Permanently delete files from your Mac computer command-line

If you place your files, pictures & videos into the trash and then click empty, this doesn't completely delete all information of your SSD internal storage some of the data is being compressed and stored on your internal computer drive forever.
Type in this simple command line into your terminal application and drag any file or folder you wish to erase forever of your Mac computer without leaving any trace on your internal drive.

Command-line is simple (rm -rf)

[CrazyforCruiser]

I couldn't empty my trash bin of my eternal HDD and tried every method but always failed and your video helped me. Thank you! This is what worked for me rm -rf space and drag file.

[danabee]

Hi Paul, I am one of those most people LOL who just drag their files to the trash and then empty it. I have been doing this forever but I have been wondering if I can find these files (even when the trash bin was emptied) somewhere through this terminal app and then delete them for REAL ?

[vivifymkt]

Thank you so much for your colaboration! It helped me a lot!

[christymullins]

after deleting files with this command as instructed in the video, does it mean these files are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered? kindly reply my comment thanks

[ricabude]

Thanks for your videos. I upgraded today do Monterrey, and up until today, pressing command + delete would send the file directly to the trash. Now I am getting an annoying confirmation message and did not find a way to get rid of it. Any ideas? Thanks a lot

[Gerald-pu]

rm -rf deletes files and directories, it does not securely erase them. The data remains on the disk until it is overwritten by new data, which means that, theoretically, it could be recovered using specialized data recovery tools.

[ArgentoRAWRz]

Lightroom doesn't let me delete with this method. It says zsh: permission denied. (I'm trying to delete from an external drive) please help. I also tried already the command line : sudo(space)rm(space)-R(space), didn't worked either)

[frunzacatalin]

if i emptyed my Bin how i make sure they are removed?

[jimbosview]

hey so i tried your way of deleting and i didnt work for me as i have two files that dont wanne delete .. they are system folders
called install macos catalina and Mojave the have a wierd crass with one line through them ..?? any help would very much be apreciated

[nishraj]

How to delete some userdata it’s saying operation not completed…. Please suggest

[macadonards]

imagine he actually deleted those photos without saving them somewhere else lmao

[Plastik]

Question : I permanent erased a file (by writing 0 and 1 over it with 3 pass algorithm). When I used Stellar Data Recovery to see if I could recover the deleted file, I found that the Stellar software found the name of the file and the size, let's say Titanic.avi 350 Mo, but said that the file was corrupted. Is there a way to permanent delete not only the core of the file but also the data linked to that file, like the name or the size ? Thanks.

[imakeitlookez]

I got the message "zsh: permission denied" any I deal what that means?

[davilamarvin]

How do I permanently delete files that were already empty from trash can

[Bernard_Chang]

I get the message permission denied🫤 Can you help me?