How to Completely Wipe a Disk in Windows 10/11

How to Wipe a Hard Drive Windows 10/11:

• Rely on hard drive wipe software - AOMEI Partition Assistant, you can not only wipe hard drive, but also secure erase SSDs for Windows 10. More importantly, you can completely wipe a hard drive including OS.
• How to wipe a hard drive Windows 10 Command Prompt? Simply select the target disk and use the clean command.
• Windows Setup restores Windows 10 to factory settings and clears everything on your PC.

What Does Disk Wipe Do on Windows 10?

Wiping a hard drive means permanently deleting all data on the storage unit.Windows writes zero or other garbage data to each sector of the drive, forcing any existing data to be overwritten with garbage.

In this article, we'll cover how to wipe a hard drive before selling. You'll get three ways to completely erase a hard drive in Windows 10, including using the disk wipe tool and Windows built-in tools.

How to Completely Wipe a Disk in Windows 10

The following example will show you the specific steps of wipe disk in Windows 10/8/7. (If there is any important data on the hard drive, please back up data to cloud or external hard drive at first.)

Method 1. Wipe Disk in Windows 10 with Disk Wipe Tool

If you want to wipe the data on the disk in Windows 11/10/8/7 completely and permanently. You may need a professional disk wipe software to complete this operation. Here AOMEI Partition Assistant is highly recommended, and it’s featured with "Wipe Hard Drive" feature that will overwrite a hard drive with zeros to protect the data from restoration. With this tool, you can even completely wipe a hard drive including OS.

With a clear interface, even if you are unfamiliar with computers, you can safely erase your hard disk in Windows 10 without damaging it.

Option 1. Wipe Hard Drive for Windows 10

Step 1.  Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant. Right-click the hard disk drive you want to wipe, then select “Wipe Hard Drive”.

Step 2. In the pop-up window, choose "Fil sectors with Zero" and click "OK".

Note: You can upgrade to the Professional edition to unlock the other 3 wiping methods that provide higher security.

Step 3. After that, it will back to the main interface. Click “Apply” > “Proceed” to execute the operation.

Note: If you need to wipe system hard drive, you should create a bootable media and enter WinPE environment. Besides, it comes with many other powerful functions like Format Partition, Rebuild MBR, Migrate OS to SSD and so on. You can use this magical tool in Windows 10/8/7, Windows XP, as well as Windows Vista.

Option 2. Secure erase SSD for Windows 

If you need to wipe a solid-state drive, you can use the method above, because it will decease its lifespan. The "SSD Secure Erase" in Professional Edition was specilized for solid-state drives. It is able to securely erase data on an SSD without hurting it. 

SSD Secure Erase is only supported by the Windows 7 operating system at present. If the operating system are not Windows 7, please connect the SSD to a Windows 7 computer.

Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant and click the SSD you want to erase and select “Secure Erase SSD” from the "Wipe" menu.

Step 2. Choose the SSD you want to erase, read it and click “Next”.

Step 3. Then check the selected SSD information. If it is in a frozen state. To continue, you need to reconnect the SSD to peform hot swap.

Perform hot swap steps:

1. Open the case cover back cove (for desktop) or hard shell (for laptop).

2. Find the SSD that needs to be securely erased.

3. Unplug the SSD power cable.

4. Unplug the SATA data cable of the SSD.

5. Then insert the SATA data cable back into the SATA port of the hard disk.

6. Finally, plug the power cord back into the power connector on the hard disk.

Notice: Do not turn off the computer and programs during hot plugging.

After hot plugging to unlock the SSD, you can securely erase the SSD.

Step 5. Then click “next” to continue, and wait till the progress finished.

* Clean the system disk will delete the system data, thus your Windows cannot start properly.

Method 2. Wipe A Hard Drive Windows 10 via Command Prompt 

To wipe a hard drive in Windows 10, you can use the Diskpart command line tool. Command Prompt is more suitable for computer professionals. It requires the user to have a very detailed knowledge of computer operations as well as hard disks. Any wrong parameter may lead to data loss.

Take a look at how to erase Windows 10 disk using command prompt:

1. Press Windows+R at the same time, type "cmd" in the Run box, and then press Enter to open the command prompt.

2. Type "diskpart" to enter the diskpart window.

3. Run the following commands and press Enter:

• list disk
• select disk 1,2,3...
• clean all

4. In addition to running the clean command, you can run the special format command "format f: /fs:NTFS /p:1" to write zeroes to the drive once.

Method 3. Wipe Hard Drive via Windows Settings

This method primarily uses the reset feature in Windows to erase the computer. With Windows Settings you can restore Windows 10 to factory settings and erase everything on your PC.

Here are the steps to completely erase your hard disk using Windows 10:

1. Click the Windows Start menu and select Settings.

2. Select "Update and Security".

3. Select Recovery.

4. Under "Reset this computer", click "Start.

5. Click Remove All Content.

6. Select "Delete files and clean up the drive". 

7. Select "Next" and "Reset."

8. Continue and select Local Installation.

This process will take longer and is more involved. If you are not familiar with computers, I recommend using the method AOMEI Partition Assistant to perform a quick and comprehensive disk wipe.

When do you need to wipe disk?

You may be puzzled about when you need to wipe disk. Actually, if you plan to donate or sell the disk to others, you might need to wipe disk in Windows 10/8/7 completely and permanently. As we all know, hard drive is usually used to store data, and it brings great convenience to our work and life. As time goes by, there will be more and more personal data on the disk. So, if a hard drive is not in use. You’d better clean up all the data on the disk to keep your data safe. When it comes to clearing disk data, most people choose to delete them directly.

“Hey, guys. I have an old Windows 10 computer that has been used for many years. And I preparing to recycle it recently. As you know, there will be a lot of personal data in the computer that has been used for a long time. Now I need to completely empty the disk and delete all the data. Is there any method about easily wipe the disk? Thanks in advance!”

However, under the normal circumstances, if there is no special treatment, the deleted file does not actually disappear. The system just deletes the file names in the file allocation table. The real data is still on the disk, and it can be easily restored by some data recovery software. So, wipe disk can be a better way to clear the hard drive.

Verdict

Now, you know how to wipe disk in Windows 10/8/7 effectively. Regular secure erase can significantly increase the read/write speed and performance under the premise of ensuring the service life of SSD. AOMEI Partition Assistant can be the best disk wipe software. 

If you upgrade to Professional edition, you can recover lost partition. If the operating system of your computer is Windows Server, please turn to AOMEI Partition Assistant Server to enjoy more advanced features.