How do you permanently delete files on Mac after emptying recycle bin?

A while ago I realized just emptying the trash on my Mac didn’t actually remove my old confidential project files — they could still be recovered with the right tools. So after a bit of digging and testing, here’s what worked best for me to permanently delete files on Mac after emptying the recycle bin, without messing around too much.

Method 1. The quick way — Dr.Wiper

Here’s how I actually did it step by step with Dr.Wiper to make sure my deleted files were gone for good:

I ran Dr.Wiper’s "File Shredder" feature. It directly overwrites the selected files on the drive, performing a secure erase operation so the data is completely destroyed and can’t be recovered even with advanced recovery tools.

Here’s how I actually did it step by step with Dr.Wiper to make sure my deleted files were gone for good:

(1) Empty the Trash (Finder → Trash → Empty).

(2) Open Dr.Wiper and allow admin permission if asked.

(3) Choose File Shredder on the main screen.

(4) Add the files or folders you want to erase.

(5) Pick 1-pass (Quick) overwrite for fast, secure deletion.

(6) Click Start and wait for the shredding to finish.

That’s the full process I used with Dr.Wiper to safely and permanently delete files on Mac after emptying the recycle bin.

You can also read Apple’s official note about securely erasing disks here:

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

Method 2. The built-in method — Terminal

If you’d rather stick with Apple’s tools, here’s what I did next.

• First check what kind of drive you have:

diskutil info disk0 | grep "Solid State"

If it says “Yes,” you’ve got an SSD; “No” means HDD.

• For HDDs (spinning disks):

sudo diskutil secureErase freespace 1 "/Volumes/Macintosh HD"

That command securely overwrites all free space where deleted files once lived.

• For SSDs or APFS: Apple disables that command (because TRIM and encryption already protect data). In that case, I turned on FileVault following Apple’s guide → Protect data on your Mac with FileVault - Apple Support

Then I filled the remaining free space once using:

dd if=/dev/zero of=~/wipefill bs=16m

When the disk is full, stop it and remove the file:

rm ~/wipefill

That process forces an overwrite of free blocks; combine it with FileVault and your deleted files are practically unrecoverable.

So yeah, those two methods are the only ones that truly worked for me to permanently delete files on Mac after emptying the recycle bin, without having to rely on random third-party apps.

Some of your stated issues are very dated, and simply do not apply to modern Macs. there are two cases:

Rotating Magnetic drives:

'Delete a file and empty Trash' removes the Directory entry, ONLY. The file data blocks are added to the FreeList, but will not be written over automatically until that space is needed for new files.

The secondary argument motivating multi-pass over-writing is that drive-head positioning is imprecise, and there may be a tiny, residual magnetic signature of the previous data, even after a one-pass overwrite. But this residual can NOT be recovered with ordinary Utilities. Only disassembling the drive in a clean room and physically reading the raw signal off the drive and re-processing it might be able to recover some of the data.

Unless these are nuclear-calibre secrets and you are the target of State-Level actors, there is generally no need to multi-pass over-writing.

This is the case almost all of the answers above are addressing, and it is outdated.

SSD drives with TRIM enabled:

'Delete a file and empty Trash' notifies the drive Controller that the data blocks for this file are to free to be TRIM-ed, asynchronously, at the convenience of the drive controller. This operation typically completes within a fraction of a second of TRIM notification.

System data block numbers are discarded, the data blocks are combined with other freed blocks to create a SuperBlock, and the SuperBlock is bulk-erased, leaving no trace of the previous data. New data can only be written into previously-erased blocks. New blocks are given new System Block Numbers unrelated to their previous numbers.

This data is completely un-recoverable.

The secondary argument comes with a block is detected as BAD and the running system removes it from the pool of active blocks and sets it aside. It is thought that in a laboratory environment, with the chips removed from the board, those data blocks might be re-read (But keep in mind, they are already BAD.) My notes above about nuclear-calibre secrets and State-level enemies would apply here as well.

This SSD case is applicable to all Macs since about 2012 with a pure SSD system drive. (Fusion Drive, a hybrid of magnetic rotating drive AND small SSD drive, is a special case with qualities of BOTH.)

executive summary:

Files on SSD drives need only be deleted and trash emptied in the usual way to remove all traces of data.

Multiple erase passes cause needless wear on the SSD device, which is why the Muti-pass erase functions were removed from Disk Utility.

You can overwrite free space using Terminal. This is one of the best ways to permanently delete files on Mac after emptying the recycle bin.

diskutil secureErase freespace 3 /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD

The number 3 stands for a 7-pass erase, which is compliant with the DoD 5220-22M standard.

