This page lists every option of the settings dialog with its meaning and default value. Open the dialog at the bottom of the navigation and confirm changes with OK.
Options that an administrator has set by group policy are locked and marked accordingly. Some pages are hidden in Fortress Mode.
Application
General
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Language | Language of the program. Takes effect after a restart of the program. | Use system setting |
| Display mode | Light mode, dark mode or one of the two high-contrast modes. | Use system setting |
| Minimize to notification area | Minimizes the window to the notification area during an erasure. | Off |
| Close application from context menu after deletion | Closes the program after an erasure started from the File Explorer context menu. Reports are saved automatically. | Off |
Windows integration
These options are part of the General page. They are applied when you select OK; Windows then asks for administrator rights. They are not shown in Fortress Mode.
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Explorer context menu | Adds Securely delete and Erase free space to the File Explorer context menu; see Erase from File Explorer. | As set up on this PC |
| Recycle Bin | Adds Securely empty Recycle Bin to the context menu of the Recycle Bin. Can only be changed when the program runs as administrator. | As set up on this PC |
Without administrator rights, the page offers Restart as administrator.
LiveUpdate
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Look for updates automatically | Checks regularly whether a new version is available and offers it for installation. | On |
| Do not show current update | Hides the notice of the update that is currently available. Later updates are shown again. | Off |
| Show no more updates | Hides all update notices. You can still check for updates in the program information. | Off |
Advanced
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Unlock drive | What happens when a drive to be erased is in use: Always ask, Always ignore or Always unlock. Unlocking a drive in use can cause data loss in the programs that use it. | Always ask |
| Enable logging | Writes a detailed log of the O&O SafeErase service for support. When off, only warnings and errors are logged. The service restarts after a change. | Off |
Erasing
Deletion method
The default erase method for new erase jobs. You can choose another method in each erase job.
| Option | Default |
|---|
| Erase method | NIST 800-88 Clear / BSI CON.6 (1× random data) |
Files and folders
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Follow links in folders | Also erases the targets of junctions and symbolic links in selected folders. Mount points, network targets, drive roots, the Windows and program folders and user profile folders are never followed. | Off |
Free space
Subtasks of Clean free space. If one of them is off, the dialog shows a warning; if all are off, free space cannot be cleaned.
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Securely delete free space | Overwrites the areas that no file occupies. | On |
| DeepErase in clusters | Overwrites the cluster tips at the end of occupied clusters (NTFS). | On |
| Remove links to deleted files | Removes the entries of deleted files from the file system (MFT on NTFS, directory entries on FAT). | On |
SSDs
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Delete SSDs with SolidErase | Erases detected SSDs with SolidErase instead of the selected method; see Erase methods and SSDs. | On |
Analysis and reports
Recommendation
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Recommend secure erasure after | Interval after which the start page recommends erasing browser data, Windows data and free space again: 7, 14, 30, 60 or 90 days, or Never. | 30 days |
Browser
One switch per supported browser. Only selected browsers are cleaned under Privacy. A browser that is not installed cannot be selected.
| Option | Default |
|---|
| One switch per browser | All on |
Cookies to keep
The list of domains whose cookies are kept when cookies are erased; see Keep cookies of selected websites. Add… adds a domain, Remove takes it off the list.
| Option | Default |
|---|
| Domain list | Empty: all cookies are erased |
Reports
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Automatically save reports | Saves the report of every operation to the report folder. | Off |
| Anonymize file and folder names | Replaces the names of folders and files in new reports with asterisks, for example C:\*\*\*. The operator details are left out of the erasure record as well. Existing reports are not changed. | Off |
| Write complete log | Writes every processed item to the report, not only warnings and errors. | On |
| Display a maximum of 10,000 entries in the report | Limits the number of file entries shown in a report. | On |
| Location | Folder for the reports. Browse… selects another folder; it must be writable. | Documents\OO Software\OO SafeErase\Reports in the user profile |
Erasure record
The operator details are written into every erasure record. All fields are empty by default (Not specified).
| Option | Meaning |
|---|
| Name | Name of the person who carries out the erasure. |
| Title or function | Function of this person. |
| Organization | Company or organization. |
| Location | Place of the erasure. |
| Contact (phone or e-mail) | Contact for questions about the erasure. |
Signature of erasure records
| Option | Meaning | Default |
|---|
| Signing certificate | Shows the certificate with which the service signs, and its SHA-256 fingerprint. Information only. | Key of this installation |
| Company certificate (thumbprint) | Thumbprint of a certificate with a private key in the certificate store of this computer. The service then signs with it instead of the key of this installation. | Empty |
| Add a timestamp (RFC 3161) | A timestamp authority confirms when each record was signed. Only a hash value of the signature is sent. Records made offline get their timestamp later. | Off |
| Timestamp authority (URL) | Address of the timestamp authority, for example a qualified timestamp authority under eIDAS. | Empty: DigiCert |