WipeFS

WipeFS is intended to preserve your privacy by erasing unused space on different types of storage devices, including standard hard disks, solid state disks and USB removable drives.

This operation prevents data marked as free from being recovered by unauthorized users. You should be aware that the app is not supposed to delete other type of data.

Despite the complexity of the operations going on “under the hood”, WipeFS can be used by practically anyone. Moreover, the app’s main screen shows useful information and advice about the procedure. You can see a list of all the volumes available at the moment, but it requires refreshing to see any newly added hardware.

After picking the desired volume, you can simply proceed to wipe its free space. It is also necessary to choose a file in which temporary files will be stored while the wiping takes place. The procedure’s duration depends on the type of storage device, your machine’s power and the number of passes you have selected. After this, it may happen that temporary files are not automatically deleted, and that is what the Clean Up button is there for.

There are a few things you would like to configure, although this is not indispensable for the tool to work properly. For instance, you can decide how many passes you want, from 1 to 35. The higher the number of passes, the longer the tool takes to wipe data. However, more passes also make the erased data increasingly difficult to retrieve. Likewise, you can decide if you want random byte values to be used regardless of pass.

All in all, WipeFS can wipe those data you do not want anyone to recover. It uses safe procedures that guarantee they become irretrievable without damaging useful files. Even though it works with most storage hardware, there is a warning about possible problems to work with RAID systems. The product can be tried for free and it is available on both the developer’s site and Mac Store. By the way, it is much cheaper to get from the Mac Store.