OS X Snow Leopard: How To Securely Empty Trash

Contributed by shamanstears October 30, 2009  
Tagged: Apple Mac

When you normally Empty Trash, the files deleted aren’t actually removed from the computer, their space is just available for other files to occupy. This means that data recovery tools can give someone access to these files. Using Secure Empty Trash will overwrite the deleted files, making sure that the file is gone for good.

You can keep both deletion methods available on your computer by right-clicking (or Ctrl+left-clicking) Trash and selecting Empty Trash to delete files in the normal fashion.

To securely delete the files, Command+right-click (or Ctrl+Command+left-click) the Trash icon and select Secure Empty Trash.

You can also change your system to always securely empty Trash by changing Finder’s preferences.

1. Open Finder.

2. Go to the menu, click Finder and select Preferences.

3. Select the Advanced tab.

4. Check the Empty Trash securely checkbox.

5. Close the Preferences window.