Table of Contents

Quick Navigation:

It's necessary to deleted or remove some data or files in our daily life or in work environments. Some old data might not be needed any longer, business data needed to be cleared due to project was finished, private sensitive information/videos needed to be removed and don't want to be showed to others, etc. In these situations, you may deleted the files and empty the recycle bin, or even format the drive with the hold data.

top 5 file shredder,

However, do you think your sensitive data is permanently lost after you delete it and empty the recycle or have formatted the entire hard drive? If you use a data recovery software to scan your hard drive, you will find that your deleted or formatted data is not lost, can easily be recovered. So how to permanently erase sensitive data or wipe hard drive? You need professional data erasure tool. Here, we have selected top 5 file shredders for you to shred/destroy data from your hard drive or any storage media device.

Common Reasons for File Shredding

Why you need to shred files sometimes? Shredding files is a crucial procedure for ensuring privacy security and data safety. It can protect your sensitive data from falling into wrong hands. Here are the common reasons why it's important for file shredding:

🤖 Prevent identity thefts for personal information: Private and personal information such as financial information, social security numbers, and personal identifiers can be exploited if the information was stolen by the IT thefts. Shredding your sensitive files ensures that these personal details cannot be recovered and used for fraudulent activities.

🛡️ Protect business confidential information: Businesses often handle confidential information like customer information, trade secrets, employees records, and projects data. Shredding the information can protect your confidential information from being leaked or accessed by unauthorized individuals.

🕵️ Reduce or minimize risk of data leakages: Any digital files, if discarded improperly, can lead to data leakages. File shredding minimizes this risk in such a case. If you shred the files with professional tool, the files will be discarded completely and cannot be pieced back together with any recovery methods.

📃 Comply with data protection regulations: Many industries or businesses are subject to strict data protection regulations. They always require the extremely secure disposal of sensitive information. File shredding is often a requirement to comply with some data protection laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) , etc.

In general, file shredding is a necessary and essential step to protect sensitive, confidential, important information. And it's crucial to shred files to comply with legal requirements, prevent data leakages, and maintain organizational efficiency.

Top 5 File Shredders: Permanently Erase Digital Information

To wipe shred files permanently, it's important to choose the professional software. To help you securely shred files or wipe data, we will introduce the following best file shredder software.

NO.1 File Shredder - DoYourData Super Eraser

If you want to a safe, powerful and easy-to-use data erasure tool, DoYourData Super Eraser is the best one for you. With certified data erasure methods, it will permanently erase selected data or selected hard drive and overwrite the disk space to 100% prevent the erased data from being recovered by any data recovery software or data recovery service. It means your data is wiped and gone forever.

This powerful file shredder is very easy to use. It offers three modes for you to erase data under various situations. It allows you selectively erase files or folders. And it also can help you wipe entire hard drive or device to destroy all existing and history data. If you don’t want to erase your existing files, it also allows you to only erase deleted/lost data on your hard drive (erase recycle bin) by erasing the free space of the drive. It is compatible with both Windows operating systems and macOS/Mac OS X.

The software also offers other tools, like disk repair features, application uninstaller, and the feature to clean internet traces.

top 5 file shredder

NO.2 File Shredder - Stellar File Wipe

This is another powerful file shredder. If you want to destroy all data on your hard drive, this file shredder can help you wipe entire hard drive, and it also can wipe USB hard drive, external hard drive, digital camera, SD card, etc. It also can help you wipe deleted/lost data on your hard drive only. It is pretty simple to use.

What's more, the software offers the option to set schedule for you erasure work. Then you can make sure some data or space can be wiped regularly without doing it manually each time.

However, you cannot have a trial for the tool. You can only use it after purchasing a full license.

top 5 file shredder

NO.3 File Shredder - KillDisk

KillDisk is a qualified file shredder even though it is not easy to use. Like other file shredders, it allows you wipe entire hard drive to destroy all sensitive data. It provides Windows/Mac/Linux version which can help you shred files or wiped data in different platforms. Also, it can wipe the free space of a drive or partition. But it cannot shred existing individual files/folders.

Also, the interface of the tool is a little complex and might be confusing for some hone users. It may take some time to learn it and understand how to use the tool to shred data on a hard drive.

top 5 file shredder

NO.4 File Shredder - AweEraser

AweEraser is a famous data erasure program, which offers certified data erasure tools. It can help you securely and easily shred files, folders, wipe hard disk drive and erase already deleted data on both Windows and Mac. It's a comprehensive tool which can also clean the internet and application traces.

The software is simple and the interface is intuitive. Very simple to add individual files or folders to the list, then erase all the selected files and folders at once.

top 5 file shredder

NO.5 File Shredder - File Shredder

File Shredder is a free file shredder for Windows system. With the software, you can use it to erase individual files or wipe the free space of a hard drive. You can drag and drop to add files to the software easily.

