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List of data-erasing software

This is a list of utilities for performing data erasure.

Last revised
May 30, 2026
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This is a list of utilities for performing data erasure.

Name Developer Licensing Operating system required to run Maintained? Supported wipe methods Reports
BleachBit Andrew Ziem and contributors GNU General Public License Windows, Linux Yes external1 on screen, Copy and Paste-able
CCleaner Piriform Trialware Windows, OS X Yes external2 ?
Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) Darik Horn GNU General Public License OS independent, based on Linux No external3 ?
dd45 Same as host OS Unix Yes external not directly supported without scripting
Disk Utility Apple Commercial proprietary software OS X Yes external6 ?
Eraser Heidi Computers Limited GNU GPL v3 Windows Yes external7 ?
HDDerase University of California, San Diego Freeware OS independent, based on DOS No internal8 ?
hdparm Mark Lord BSD license Linux Yes internal9 not directly supported without scripting
nwipe Martijn van Brummelen GNU GPL v2 Linux Yes external Yes
Parted_Magic Patrick Verner, Parted Magic LLC uses mostly GPL components with published source, a few proprietary components, and fee for media/download1011 OS independent, based on Slackware Linux Yes internal, external12 CSV, TXT, and extended TXT13
shred GNU Project GNU GPL v3 Unix Yes external14 not directly supported without scripting
ShredIt Mireth Technology, Burningthumb Software Trialware Windows, OS X Yes ? ?
srm Dirk Jagdmann MIT License15 Unix Yes external not directly supported without scripting
BitRaser Stellar Data Recovery Inc. Pay Per Use License No OS needed Yes
References

References

  1. "BleachBit Features". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  2. "CCleaner Features". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  3. "DBAN / Blancco Feature Comparison". Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  4. Elliot, Duncan (11 November 2009). "Using "dd" and "urandom" to write random data to a disk". Duncan Elliot's blog. IBM. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  5. Hodgetts, Benjamin (4 December 2010). "Securely Wiping (Zero Writing) a Drive". Robot Butler. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  6. "OS X: About Disk Utility's erase free space feature". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  7. "Appendix A: Erasure Methods". Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  8. "HDDErase Readme". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  9. "kernel.org ATA wiki". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  10. "Parted Magic software components". Parted Magic software list. 3 April 2016.
  11. "Parted Magic source code". Retrieved 3 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  12. "Parted Magic Secure Erase". Parted Magic web site. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  13. "Parted Magic Secure Erase". Parted Magic web site. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  14. "shred invocation". Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  15. "secure rm". SourceForge. Dice Holdings. 31 January 2014.
See also

See also