Securely emptying trash after having emptied trash (unsecurely)

Hello. I've emptied my trash as I'm parting with my MacBook, but following this I realised that I should have securely emptied the trash. Now I want to restore the emptied trash for the purpose of securely emptying the trash, but it seems quite impossible. Is there an easy way to do this?
I would wipe the mac but I don't have the OS CDs as they weren't sold with the Mac as everything was pre-installed.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:
Confidential to Julian Assange and Ed Snowden: YOU guys need to do the 35 passes with random data.
Faster and safer to replace the drive, that 35x takes weeks to complete and isn't available anymore only on Snow Leopard and for a time hard drives were small.
Brian Manning started out with 35x, but it was taking so long he canceled and went with 0x and that's not strong enough as the government used magnetic techniques to read the deleted data.
7x is DOD approved method, that's what Secure Empty Trash does by default.
However the problem with that is it only does what's in the Trash, not hidden files, caches etc., for a better method the entire drive or account should be scrubbed with free space 0x-7x.

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After i empty trash (the secure empty doesn't work either), the system does not reclaim the free space.

After i empty trash (the secure empty doesn't work either), the system does not reclaim the free space.
I need to run the erase free space option from the disk utility every time...which is really annoying and time consuming.
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There is a thing in iPhoto whereby the first time you delete a photo it asks if you want to delete or just remove from the album, something like that. Unfortunately it is one of these things with a "don't ask me again" checkbox. Now, "deleting" photos only removes them from the album they are in. To actually trash them I must then go to "all photos" and find them, to send them to the trash. To help find them, what I do is rename them zzz or something, so sorting them will get them to the bottom of my collection. Just maybe your photos are still lurking around?

Secure Empty Trash - takes forever with SSD

I've installed 2 x 256 GB Samsung SSDs that I am now thinking of using as my bootdrive. But as I was playing around with them, I noticed that they turn into the slowest turtles when secure emptying the trash. Having done some investigating, one issue appears to be OS X's habit of zeroing the respective areas 7 times to meet the DoD standards. (I believe that is not the only issue though as secure emptying also takes much longer in my RAID 0 HD setup than it should for just writing that amount of data 7 times).
I couldn't find any clues on how to change this behaviour of overwriting 7 times. As a recent study suggests that most data is gone for good after a single overwrite on both, HDs and SSDs, I reckon that is good enough for me. Any ideas on how to change that behaviour? (I am aware of the regular emptying trash, what I want is a 'secure empty' with a single overwrite).

Thank you - that's very helpful.
I guess this response also implies there is no way to change the default behaviour of the GUI?

Is it possible to create a secure empty trash shortcut in file menu?

I have second finger click enabled so that I can quickly move files to the trash bin from the contextual menu. This is fine and dandy, however, for files containing sensitive informaton, I'd like to have a "Secure File Delete" option available (file bypasses the trash bin and is wiped after selecting said option).
I've searched the threads and checked system prefs. Only options are to change "empty trash" to "secure empty trash". This wouldn't work as I have more files that are typically trashed and not wiped. It'd be nice to have it available as a convenience I suppose
I know theres an app in the app store that offers this functionality. It's $3-4.
So my question...is it possible to create such a contextual menu option on my own?
heres an example of what I'm ltalking about...

Create a new Service in Automator.
Set it to receive files an folders in the Finder.
Drag in an Ask for Confirmation action if you want it.
Drag in a Run Shell Script action from the Utilities section of the Library.
Set it to Pass Input as Arguments and Replace the code with:
srm -r "$@"
--That's ess-ar-em for Secure ReMove (just copy and paste)
Save it and it will show up in the Services menu when you right-click on an item in the Finder.
There are options you can add to it like -s for simple, -m for medium. The default (without options) is 35-pass Gutman.
You can see what options are available by opening Terminal and typeing
man srm
Hit space to scroll down. Q to quit the man page.
The Verbose and Interactive options won't work since you can respond.
Note that depending on the algorithm chosen, it may take some time for the file/folder to disappear from the Finder view.

Is it possible to change zero options in "Secure empty trash"?

In the "Secure Empty Trash" feature in Tiger, is it possible to change the settings regarding how many times the file being deleted is zeroed out? Can I choose a 1-pass or a 7-pass, etc?

I don't think the "Finder" itself offers a way to change the number of overwrites performed during a "secure empty trash". Note that "secure empty trash" just calls '/usr/bin/srm', using the '-m' option -- 7 passes, including zeroes, FF, F6 and random according to the 'man' page.
Depending on what you are after, and being mindful of the different possible paths for items in the "Trash" in OS X, you might be able to use 'srm' directly, using the options of your choice. Though not recommended, if you get into hacking system files, the options probably can also be changed to some extent from there.