Replace /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD with your actual drive name.

This overwrites all previously deleted data, making recovery nearly impossible.

Note: This command doesn't work on APFS drives in recent macOS versions. You can use third-party tools like Dr.Wiper for APFS.

A clever manual approach is to fill the free space with random data yourself.

Open Terminal and run:

dd if=/dev/urandom of=~/Desktop/fillfile bs=1m

Wait until your disk space is nearly full, then press Ctrl + C to stop.

Delete fillfile and empty the Trash.

This overwrites deleted sectors with random bytes, effectively destroying remnants of previously deleted files. It’s not as elegant as secure erase commands but works on all modern macOS file systems, including APFS.

The best thing you can do is have FileVault enabled before you create those sensitive files, so all data is encrypted at all times.

Because of how NVMe/SSD storage works, most of the file data will be erased a very short time after the trash bin is emptied. If this is a rotating disk then the previous suggestions will mostly work, if none of the blocks got replaced because it failed to hold data correctly on the next write.

If this is a Mac with NVMe/SSD storage, multi-pass erase utilities are detrimental to the life of the storage.

Each block in an NVMe/SSD storage chip has a finite number of writes before it fails (they say cats have 9 lives, but NVMe/SSD storage really does have limited lives). The storage controller implements a wear-leveling algorithm to help avoid any given storage block being written more than its neighbors. It is imperfect, such as a if block is written and never modified, it will have more lives than blocks that hold file data that is modified or deleted and the block reused.

Because blocks will fail after being written too many times a, few thousand, the NVMe/SSD has spares. Anywhere from 10% to 25% above the advertised storage size. These spares are not considered part of the storage size.

Anyway, a multi-pass erase of all the free blocks will take away 1 life per pass for each block considered free. But the spares are included in the wear-leveling, so if you do not have much free space, a multi-pass erase, may never touch the blocks that use to have your data, and the blocks you erase will loose a life.

If this data is super secret end of world sensitive, then melt the Mac into a pool of molten lava. This applies to a rotating disk as well.

If it is too sensitive to risk, but not worth destroying the Mac, AND you had FileVault enabled, then after deleting the files, backup your Mac (twice using 2 different external devices, using 2 different backup utilities to avoid any singe points of failure). Once your data is safe, reformat the Mac, destroying the current FileVault encryption key, reinstalling macOS, enable FileVault, which generates a new encryption key, then use your backup(s) to restore your data.

Anywhere previously deleted data lingering in storage is still encrypted under the old FileVault encryption key that was destroyed when you reinstalled the storage, and cannot be decrypted, unless a government level agency is willing to spend millions attempting to decrypt any old data it can find, as there is no decrypted key to work with.

But if this is just normal user data, maybe financial records, etc…, I would not worry about it, and depend on FileVault, and NVMe/SSD clearing unused blocks to ensure non-government level agencies cannot access my data. And if it is financial records, governments can just get the data from the financial institutions, for less expensive.

Emptying the Trash only removes the file’s reference, the actual data can still sit on your drive until overwritten.

If you want those files gone gone, the built-in way is to securely erase free space.

Open Disk Utility > View > Show All Devices, select your Mac’s internal drive > Erase > Security Options, and move the slider toward “Most Secure” before confirming, this overwrites deleted data with random bits.

On Apple silicon like your M3, encryption is automatic, so the simplest option is to erase the entire disk and reinstall macOS if you’re retiring or selling the Mac.

That’s the only way to make recovery truly impossible.

<< Emptying the Trash only removes the file’s reference, the actual data can still sit on your drive until overwritten. >>

That is only correct for rotating magnetic drives, NOT for SSD drives.

<< That’s the only way to make recovery truly impossible. >>

That is NOT correct for Macs since about 2012. For SSD drives, simply emptying the trash suffices for most purposes. Read my detailed discussion above for more details.

To permanently delete files on Mac so they cannot be recovered, simply emptying the Trash isn't enough because the data can sometimes be recovered with specialized software. Mac has a built-in method to securely erase files, but it's a bit hidden.

Here's a simple way to do it using the built-in "Secure Empty Trash" feature (note: in newer macOS versions, this option has been removed, but there are still ways to securely delete files):

1. Right-click on the Trash icon in the Dock.
2. Hold the Option key, then click Empty Trash.
3. This changes the option to Secure Empty Trash. Click that instead.

+1 to follow the advice from @Grant Bennet-Alder .

All the information in the other posts suggesting the use of Terminal commands contain steps that are unnecessary, steps that are potentially incorrect for your specific system and steps that would be risky-to-dangerous if you don't have considerable experience understanding the Terminal and the specific Terminal commands suggested.