Why do you need to wipe unallocated space in Windows 10?
When it comes to wiping a disk, you may know the main reason is to avoid data leakage. Because you can see all the data on the disk intuitively and you don’t want others to see. But if it’s unallocated space, you cannot see it in the File Explorer. So is it safe to leave the unallocated space as it is?
The answer is NO. When you delete a partition or disk, all the data on it will be deleted, but that just its indexes and links to it in the master file table. In this case, any people with bad hearts can get your data back easily with the help of a professional data recovery software.
Thus, simply deleting a partition or disk does not remove data on it completely. To avoid data leakage, it’s necessary to overwrite the deleted data with new one.
Then, you may want to know how to easily wipe unallocated space in Windows 10 or other system. Please keep reading below to learn more.
How to wipe unallcated space in Windows 10 easily?
To wipe unallocated space, you can use Cipher.exe or AOMEI Backupper. Note that Cipher.exe was not originally a data erasure utility, but it has a “wipe” option that can securely erase the deleted files from your disk.
While for AOMEI Backupper Standard, it’s a free backup software with Disk Wipe feature. It supports not only wiping unallocated space, but also selected partition and entire disk in all the Windows system, including Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista(both 32bit and 64bit).
Then, please reading below to learn the detailed steps.
Method 1: Clear unallocated space with Cipher.exe
Here you will use “/w” option in Cipher.exe to wipe unallocated space, it stands for “Wipe”. And the wiping process will perform 3 times and replace the deleted data with one’s, zeros and random number respectively.
Step 1. Type cmd in the search box and select Run as administrator.
Step 2. Wait until the command prompt window open, type cipher /w:C and press Enter. The disk wiping time depends on the size of unallocated space.
Method 2: Delete unallocated space with AOMEI Backupper Standard
Here you will use “Fill sectors with Zeros” in Disk Wipe feature to delete unallocated space in Windows 10, which will only overwrite the deleted data with Zero value. Below are the detailed steps.
Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Backupper Standard. Then navigate to Tools and choose Disk Wipe.
Step 2. In the wiping type window, select Wipe partition(s) or unallocated space on the disk and then click Next.
Step 3. In the Select the partition(s) or unallocated space to wipe window, you will see all the available partition(s) or unallocated space. Select the unallocated space that needs to be wiped and click Next.
Step 4. In the Wiping Method window, select Fill sectors with Zero and click Start to wipe unallocated space.
Besides the disk wiping method “Fill sectors with Zero”, you still can try 3 different methods in the advanced version, such as, AOMEI Backupper Professional. In contrast, their erasure level is more thorough. For example, the third method DoD 52220.22-M can wipe unallocated space up to 7 times.
Summary
Now, you may already know how to wipe unallocated space safely. This article provides you with 2 useful ways, namely using Cipher.exe and AOMEI Backupper Standard, you can choose one between them.
If you are familiar with command prompt, you could use the first method. If not, it’s suggested to use the second method. It can not only help you wipe unallocated space, partition and entire disk, but also protect data.
By using it, you can backup disk, system, partition and files and save it to internal/external hard drive, network drive, cloud drive like Google Drive, etc. One backup will only include the items when you create a backup, thus it’s suggested to perform schedule backup. The best practice is to keep 3 copies of files, save it on 2 different locations, and retain 1 online backup.
