Top 5 Best Free Data Wipe Software for Windows [Pros & Cons] | 2021 Recommendation
How do I wipe my hard drive clean for free? Do you know what is the best way for data destruction in 2021? Applying Diskpart clean command indeed works. However, it's not the smartest solution for data removal on Windows hard drive, SSD, or external hard drive.
To erase data and wipe hard drive for free, you have a better option which is turning to reliable data and hard disk wipe software for help. Here on this page, you are about to learn the top 5 best free data wipe software in Windows 10/8/7. Select one and follow its tutorial to learn how to completely wipe computer data on your own now.
List of Top 5 Best Free Hard Drive Data Wipe Software | 2021 Recommendation
So what is the best software to wipe a hard drive? When you search hard disk eraser or data wipe software on Google, you'll get too many results from the searching page. To find a suitable one, you'll have to download and try each data eraser or disk wipe software one by one.
Taken days and nights, we tested over 50 disk wipe tools, and we listed 5 best of these tools here to help.
Now, let's move forward to view more advanced features of these data wipe software and learn how to wipe your computer hard drive data for free now.
#1. Qiling Partition Master Free
Applies to: Wipe data in partitions, erase the whole disk, and even clean up computer data.
Qiling Partition Master is more than a simple hard drive or data wipe software. Besides the data wipe feature, it enables you to manage partitions and improve computer performance with its advanced features. All Windows users can apply this tool to reset hard drive into a brand new state.
Features:
- Wipe HDD/SSD, external hard drive, USB, SD card, etc., for free.
- Wipe computer OS drive with bootable disk (not free).
- Create, extend, shrink, format, and split partitions.
- Migrate OS, clone, and upgrade OS to HDD/SSD/M.2/NVMe SSD.
- Convert Disk to MBR/GPT, Basic/Dynamic, etc.
Pros
- Wipe partition data.
- Wipe disk data on HDD/SSD, external USB, etc.
- Wipe computer including OS drive with bootable disk
- Wiped data are unrecoverable.
- Support manage partitions, like creating, extending, shrinking, formatting volumes for free.
Cons
- Some advanced features like migrate OS to HDD/SSD, partition recovery, etc., are not free.
How to Wipe Data:
We've set two options for you to wipe data. Choose the one you need.
Option 1. Wipe Partition
Choose "Wipe Data" option in the tools page.
In the new window, click the partition you want to erase data from.
set the time for which you want to wipe your partition, then click "Proceed".
Option 2. Wipe Disk
Choose "Wipe Data" option in the tools page.
In the new window, click the disk's head you want to erase data from.
set the time for which you want to wipe your partition, then click "Proceed".
#2. Blancco Drive Eraser
Applies to: Wipe data on drives in PC, laptops, and Servers, etc.
Blancco Drive Eraser claims to be a certified data eraser that supports erasing files on patented SSD, multiple drives, and even wipe data from BIOS. If you are looking for data wipe software with a certificate, Blancco Drive Eraser could be one of them.
Features:
- Wipe data on SSD, HDD volumes.
- Wipe data from BIOS.
- Identifies false positives while erasing data.
- Supports erasing data on Server machines.
Pros
- Erase data from multiple drives simultaneously
- Hard drive wipe software with certificate
Cons
- Not 100% free
Data Wipe Software Free Download: https://www.blancco.com/products/drive-eraser/
How to Wipe Data:
Step 1. Choose a specific data erase standard.
Step 2. Follow the software's directions to overwrite data from the device.
Step 3. The software will verify if the data has been successfully removed.
Step 4. Once done, the software will create a tamper-proof certificate providing that the erase process completes successfully.
#3. CCleaner
Applies to: Wipe files and data on the computer, hard drive, and internet browsers.
CCleaner is an old & advanced data wipe software. It supports wiping data on a hard drive and free up space from a specific location on your computer. However, the free edition currently only works to protect the privacy and clean the disk at a standard level.
