In the era of the internet, the importance of encryption cannot go unnoticed towards protecting confidential information. Nevertheless, sometimes you need to know the ways to permanently delete files from external hard drive. Whether it’s to keep old data off the PCs, for security reasons or just to delete some software from the storage space, knowing this procedure is important. In this article, we will discuss different methods to delete encrypted files. And also highlight how secure deletion tools are the best option.

Understanding Encrypted Files

Before talking about how to delete files and how to delete encrypted files, we first need to understand what is an encrypted file? Encryption is a process of converting readable data to an unreadable format to shield it from unauthorized access. Encryption is great, but it can make it harder to do things like delete files, etc. For example, files encrypted can still be recovered so moving them to the Recycle Bin does not guarantee they will not be recovered.

Specialized software helps us to overcome such issues. It overwrites the actual disk sectors where the files were stored so that deleted files cannot be recovered. Now, let’s take a look at some alternative ways that we can answer the question on how to delete encrypted files permanently in external hard drive.

How to Uninstall FileVault on macOS:

Method 1: Delete after Decrypting

You can just decrypt them before you delete the files, which is a simple approach. To do this, right-click on the encrypted file or folder, choose “Properties,” and go to the “Advanced” settings in the General tab.

Next, be sure to uncheck the encryption option and apply the changes. When decrypted, you simply delete the files no cryptographic residue complications.

But remember that decryption by itself won’t erase everything. Deleted data can not be recovered by any means, but still, some advanced recovery tools may be able to recover some parts of deleted data. Hence, this approach should be combined with a strong solution. It guarantees that everything from the decrypted data is scrubbed afterward.

#2: Use Native Tools for Secure Deletion

Most operating systems have integrated tools for handling encrypted files. For instance, if you have BitLocker-encrypted drives, you can turn off BitLocker encryption from the Control Panel or File Explorer. Click on the drive, right-click, select “Manage BitLocker” and follow the instructions to disable encryption. Then continue to delete as you normally would.

But keep in mind that even after BitLocker is toggled off, parts of the original encrypted data could still exist. This problem can be avoided by adding some external tools. It not only removes the data but overwrites it after copying, leaving there is no trail.

Delete Within Encrypted Vaults — Method 3

Users who store encrypted files with inside virtual vaults (dropbox vaults) best practice is to delete the files from inside the vault directly. Just delete the folders or files in the vault interface and let any client app (e.g., Dropbox) take care of their encrypted counterparts. Do not manually touch the encrypted files outside the vault. This will corrupt the system.

While these apps make deleting encrypted files far easier, secure deletion isn’t always their priority. Once again, the data erasure software comes to the rescue. It scan and wipe remaining data as well, which provides an additional level of protection when cleaning your device.

Method 4: Encrypt Then Forget Password

A nontraditional but effective method is to re-encrypt the files using a long, random password — and then forget the password. This makes the files effectively inaccessible, similar to deletion.

This is an ideal way to delete mappings in bulk but clumsy. You won’t have fine-grained control over which particular files are hit, and extraction becomes infeasible—even if you had good cause to pay.

This way, you will not have any ambiguity and also maintain complete control by using the professional software along with this technique. The software allows you to select which files or directories to protect, which makes them accessible to people you choose and unrecoverable during any future cleaning up.

Why Choose Automated Software?

The mention of professional data wiping tools cannot be escaped when you read about how to delete encrypted files. Because of its data overwriting ability, SysTools Data Wipe Software is one of the best of all disk wipe tools that fulfills the secured data erasing as per the International standards. It is also able to work with encrypted files and other formats, making it manageable for both personal and business purposes.

The software includes intuitive​ features such as scheduled wipes, activity log generation, and multi-device​ support. Such capabilities help create transparency and accountability for every aspect of the delete process, something that organizations managing sensitive information must have.

Final Thoughts

In this article, we will cover little more about deleting encrypted files. Decryption, built-in tools, vault-based deletion, password obfuscation — you name it, and each of these methods has its pros and cons. But still, these techniques can’t prevent data recovery completely without assisting these techniques with effective tools.

These tips, complemented by powerful wiping software, will help you securely delete files and avoid leaving recoverable remnants behind, even in cases of encryption. With the evolving technology, keeping up to date on secure deletion practices will remain a vital part of digital hygiene. So the next time you wonder, “How to delete encrypted files? —you’ll know just how to begin.