview files before Mac recovery.

Improvement: recover 20 files for free only, need to upgrade to the paid version for all features.

4. Cisdem Data Recovery

This Mac data recovery tool provides a free trial for you to scan and preview lost files due to hard drive crash or corruption, formatting, unintentional deletion, improper operation, factory reset, macOS upgrade, and virus attack. It provides five recovery options: Basic Data Recovery, Mac Trash Recovery, External Drive Recovery, Formatted Drive Recovery and Advanced Data Recovery. But actually, after our test, we think that you can directly use the option of 'Advanced Data Recovery' to make sure your files will not be further damaged after repeated scan.

Features:

It is an easy-to-use software that allows you to recover a wide range of files quickly. Like Recoverit, the well-recognized powerful data recovery software, it requires you to take 3 steps only for recovering lost data on Mac, that's choose a data loss scenario, scan and preview recoverable files and finally choose the files to recover. The simple recovery process simplifies your job in Mac data rescue and does save much time.

Overall Reviews: ★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages: intuitive design, easy-to-use, powerful recovery capacity, preview before recovery.

Improvement: free version only allows files scan and preview, not compatible with other types of operating systems, have no the filtering option for scan.

5. Data Rescue 5

This Mac hard drive recovery software that allows you to search for and restore data that are lost from damaged drives and accidental deletion from the disk they are stored in. Its free version allows you to recover 2GB of data and it is able to perform quick scan, deep scan, deleted files scan, and clone recovered file.

Features:

It comes with 4 options at the beginning to meet your different needs, namely Start Recovering Files, View Previous Scan Results, Clone and Create Recovery Drive. The data rescue software for Mac can recover data backups from Time Machine, recognize the duplicate files and eliminate the recovery of duplications.

Overall Reviews: ★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages: intuitive interface, offers a low entry-level pricing plan (PaperByte?) for those who do not need to recover massive amounts of data.

Improvement: slow scanning and recovery speeds, need to fill in an application form to use the free version, only scan and preview available with the free version, only support 100+ file types.

6. Disk Drill

Disk Drill Mac is a great Mac data recovery software that does not only provide data recovery solutions, but also data protection capabilities with its Recovery Vault feature. This will prevent accidental deletion and backup failing disks. Like most great data recovery software, it allows users to preview files to help you decide which files to recover.

Features:

The same as many other Mac data recovery tools, it provides quick scan and deep scan options. With the quick scan, you can recover missing files on Mac in a quick way, while the deep scan technology can dive deeper your device for lost data. Also like Recoverit, it supports you recovering files from emptied Mac trash easily and quickly.

It works well with Mac 10.8 or later OS and allows you to filter files and recover data selectively. The drawback is that only 200 different file types are available for data rescue through the Mac file recovery software, including pictures, videos and documents.

Overall Review: ★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages : comes with a SMART disk to monitor your hardware's disk status, preview of files, Recovery Vault feature.

Improvement: free version only allows files scan and preview, difficult to navigate, scan result does not show original file names and folder paths.

7. M3 Mac Data Recovery Free

This free Mac data recovery software is one of the many freeware available to recover deleted data and lost files on your Mac. You will be able to apply the tools to a wide range of file formats that have been compromised by a corrupted hard disk, virus attack, system error, power failure etc. It can be used on non-Apple products as well.

Features:

It is the free undelete Mac software, compatible with Mac OS 10.7 through High Sierra. What makes it stand out from other Mac data recovery software is the Bitlocker Recovery feature. It allows you to recover Mac data from a deleted or lost Bitlocker encrypted partition. The drawback of the feature is that you have to offer the password for decrypting data.

Overall Review: ★★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages : high success rate, easy-to-use user interface, full version available for free trial.

Improvement : slow scan speed, can only use free trial for a limited amount of time.

8. Lazesoft Data Recovery

External Hard Drive For Mac

It is one of the truly free data recovery software out there that offers data recovery capabilities of the OS X operating system. You are able to scan and recover unlimited amount of data using this tool.

Features:

You can recover data from resized partitions, formatted hard drives, memory cards and iPod. You can also recover photos, videos, music, documents and applications on Mac HFS/HFS+/FAT/NTFS file systems.

Overall Review: ★★★★ (5-star rating)

Best External Hard Drives For Mac

Advantages: completely free, easy-to-use user interface.

Improvement: does not allow you to preview files, not support the newest Mac OS.

9. PhotoRec

PhotoRec Data Recovery is a free data recovery tool for your Mac. It is able to recover data that was lost due to a variety of reasons. It offers users 8 recovery modes for users to support you restoring Mac files lost due to deletion, formatting, lost partition, virus attack and system crash.

Features:

Different types of data can be recovered on Mac, including photos, videos, audios and emails. The recovered data remains intact in the original condition. The biggest drawback is that it is very hard for even an experienced person to use the Mac data recovery tool. Recovering Mac files with PhotoRec is a little like using the computer command line to perform the recovery process. And it is very easy to do wrong operations and cause further damage to your data.

Overall Reviews: ★★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages: ability to preview files before recovering data on Mac, free Mac data recovery without any limit.

Improvement: slower than average scan and recovery speeds, not user-friendly, need professional skill

10. Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery Software

The Mac data recovery tool is one of the best software users can use to get back deleted or lost files from your Mac machines. The name of this app is very significant as it equates recovered files with a phoenix rising from the ashes!

Overall Review: ★★★ (5-star rating)

Advantages: fast, reliable, easy-to-use.

Ssd External Drive For Mac

Improvement: no automated previewer, free version is for scan and preview only.

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac

How to Select Your Mac Data Recovery Software

After testing and reviewing the 10 best free Mac data reocvery software, we can conclude all the key attributes that a piece of powerful Mac data recovery software should have.

• Support a wide range of files. There are so many types and formats of data we need and use every day. So it is very important for Mac data recovery software to recover almost all kinds of data, at least photos, videos, music, audios and Office documents.
• Support to Mac data recovery in all situations. Data loss can happen due to numerous factors, such as accidental deletion, virus attack, emptied Mac trash, hard drive corruption, formatting, and lost partitions.
• Support a variety of device. We need different electronic devices to help us keep data preserved and protected, especially digital cameras, Mac computers, external hard drives, cell phones, flash drives and so on.
• Straightforward interface. Not everyone is an expert in computer running algorithm or data recovery technology. So for an ideal Mac data recovery program, ease of use is necessary.
• Free Mac data recovery. As we can see, not all free Mac data recovery software can help you recover files on Mac totally free. If the software comes with only free scan and preview functions. It is not recognized as a free one.

External Backup Drive For Mac

What Is the Best Free Data Recovery Software for Mac?

Mac Compatible External Hard Drive

After viewing the above content, we think that everyone has their own choice. You can choose your software according to your own needs. For example, if you are a professional computing expert, you can choose PhotoRec Data Recovery. It needs professional skills and has very complicated recovery process, but it is able to help you recover files on Mac for free. However, if you want to recover Mac data more quickly and easily, it might be not a good option.

On the contract, Recoverit can help you recover lost or deleted files on Mac in 3 steps. It requires no professional skills in computing and technology. It also enables you to preview different types and formats of data on Mac.

The Bottom Line:

All the free Mac data recovery software above mentioned can help you recover lost data on Mac. If you want the easier and effective way to recover your deleted or lost data, we recommend Recoverit Data Recovery software. It is a reliable and safe Mac data recovery program. Download and try it for free now

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