The software interface is a little old school. If you are similar with the old system Windows XP, it might be easy to understand and use. However, for the new operating systems, it's not very clear and may take some time to understand the software.

top 5 file shredder

The best 5 file shredders above can help you permanently erase data under different situations. No matter which one you will download for data erasure, please back up your important files before erasing your data/hard drive. All the 5 shredders have the ability to permanently shred/destroy your data.

Perform File Shredding with DoYourData Super Eraser

DoYourData Super Eraser is 100% safe file shredder, and it is very easy-to-use. It can help you permanently shred files from hard drive, PC/Mac, portable disk, USB flash drive, memory card, camera, etc. Just download it here:

DoYourData Super Eraser

  • Secure file shredder to wipe files on both Windows and Mac computers.
  • Permanently shred files and make sure the erased files beyond recovery.
  • Reliable software safeguards your sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.

DoYourData Super Eraser offers three data erasure modes which offers flexible solutions for different situations:

  • Erase Files/Folders - Permanently shred existing individual files and folders from hard drive and storage device.
  • Wipe Hard Drive - Erase all existing and removed/lost data on a hard drive or device.
  • Wipe Free Space - Wipe free disk space to permanently erase deleted or old missing history data on a hard drive or device.

This file shredder offers certified data erasure methods including HMG Infosec Standard 5, NIST 800-88, DOD 5220.22-M; U.S. Army AR380-19, DoD 5220.00-M ECE, Peter Gutmann's algorithm, etc. Once your data is erased by DoYourData Super Eraser, the data will be lost forever, can't be recovered by any data recovery software. Here, we will show you how to shred specified files or folders with DoYourData Super Eraser.

Step 1. Run DoYourData Super Eraser on your computer, choose mode - Erase Files/Folders.

top 5 file shredder

Step 2. Add files or folders to the erasure list, then click on Erase Now button.

top 5 file shredder

Step 3. Permanently shred the selected files/folders. When the process gets finished, the files/folders are gone forever.

top 5 file shredder

Please note than once your files are shredded by DoYourData Super Eraser, the files will be lost forever. The process is irreversible. Please make a backup before you permanently shred your files in case that you would need them in the future. For example, you can create a copy of your drive before erasing data.

top 5 file shredder

Best 6 Disk Cloning Software for Windows 11

Here are 6 disk cloning programs which are able to help you clone HDD, SSD, USB flash drive, external disk, OS and more on Windows 11. Read more >>

Conclusion

It's essential to protect personal or business data from data leakages. To shred files or wipe data completely and ensure the wiped data is no longer recoverable, we just introduced the 5 best data erasing software here in this article. You can choose one for your own needs. The important thing is the wiped data or shredded files are unrecoverable in any way, so ensure to choose the correct files/folders or drives to erase with any tool.

FAQs About File Shredder Software

1. Why do we need to shred files?

Shredding files is a essential step to protect our private, sensitive, or confidential information from being used in fraudulent or other unauthorized activities. So it's necessary to shred some files in some specified situations for the following reasons:

  • Prevent identity thefts for personal information.
  • Protect business confidential information.
  • Reduce or minimize risk of information breaches.
  • Compliance with data protection regulations or laws.

2. Is the deleted files or formatted data recoverable?

Yes. If y ou simple deleted files from computer, external hard drives, camera, or other devices, the files are still left on the storage. Even if you formatting a device, it's still able to recover the data with professional data recovery software or recover service. For example, the software Do Your Data Recovery can easily and quickly recover deleted or formatted data.

3. What's the best data erasing software?

Here are many data erasure or file shredding software available in the market. Among the software, here are the best tools we selected: DoYourData Super Eraser, Stellar File Wipe, Activate@ KillDisk, AweEraser, File Shredder.

4. How to shred files permanently?

To shred files permanently, a professional data erasure software is necessary. It can help you shred files or wiped data easily and securely. You can follow the steps to shred files permanently with the software DoYourData Super Eraser:

  • Download and install the software on your computer.
  • Start the software and change to the first mode Erase Files/Folders.
  • Add the files or folders that you want to shred to the list.
  • Click the Erase Now button to shred all the added files permanently.
DoYourData Super Eraser

DoYourData Super Eraser

DoYourData Super Eraser, the award-winning data erasure software, offers certified data erasure standards including U.S. Army AR380-19, DoD 5220.22-M ECE to help you securely and permanently erase data from PC, Mac, HDD, SSD, USB drive, memory card or other device, make data be lost forever, unrecoverable!

DoYourData Author

Written & Updated by Shirly Chen

Shirly Chen has been writing data recovery, data erasure articles for DoYourData over 4 years. She has been working as a professional website content writer & editor for quite a long time. She also writes articles about disk clone, Mac optimization, disk backup, etc.

Read full bio