Features:
- Support health check of your computer
- Support custom clean your computer, including file explorer file, internet browsing cookies, download location, etc.
- Write registry changes.
- Set to uninstall applications, wipe disk, find system restore image, find duplicated files, disable programs from startup.
Pros
- Standard cleaning drive
- Standard privacy protection
Cons
- Complete cleaning is not free.
- AVG antivirus is bundled to install with this software.
Data Wipe Software Free Download: https://www.ccleaner.com/ccleaner
How to Wipe Data:
Step 1. Click Custom Clean in CCleaner.
Step 2. Scroll to the Advanced category and click Wipe Free Space.
Step 3. Click OK at the warning window, and run Ccleaner to clean the drive.
#4. DBAN
Applies to: Delete information stored on hard drives in desktop, laptops, and Server machines.
DBAN is free to use for erasing hard drive data. Although it claims that it cannot completely sanitize the entire drive data. It also couldn't detect SSD when it comes to erasing SSD data. But it's indeed a comprehensive data erasing solution for many companies with its free features.
Features:
- Support health check of your computer
- Support custom clean your computer, including file explorer file, internet browsing cookies, download location, etc.
- Write registry changes.
- Set to uninstall applications, wipe disk, find system restore image, find duplicated files, disable programs from startup.
Pros
- Free and Open-source
Cons
- No guarantee for data is completely erased.
- Can't detect nor erase SSD.
Data Wipe Software Free Download: https://dban.org/
How to Wipe Hard Drive Data:
Step 1. Download DBAN and save its ISO file to your computer.
Step 2. Burn DBAN to a USB flash drive.
Step 3. Restart PC and boot into DBAN USB.
Step 4. Choose an option from DBAN main menu: Enter
Step 5. Type Command to wipe hard drive data:
- dod - DoD 5220.22-M
- dodshort - Same as dod except only 3 passes are run instead of 7
- ops2 - RCMP TSSIT OPS-II
- gutmann - Gutmann
- prng - Random Data
- quick - Write Zero (completely erase hard drive)
Step 6. Choose a hard drive to wipe and wait for the erasing process completes.
Verify DBAN if has successfully erased your hard drive. If it finishes the wipe process, you'll see a successful message.
#5. Disk Wipe
Applies to: Wipe volume data for free, erase all disk data and prevent recovery of those data.
Disk Wipe is released as freeware under EULA Licence, which makes it free for personal users to destroy data on their hard drives. Besides hard drive erasing, it also offers a formatting option for you to format a hard drive, leaving an option to recover data.
Features:
- Wipe data on partitions and disk volumes.
- Doesn't need installation.
- Use quick format prior to clean drive for faster performance.
- Support NTFS, FAT, FAT32 disk formats.
Pros
- Free to erase all data and prevent recovery of the data.
Cons
- Outdated interface, not user-friendly.
Data Wipe Software Free Download: https://www.diskwipe.org/
How to Wipe Data:
Step 1. Run DiskWipe.exe from PC.
Step 2. Select the drive or partition you want to erase and click Wipe Disk.
Step 3. The program will ask if you want to format the drive as NTFS, FAT, or FAT32, select one format.
Step 4. Choose the erase pattern and number of passes you want to use: One Pass Zero, One Pass Random, US Department of Defense Dod.
Wait for the process to complete.
Select the Easiest Data & Hard Drive Wipe Software, Go and Clean Up Your Data Now
On this page, we collected the 5 best free data wipe software that works to clean up and permanently erase data on your computer hard drive.
After comparing the Pros, Cons, and highlighted features in these software, you may have a clear clue about which tool to choose. If you are still uncertain about which to select, here is our Editors Pick that you can follow and try:
- For internet data wipe software, CCleaner is good for you to try.
- For a Server data cleaner, Blancco Drive Eraser with its certified data erasing feature can help.
- For the easiest and most efficient data wipe software, take Qiling Partition Master.
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