Forum Discussion
How do I permanently delete files, photos from sd card on Windows PC?
When files are deleted from an SD card, they aren't immediately erased; instead, the space they occupy is marked as available for new data. Until that space is overwritten, it's possible to recover the deleted files using specialized software.
To permanently delete files from SD card, you have to first use the large movies files to eat up the storage one more times. This will overwrite all existing data and make them unrecoverable. You can also do with a data erasing software.
Formatting an SD card is actually the most common way to delete files. I have used it several times before. I just right-clicked the drive letter of the SD card on my computer and selected "Format". The process was very quick and all the files seemed to be deleted. But later I tested it with recovery software and it turned out that I was able to recover some photos and files! This made me realize that ordinary formatting is not thorough and there is still a chance that the data can be recovered.
So if you want to permanently delete photos from sd card, I don't recommend ordinary formatting. It is safer to use more professional tools to erase data from sd card.
JeffreyMiller wrote:Formatting an SD card is actually the most common way to delete files. I have used it several times before. I just right-clicked the drive letter of the SD card on my computer and selected "Format". The process was very quick and all the files seemed to be deleted. But later I tested it with recovery software and it turned out that I was able to recover some photos and files! This made me realize that ordinary formatting is not thorough and there is still a chance that the data can be recovered.
So if you want to permanently delete photos from sd card, I don't recommend ordinary formatting. It is safer to use more professional tools to erase data from sd card.
This answer makes sense. I have also heard that data can still be recovered after normal formatting. Have you tried those professional erasing tools? How effective are they? For example, can tools like data Eraser really completely erase photos from SD card on my computer? If you have used them, can you share your experience?
