How to erase an external SSD Drive and be sure that any data can't be recovered bay third party ?

[Idanel]

Hello everyone,
i've benn looking for an asnswer to my quation on the web but can't find it.
Does anyone knows wow to erase an external SSD Drive and be sure that any data can't be recovered bay third party ?
I've got a Macbbook pro M1 and running sonoma.
Thank you

 

[Rodananne]

Following the instructions provided by Apple on https://support.apple.com/en-us/102773
"What to do before you sell, give away, trade in or recycle your Mac."
These are more than adequate to protect your privacy however, if you are still concerned about your user data being retrieved from an erased HD remember data retrieval of erased data is a very expensive, complicated often unsuccessful process that only works if the data has not been overwritten.

 

[Idanel]

Thank you, but i don't want to erase my internal drive. And this does not work on an an external SSD.
Also, if you just erase the data it is easy to retrieve it with a simple app like "Recoverit"

 

[Lufbrarunner]

Try googling 'Securely erase SSD' there are loads of options but they cost. so it might not be economically viable.

 

[Rodananne]

Thank you, but i don't want to erase my internal drive. And this does not work on an an external SSD.
Also, if you just erase the data it is easy to retrieve it with a simple app like "Recoverit"

Sorry Idanel, I don't know how I got the idea you were asking about your internal drive. This article covers the use of the native Disk Utility to Securely wipe external drives.

https://www.howtogeek.com/179284/how-to-securely-wipe-a-hard-drive-on-your-mac/#how-to-wipe-an-external-drive

 

[Idanel]

Sorry Idanel, I don't know how I got the idea you were asking about your internal drive. This article covers the use of the native Disk Utility to Securely wipe external drives.

https://www.howtogeek.com/179284/how-to-securely-wipe-a-hard-drive-on-your-mac/#how-to-wipe-an-external-drive

No problem. Of course i already tried with Disk Utility but on SSD it is impossible to use the "security options" button. I will trie something with the terminal.

 

[Rodananne]

I believe that may be because the overwriting (using 1's and 0's) is considered detrimental to the life of an SSD.
Reuse after erasure is really the best way to ensure the old data is gone, eg. you could fill it up with music or movies, short of that a hammer works well.

 

[Idanel]

I believe that may be because the overwriting (using 1's and 0's) is considered detrimental to the life of an SSD.
Reuse after erasure is really the best way to ensure the old data is gone, eg. you could fill it up with music or movies, short of that a hammer works well.

Yes indeed ! That's what i found on my research. I finallay filled the ssd with music and erased it again. I will try the hammer next