SDelete

Deleting files in Windows doesn't guarantee they are irrecoverable. Data remnants, even from files encrypted with EFS, can persist. SDelete is a command-line utility that tackles this privacy risk by **securely overwriting sensitive files and cleansing free disk space** of previously deleted data, making it virtually unrecoverable. It implements the **Department of Defense standard DOD 5220.22-M**, using recognized techniques to ensure your file data is permanently erased. SDelete can securely delete specific files or sanitize entire unallocated disk areas. It intelligently handles Windows' complexities with compressed, encrypted, and sparse files by using the defragmentation API to **pinpoint and overwrite the exact disk clusters** holding the data. To **cleanse free space**, SDelete first allocates and securely overwrites the largest possible non-cached file, then repeats this with a cached file. On NTFS systems, it also fills free Master File Table (MFT) portions. When deleting individual files, SDelete also overwrites their names. A technical limitation means it doesn't securely erase file names from free directory space during a full free space cleanse. SDelete operates locally on your machine, ensuring data sanitization is under your control.