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Wipe MFT Free Space to Secure Your Data

  author
Written By Kumar Raj
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh  
Published On November 29th, 2024
Reading Time 4 Minutes Reading

When you are heading towards a digital data management era, ensuring complete data security is the need of the hour. In this aspect, one of the less popular vital scenarios of secure data deletion is the ability to wipe MFT free space. Here, the process involves the complete erasure of your sensitive data, making it irretrievable to others. Also, this helps you to protect yourself from potential recovery attempts. Hence, whether you are disposing of your old drives or want to safeguard confidential information, this method can be a game changer to your data security. Besides MFT, check wipe free space of hard drive for complete removal of unwanted files.

What is MFT and Why is Wiping Its Free Space Important?

The Master File Table, or MFT, is the primary part of NTFS (New Technology File System) that is used in Windows. It serves as the index for all files available on the drive, maintaining the metadata of each file. This includes properties such as file names, file or document size, and file locations. However, deleting the file doesn’t make it disappear. Rather, it is just the removal of its reference from the MFT, and the space it occupies is marked as available for new use.

This creates a vulnerability because specialized recovery tools can detect the deleted file until space is overwritten with new data. However, when you opt to wipe the MFT free space, you ensure that data in these areas isn’t recoverable, destroying the chances of recovery.

The Risks of Leaving MFT Free Space Untouched

Failure to wipe the free space in MFT leaves the confidential data inside the MFT free of unauthorized access. Cybercriminals and malicious actors can make use of unprotected MFT entries to recover deleted information, such as personal documents, financial records, or business-critical files. 

Furthermore, it is important to note that many of the data protection laws, including GDPR, HIPAA, or CCPA, also require secure data deletion or wiping of such data. So, simply deleting files without wiping the MFT free space may not satisfy the above regulations, giving rise to legal and financial repercussions.

How to Wipe MFT Free Space?

There are several methods to ensure MFT free space is wiped effectively:

Manual Method using Cipher

Windows has some in-built utilities that can be use to overwrite free space in NTFS drives. These utilities however not explicitly meant for MFT but can help in general wipe of unused space. This is how they can be used:

Using the Cipher Command:

Open the Command Prompt with administrative privileges.

Type the following command and press Enter:

cipher /w:<drive letter>

Replace <drive letter> with the desired drive you want wiped (e.g., C:).

The command will then overwrite the free space on the selected drive, making it more difficult for recovery tools to perform recovery of deleted data.

Shortcomings:

  • This method overwrites empty nonsystem-defined space but does not address any remnants in the MFT.
  • It’s a time-consuming, manual process.

Completely Wipe MFT Free Space on Your Windows & Mac

In this section, you will come to know about a comprehensive and targeted data-wiping technique. This method will help you wipe several areas like MFT free space and more. In this context, the SysTools complete data erasure software is the perfect fit. With its advanced algorithm, you can overwrite the data multiple times, making the recovery virtually impossible.

 

Let’s analyze the software working through the steps:

  1. First, open up the start menu, followed by All Programs, and find SysTools Data Wipe Software.
    tool main screen
  2. Then, select Open in the software by right-clicking on it.
  3. Select File or Select Folder as per your needs.
    select file or folder
  4. Now, select the file/ folder that you want to wipe from the file location.
  5. After that, hit Next to start the scanning of files and folders.
    click on next
  6. Now, select a data-wiping method.
    choose a data wiping method
  7. Click on Wipe to initiate the process.
    press on wipe button
  8. At the end of the process, details for file/folder deletion will be visible on the screen.
    wiping report

Conclusion

Securely deleting data is very important in this age of digital outbound. However many users delete files overlooking MFT free space that would leave the secure information vulnerable. As a result, learning how to wipe MFT free space is a proactive step towards securing your privacy and data integrity.

Whether you are an individual striving to protect private data or a business compiling regulatory standards, secure data deletion is the key. This has been simplified by the above-mentioned software, having effective processes that ensure the user’s mind is at peace. Thus, adopt these practices today for the protection of sensitive information and maintain a proper data security structure.

  author

By Kumar Raj

Kumar Raj has more than 14 plus years of expertise in migration technology. He likes to create, edit, and optimize web material on topics conversion of email data, and migration of email data. For the majority of the past ten years, he has been a devoted fan of the technology scene.