How to Use the Secure Empty Trash Feature in Mac OS Mojave

Posted on 16th June 2023

Introduction

Mac OS Mojave introduces a new feature called “Secure Empty Trash”, which is designed to provide a more secure way to delete files by overwriting them with zeroes. This can be useful if you are concerned about someone being able to recover deleted files from your drive. In this article, we’ll show you how to use the Secure Empty Trash feature in Mac OS Mojave.

Using Secure Empty Trash

To use the Secure Empty Trash feature, simply select the files or folders that you want to delete, and then click on the “Secure Empty Trash” button in the Finder window. You will be prompted to confirm that you want to delete the selected items. Once you click on the “Secure Empty Trash” button, the selected items will be overwritten with zeroes and then permanently deleted.

Conclusion

The Secure Empty Trash feature in Mac OS Mojave provides a more secure way to delete files by overwriting them with zeroes. This can be useful if you are concerned about someone being able to recover deleted files from your drive. In this article, we showed you how to use the Secure Empty Trash feature in Mac OS Mojave.

Assuming you have already deleted the files you want to delete, and emptied the Trash:

Go to the Finder in the Dock.
Click on the Finder Preferences icon in the top toolbar. It looks like a gear.
In the General tab, check the option for Empty Trash securely.
Close the Preferences window.
Now, to empty the Trash, go to the Finder and click on the Empty Trash option in the top toolbar. A pop-up window will appear asking if you are sure you want to delete the items in the Trash.
Click Empty Trash.

You will see a progress bar as the items are deleted. Once the process is complete, the Trash will be emptied.

When using the Secure Empty Trash feature in Mac OS Mojave, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, this feature is only available on Macs that are using the solid state drive (SSD) format. If you have a Mac with a traditional hard drive, you will not be able to use this feature.

Second, the Secure Empty Trash feature will only work if you have FileVault enabled on your Mac. FileVault is a feature that encrypts your Mac’s hard drive, making it more difficult for someone to access your data if your Mac is lost or stolen. To enable FileVault, open the System Preferences app and click on the Security & Privacy icon. Click the FileVault tab and then click the Turn On FileVault button.

Once FileVault is enabled, you can use the Secure Empty Trash feature by following these steps:

1. Open the Finder app and then click on the Empty Trash option in the Finder menu.

2. A dialog box will appear asking if you are sure you want to delete the items in the Trash. Click the Secure Empty Trash button.

3. A new dialog box will appear asking if you are sure you want to securely empty the Trash. This process cannot be undone, so make sure you really want to delete the items in the Trash before clicking the Empty Trash button.

4. The items in the Trash will be securely deleted and will not be recoverable.

If you have any sensitive data on your Mac that you want to make sure is completely deleted, you can use the Secure Empty Trash feature. Just keep in mind that this feature is only available on Macs with an SSD and that you need to have FileVault enabled to use it.

Secure Empty Trash is a feature in Mac OS Mojave that allows you to securely delete files from your Trash. When you use this feature, the files in your Trash are not just deleted, but are overwritten with random data. This makes it much more difficult for someone to recover the deleted files.

To use Secure Empty Trash, first open the Trash from the Dock. Then, control-click or right-click on the Trash icon in the Dock and select “Secure Empty Trash” from the menu.

You will be asked to confirm that you want to securely delete the files in your Trash. Click “Empty Trash” to continue.

The process of securely deleting the files in your Trash may take a few minutes, depending on how many files are in your Trash. Once it is finished, the files in your Trash will be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Secure Empty Trash is a feature in Mac OS Mojave that helps you keep your data safe and secure. Here’s how to use it:

  1. Open the Finder.
  2. Click on the Finder menu at the top of the screen and select Preferences.
  3. In the General tab, check the box next to Secure Empty Trash.
  4. Now, when you empty the trash, your data will be securely erased and unrecoverable.

Here are some things to keep in mind when using Secure Empty Trash:

  • Secure Empty Trash will only work on files that are in the trash. It will not work on files that have been deleted from your hard drive.
  • Secure Empty Trash will take longer to complete than regular Empty Trash. This is because it takes longer to securely erase data than it does to simply delete it.
  • If you need to securely erase free space on your hard drive, you can use the Disk Utility to do so. Open the Disk Utility and select your hard drive. Then, click on the Erase tab and choose Security Options. Select Most Secure and click Erase Free Space.

Secure Empty Trash is a great way to keep your data safe and secure. Use it whenever you need to make sure that your data is truly gone and unrecoverable.

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