I have a genuine Windows 10 installation flash drive. I want to wipe that flash drive and sell it to one of my friends. I’ve formatted my USB drive. Is it ready to sell?

Unfortunately, the answer is NO!

Whether you want to sell or dispose of your USB flash drive, just formatting it isn’t the right choice. You need to entirely wipe the drive to protect your data against data breaches, data theft, identity theft, or several other issues. In this post, we’re sharing the best method to wipe or erase flash drive data. But before that, you need to understand why only formatting the drive won’t be enough.

What happens when you format a USB flash drive?

When you format the USB flash drive, Windows OS will not read/see the information available on the drive, meaning the data will become inaccessible. It will be deleted for you as you won’t be able to access it, but the data will remain on the drive, and it can be recovered using data recovery software. Hence, if you’re planning to sell or dispose of your storage drive, don’t do it until and unless you wipe it permanently.

What Does Data Wiping Mean?

Data Wiping refers to the process of erasing data beyond the scope of recovery. It overwrites the data on a particular drive to such an extent that the data becomes unreadable permanently. Meaning that your USB flash drive will be safe from all threats of data theft once wiped.

Now that you’re familiar with the concept of data wiping, you can proceed with wiping the flash drive using a BitRaser File Eraser tool.

How to Wipe a Flash Drive with BitRaser File Eraser

When it’s about wiping the flash drive data, you should opt for a data erasure tool, such as a BitRaser File Eraser. This Do-it-Yourself (DIY) tool comes with a neat and user-friendly GUI. The software helps you erase all data types, including photos, videos, audio files, documents, internet history, system traces, etc. from Windows PCs and storage devices, such as hard drives, SD cards, etc.

The softwareiscompletely secure to download and use. It doesn’t impact any system or program files available in the C: drive.The software assures you secure data wiping as it uses powerful data erasure algorithms approved by the US Department of Defense standards. Follow the given steps to learn how to wipe a flash drive:

• Download the BitRaser File Eraser software on your working PC.
• The software will ask you to permit the software to run.
• The software’s initial dashboard will appear on the screen.
• Next, you can choose to Erase Deleted Data. It will permanently wipe all the files from the flash drive deleted with the Shift + Del key or by emptying the recycle bin.
• Select the drive and click ‘Erase Now.’ (See Image 1)

• If you want to wipe some particular files and folders from your USB flash drive, navigate to ‘Erase Files & Folders.’
• You can click the + icon to addfiles and folders to the erasure list.
• Additionally, you can click ‘Search & Erase’ to find and erase specific files from the flash drive.
• Once the files and folders are added, click ‘Erase Now.’ (See Image 2)

Additional Benefit: You can also use the ‘Scheduler’ feature. It will help you set a schedule to erase data. Once the scheduler is set, it will automatically run at the allocated time and day.

EndNote:

You can delete data from a USB flash drive by emptying the recycle bin or using the Shift + Del key in Windows systems. Even drive formatting will cause you data loss. But these methods only make the data inaccessible, not wipe it. To wipe a flash drive, you can use reliable data eraser software, such as BitRaser File Eraser. This DIY software can efficiently erase files, folders, photos, documents, and more from Windows systems and storage drives, such as HDD, SSD, USB drive, etc. It gives you peace of mind by protecting your data from multiple threats, such as data theft, data breach, etc.