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I'm wondering if Purge Trash and Temporary Files, found in Settings/Privacy, is a secure method for managing unwanted files, or I need to stay with a file shredder like Bleach Bit. Thanks for any knowledge here.

I am not asking: How to securely wipe files from SSD drive? My question is: Does Purge Trash and Temporary Files leave the data in tact on the drive (solid state or otherwise) so that it could possibly be retrieved by the original user or a second party. I ask because I came from a Windows background, and know that emptying the Trash just removes the Explorer mappings to the data. The data stays on the drive indefinitely or until it happens to be written over. Does Ubuntu do the same thing or is the data securely destroyed?

Charles
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  • I'm using Ubuntu 18.04 on a solid state drive. – Charles Nov 06 '19 at 06:07
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    It looks like user68186 answered my question: 'Empty Trash or "permanently delete" files do not securely delete files from the HDD/SSD.' – Charles Nov 07 '19 at 03:56
  • I have converted my comment to an answer. Please accept the answer below by clicking on the gray check mark ✔next to it and turn it green ✅. This will indicate that the answer is correct and help others with the same problem. You can also up-vote my answer to show your appreciation. – user68186 Aug 17 '20 at 21:22

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"Empty Trash" or "permanently delete" files do not securely delete files from the HDD/SSD.

The methods of securely deleting files from SSD is different from HDD. Apps like file shredder may not work unless they are updated for SSD.

See How to securely wipe files from SSD drive? for more information.

Community
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user68186
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