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Erase drives and partitions

Erase a complete disk or a single partition including all files, for example before you sell or dispose of a drive.

All data on the drive is lost

A whole disk includes every partition on it, also partitions without a drive letter, such as Linux or recovery partitions. Back up the data you need to another drive. Identify the disk by model, disk number and capacity.

Prerequisites: O&O SafeErase is licensed and runs with administrator rights. The drive is not the system drive; the system drive can only be erased in Fortress Mode.

  1. Select Drives / partitions. If you have connected or disconnected a drive, select Refresh.
  2. Select a whole disk or individual partitions. View > Show unpartitioned areas shows areas without a partition.
  3. Open Erase method and options and check the method. For whole disks, turn on Initialize and format afterwards if you want to use the disk in Windows again right away.
  4. Select Erase drive….
  5. In the confirmation, check the disk once more. It also lists partitions that are not shown in the list.
  6. For whole disks, enter the inventory number, the disposition and the protection requirement for the erasure record if needed.
  7. If the drive contains an operating system, enter the displayed security code. Then select Erase irrecoverably now.

Result: Every sector of the selected drive is overwritten. Without formatting, the disk has no partition afterwards and does not appear in File Explorer.

Initialize and format afterwards​

With Initialize and format afterwards, O&O SafeErase creates one partition over the whole disk after a complete erasure, quick-formats it and assigns a drive letter:

DiskPartition style and file system
Internal diskGPT, NTFS
USB drive, memory cardexFAT; MBR up to 2 TB

The option is off by default and applies only to the current run. It is not available in Fortress Mode or for Erase entire PC. If formatting fails, O&O SafeErase reports a warning; the erasure itself is complete. You can then initialize the disk in Windows Disk Management.

If the drive has changed​

If a disk was connected or disconnected after you selected it, disk numbers can change. O&O SafeErase then does not erase the drive and reports that it has changed. Select Refresh and select the drive again.

Next steps​