How to Wipe Your Disk in Linux?

Linux is the popular operating system for email servers, file servers, database servers, web servers, etc. Users working on Linux may need to wipe the disk if the disk space status is not favorable. Let us learn all about how to wipe your disk in Linux in this article.

Our dedicated team of Linux experts has prepared this detailed write-up starting with the quick steps to check disk space status in Linux. We’ll go through two methods to erase the Linux disk, followed by details to recover files from crashed disk.

Part 1. How to Check Disk Space Status in Linux?

Linux users may not proceed with the disk wiping before knowing the exact status of the available space. You can decide to wipe Linux hard drives based on low space availability. In addition, users may resort to wiping Linux drives due to situations like disposing of an old system or selling it, etc. With that being said, let us move to the quick steps to check disk space status in Linux.

Linux offers two different commands for locating the available and used disk space in a Linux server. These are the “df” and “du” commands. The “df” command allows users to view the available disk space for every drive of the Linux system in KB. The “-h” command can be used to make the output easier to read and offers the amount of disk available in kilobytes (K), megabytes (M), and gigabytes (G). The following are the detailed steps to check disk space status in Linux using the “df” command:

Method 1. Executing the “df” command:

Step 1. Executing the “-h” option:

Step 2. Executing the “-Th” option:

Step 3. Using the Filesystem or Mounted on the description

Method 2. Executing the “du” command:

The “du” command gives details of disk space utilized by files and folders in Linux systems. It shows the file or folder size in KB, and the different switches are used to retrieve the appropriate output like

The quick steps to use “du” command are:

Step 1. Using the du command

Step 2. Using the s switch

Step 3. Using the c switch

Step 4. Using the h switch

Part 2. How to Wipe Your Disk in Linux?

After learning how to check the disk space in Linux, users may decide to wipe the Linux drive. Linux is different from other leading operating systems and hence needs dedicated methods for erasing a hard disk. We’ll go through the following two commands to wipe the Linux disk.

Method 1. Using the DD Command

The “DD” command comes in two forms. The first option performs a zero-pass, while the second option uses random ones and zeroes. It can wipe Linux hard drives securely.

All you need to do is enter the following command and press enter to complete the hard drive wiping process.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs= 1M

dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdX bs= 1M

Here, X is replaced with the target drive letter of your system.

Method 2. Using the Shred Command

While using the DD command can be easy for many Linux users to wipe the Linux drive, the Shred command offers a feasible alternate option. It is the built-in command in Linux systems and performs multiple passes of random ones and zeroes to wipe the hard drive.

All you need to do is enter the following command and press enter to complete the hard drive wiping process.

shred –vf /dev/sdX

shred –n Y –vf /dev/sdX

Here, X is replaced with the target drive letter of your system, and Y is the second example with the desired number.

Part 3. How to Recover Files from a Crashed Hard Disk?

While it is easy to erase the Linux disk using the steps mentioned above, you must never forget to take a detailed backup of the drive. Hard disks may crash, causing unavoidable data loss situations or other events of accidental data deletion. You don’t need to worry, as we got an amazing software recovery tool for recovering files from a crashed hard disk on Mac and Windows systems. It is Wondershare Recoverit.

Wondershare Recoverit can recover over 1,000 data formats and files from different storage sources. For example, you can recover files from a crashed hard disk, external devices, Recycle Bin, desktop, etc. Some of the advanced options Recoverit include a video repair tool, Professional Video Recovery, etc.

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The quick steps to use Wondershare Recoverit for recovering files from a crashed hard disk are:

Step 1. Launch Recoverit and select the System Crashed Computer

Step 2. Create bootable media

Step 3. Recovering data from crashed computer

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Data from Hard Disk After Disk Wipe

Conclusion

Hope everything is clear about the Linux wipe disk after going through this article. It is easy to check the available disk space in Linux using the “df” command, followed by quick steps to wipe the space using the “DD” and the “Shred” commands. Not to miss is using Wondershare Recoverit in events of quick recovery of the accidentally deleted data files from the Linux system.

FAQs

After going through the details steps to wipe a hard drive in Linux, you may have some questions in your mind regarding the same. There is no need to get confused as we’ve prepared a list of the top-asked questions linked to wiping Linux. So, here you go: