Clean free space
Overwrite the free space of a drive so that files that were deleted normally can no longer be recovered. Existing files remain untouched.
Prerequisites: O&O SafeErase runs with administrator rights. If the page shows Restart as administrator, select it first. At least one of the subtasks below is turned on in the settings.
- Select Free space.
- Select the drives by name and capacity. The summary shows how much free space will be overwritten.
- Open Erase method and options and check the subtasks and the Method for hard disks.
- Select Erase free space now.
Result: The free areas of the selected drives are overwritten. The start page shows the date of the cleanup for each drive.
Subtasks
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Overwrite free space | Overwrites the areas of the drive that no file uses. |
| Erase cluster tips (DeepErase) | Overwrites the unused space at the end of occupied clusters. |
| Clean up references in the MFT | Removes names and references of deleted files from the file system. |
The subtasks are turned on or off under Settings > Free space. If all of them are off, the page shows a notice with Open settings.
SSDs are treated with SolidErase when this is turned on under Settings > SSDs; see Erase methods and SSDs.
The duration depends mainly on the amount of free space and the method. Avoid writing large amounts of data to the drive during the cleanup.
Erase entire drives instead switches to Erase drives and partitions. There, existing files are erased as well.
Next steps
- Read the report of the cleanup.
- Erase traces at the same time: Securely erase traces.