Secure Empty Trash seems to repeat itself

If I use "Secure Empty Trash..." I may (for example) see that 8 files are being deleted and the Trash is now empty. If I then delete 1 file and repeat the aforementioned process I see that once again 8 files are being deleted. Why would this happen? Thanks.

Hi,
That doesn't explain some of my own findings - the numbers don't add up. In my system, if only the startup disk is mounted and a single file is placed in the Trash, a secure-delete progress window will show four items being deleted.
Just mounting an additional external volume will add two items to the apparent number of items being secure-deleted for each such volume added, even though no files on the additional volumes are placed in the Trash to begin with.
Here are the tests I did.
Start with a text file that is on the DeskTop.
For each test:
1) duplicate the text file
2) move the duplicate copy to the Trash
3) secure-empty the Trash,
4) repeat step 1
5) repeat step 2
6) repeat step 3
Steps 1-3 were done to be sure the Trash folders were truly empty before performing the actual test in steps 4-6.
To be determined:
In step 6, after that single file has been placed in the startup volume's Trash, how many items does the secure-delete progress window show as being deleted?
Results:
In my system, if the test is run with no disk volumes other than the startup disk mounted, the secure-delete progress window shows four items being deleted.
If I run the test after first mounting a single external volume, then the secure-delete progress window shows six items being deleted. Again, just one file was in the Trash after step 5, the same as for the first test.
If I mount a second external volume and repeat the test, again with only a single file in the Trash after step 5, the secure-delete progress window now shows 8 items being deleted.
If I first mount all 15 of my external partitions and run the same test, again with a single file in the Trash after step 5, the secure-delete progress window shows 34 items being deleted!

Secure Empty Trash just gets stuck

Secure Empty Trash doesn't work. it just gets stuck/crashes. Why is this?
10.9.5 mavericks

from Apple docs worked for me. Mine was \\\\\\\.\\\ derived from installing Windows.
If there are several locked files in the Trash, you can unlock them all at the same time at the command line. Follow these steps:
1. Open Terminal. It's located in /Applications/Utilities.  Type: chflags -R nouchg  Note: Type one space (not pictured) after nouchg in the line above, so that it ends in "nouchg ". Do not press Return yet. 
2. Double-click the Trash icon in the Dock to reveal the contents of the Trash. If necessary, arrange the Finder window so that a portion of the Terminal window is still visible.
3. Press the Command-A key combination to select all files in the Trash.
4. Drag the files from the Trash to the Terminal window.  Note: This automatically enters the pathname for each file. This eliminates the need to individually empty multiple Trash directories, particularly when multiple disks or volumes are present. 
5. Press Return. No special text message will be shown indicating that the command was successful.
6. Empty the Trash.
If the Trash does not empty or if you see a message in Terminal that says "usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file..." you most likely did not type the text in step 2 as indicated or did not leave a space. Repeat the steps if this happens.

Why does secure empty the trash take so long to perform?

When I empty the 'secure trash' folder, it takes hours to perform what use to take seconds or minutes to do.

Try deleting less at one time.
Unless you're trying to get rid of malware/dodgy software, there's not really much point in using 'secure empty trash' if what you're worried about is someone recovering your deleted files. Experts can still recover stuff even after that.
The only way to get rid of your data securely is to overwrite the entire disk several times with zeros (Disk Utility has a function for this, and it will take a long time.).
And if its really confidential, put the disk in an incinerator or a blender , the only 100% surefire method.

Secure empty trash hangs Lion and fans roar like crazy

I have lion and thought they would have fixed this.
just as the title says. what gives?

that happens because "Secure empty trash" requires your computer to embark on a CPU-intensive process of overwriting the data you want to be securely destroyed. Depending on how much stuff you have in your trash, this could require a lot of processor power and could take a long time.
So unless it's absoutely essential that you 100% safely trash your stuff, I would suggest you normally only use the vanilla flavour "empty trash". In any case, after trashing, as you continue to use the computer, whatever was trashed will get gradually mangled up over time and will be impossible for anyone to get to, if anyone ever does.

Why Does Leopard Take an Eternity to Secure Empty Trash

Hi Gang
With regard to Leopard 10.5, in a Single 1.8 G5, I researched this a bit, and forgive me but, it's hard to believe I'd have to resort to 3rd party 'Super Trashers', just to get the job done.
After comparing the time it took 5 small files to empty in Leopard as compared to 1,500 Video Files in Tiger, it was astounding!
Sooo... here's what I've done (so far); with respect to the System Drive and 2nd internal storage drive 'Sharing & Permissions', I clicked on 'Get Info' and made sure that everything is now set to 'READ & WRITE'
I don't know if this will make any difference - we'll see ...
Any other ideas?
Thanx
Mike

Thanx guys
Whatever the reason, I've convinced, (at least in my particular case), there is a DEFINITE difference between my two systems. Secure Empty Trash in Leopard is problematic.
Since I don't have anything important in this particular system, I'm willing to do a fresh install of Leopard. But as I said, there was already a fresh install performed in this 160 Gig 2004 system drive.
I'll stick with Tiger in my other system. This is where I have all the applications I need for the documentary. I treat this system with loving care. The other G5, (with Leopard), is used for other supplemental back up tasks. But again, performing Disk Permissions is 3 times as long, and Secure Empty Trash NEVER completes itself. (I realize one has nothing to do with the other)
I've heard of other 3rd party applications getting the job done, (info on the forum). Anyone know which one works best?
http://www.nonamescriptware.com/?page_id=5
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html
Thanx
Mike
http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/

Secure empty trash very slow

Are there suggestions for speeding up Secure Empty Trash?

