For example, you can use a command called srm, which can “securely remove files or directories.” To do this, open Terminal (go to Finder > Applications > Utilities ) it’s in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder, and then type the following: There are still a couple of ways you can securely delete files in El Capitan.
Secure empty trash mac el capitan how to#
How to securely delete files in El Capitan While many Mac users miss this option, Apple felt it’s better to be safe and not offer it if the feature isn’t 100% reliable. As such, securely emptying the Trash is not reliable. In layman’s terms, what this means is that while you may be able to securely delete a file or folder, you cannot be certain that other copies of that file are not recoverable.
When OS X saves a copy of a file, it doesn’t write that file to the same part of the disk. This issue was addressed by removing the “Secure Empty Trash” option. As the company says in its notes for security fixes:įinder Available for: Mac OS X v10.6.8 and later Impact: The “Secure Empty Trash” feature may not securely delete files placed in the Trashĭescription: An issue existed in guaranteeing secure deletion of Trash files on some systems, such as those with flash storage.
Unfortunately, when OS X El Capitan was released, Apple removed the Secure Empty Trash feature due to a vulnerability identifid as CVE-2015-5901. What this did was overwrite the files with zeroes, making it much harder - nearly impossible, in fact - to recover the files. Previous versions of OS X used to have a Secure Empty Trash feature, which would securely delete the contents of the Trash.
How to Securely Empty Trash in OS X El Capitan Sat systems