Forum Discussion

Copper Contributor

Mar 26, 2026

How to 100% wipe a pc before selling for windows 10 and windows 11

Got dozens of old office PCs (mostly Windows 10 and Windows 11) that are going to be sold soon. These machines were used daily, so they likely contain sensitive data, including documents, login info,...

Nobel_Baynes

Steel Contributor

Mar 26, 2026

DiskPart + Full Format.

This method uses Windows command line to fully clean the disk.

How to wipe a pc before selling:

Boot into Windows installation USB (or Recovery Mode)

Press Shift + F10 to open Command Prompt

Type the following:

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
clean all
exit

This will completely wipe Windows 11 pc before selling.

Why it works:

clean all writes zeros to the entire drive
Much harder for recovery tools to retrieve data

Pros:

More thorough than standard reset
Works on both Windows 10 and 11

Cons:

Time-consuming (can take hours)
Command-line required (risk of mistakes)