I got a tip from a Genius at the Green Hills (Nashville) Apple Support Bar today on how to instantly empty the Trash folder. This comes with a big warning/disclaimer: you will not be prompted about any of the action to delete the contents of your Trash as this sequence of steps force deletes all trash. In other words, there's no turning back. I did this after facing 8 hours of a trash emptying cycle to get rid of 280,000 files...
Here it is: while simultaneosly holding down Command + Option keys, press Shift and then press Delete (all four, in that order).
It works - it's instant! But be sure you want to take this action.

Why does SECURE EMPTY TRASH take so long (several days)?

I am using OS 10.3.9. I didn't empty the trash for quite a while, and several days ago clicked SECURE EMPTY TRASH. The emptying process began but has not finished even now! Does it take THAT much longer when one uses SECURE EMPTY TRASH? I see that the little message window for Trash says:
Item to delete: 114,158 This number hasn't gone down now for several minutes.
Several times I have stopped the Empty Trash process to shut the computer down or just because I wanted to stop it, but it seem to me that after "Emptying the Trash" has been going on for so long, it ought to be finished by now. I welcome any sunlight you can shed on this. Thank you.
— Lorna in Southern California

When you choose to Secure Empty Trash, the system
must overwrite the area where those items area a
minimum of 7 times for it to be considered secure.
When you have that many files in the Trash, this can
take quite some time.
So, unless you have something that is confidential in
the Trash, your best option is to Empty Trash
normally.
Mulder
If my answer helped solve your problem, please
consider awarding some points. Why
Reward Points?
OK, and thank you. You have answered my question; I now won't be worrying that something is awfy. The Secure Empty Trash is still emptying and it is down to about 77,000 items. I have clicked the YES, MY QUESTION HAS BEEN ANSWERED button and I appreciate your reassurance.
— Lorna in Southern California

Difference between "Empty trash" and "Secure Empty trash"

Hi everyone,
Today I used the "Secure Empty Trash" function by pressing the options key while "right clicking" on the trash. And in the message it said that if I empty the trash that way, I won't be able to recover the data. Which is what I wanted and is ok. But then the way it's said makes you think that if you don't do it that way then the normal "Empty Trash" doesn't really empty the trash and gives you the possibility of take the data back even after emptying the trash.
I know some programs can help you do that. Either they recuperate the data after being installed separately or it's a sort of backup program like some by Norton on Windows were basically it backs up the Windows trash. But my question is, when they say with the "Empty Trash" message that you can recuperate the data, does it mean with one of those external programs or is there a hidden folder somewhere on Mac OS X where I can find all the stuff that ever went in my trash ?
Thanks for your help !

emptying the trash the normal way, deletes the reference of where the files exist on the hard disk, and shows the space these files occupy as empty space, now its deleted, and you can use whatever space these files used before deleting them, but you can use some pro apps that recover lost data, specially in case of mistaken deletion, as long as the sectors these files used on the hard disk were not used to store on by other data.
while emptying the trash securely, does the same of normal emptying but it makes an additional step of over writing the sectors of the hard used by these data an amount of times, so its impossible for pro apps that recover data to read anything was stored on the hard disk after secure deletion.

'Secure Empty Trash' quits unexpectedly with external harddrive

I am running mavericks on a MacBook Pro, and removing old back-ups from an external harddrive, in order to make room for newer, time-machine backups.
After deleting an old back up, I am choosing to 'Secure Empty Trash', to clear out that space.
It started out with 650K plus items to delete and after a few days now, I'm down to 180K items.
But the system keeps quitting, and won't allow it to finish these final items.
I do get the question, "some items are locked, do you want to delete them" and I've tried choosing both yes, and no, and each time the process never gets started, just quits.
I'd like to get this drive cleared for more space.
Any suggestions on how to make it continue?
Thank you,

This was very helpful, thank you. With holding down the option key, I was able to get very far.
Now it's stuck again at 59K items left to delete. Holding down the option key is not making a difference.
The directions for working under the terminal system aren't very clear to understand.
Any other suggestions?
thank you so much.

Securely emptying trash after having emptied trash (unsecurely)

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