diskWiper cleans the free space on a drive so that files you deleted before can no longer be brought back by recovery tools. Your current files are never touched; only the empty space is overwritten.
When you delete a file, the data is not really gone. The system just marks that space as "free," but the old bytes stay on the disk until something writes over them. Anyone with a simple recovery tool can often read those old files back; old photos, documents, passwords, tax files.
diskWiper fills that free space with random data, so the leftovers of your deleted files are gone for good. This is useful when you:
- sell, return or give away a computer or USB drive,
- hand over a work laptop,
- or just want your deleted private files to actually stay deleted.
- Fast. Writing over a whole drive means moving a lot of data. Rust runs at full native speed, so it can use the disk as fast as the hardware allows.
- Safe. A tool that touches disks must not crash or corrupt things.
- No runtime, one file. It builds into a single small program with nothing to install.
- Zero outside code. The whole tool is built only from Rust's standard library and direct Windows calls.
diskWiper only ever creates its own temporary files in the free space and then deletes them. It never writes directly to the disk device. So by design it cannot overwrite your real files.
On top of that:
- it shows you a full plan and asks you to confirm before doing anything.
- Risky drives (like the system drive) require typing an exact phrase.
- You can press Ctrl+C at any time; it stops cleanly and removes its temp files.
- It always leaves a little free space so the system stays healthy.
- SSDs: because of how flash memory works, overwriting free space is best-effort, not a full guarantee. For a real wipe of an SSD, use the drive's built-in Secure Erase (which erases the whole drive). diskWiper detects SSDs and tells you this.
- some leftovers in snapshots, journals or file slack can't be reached without touching live files.
Full details: docs/DESIGN.md.
For most people this is all you need. You do not have to install Rust.
- Download
diskwiper.exefrom thedist/folder (or from the project's Releases page). - Put it somewhere easy, like your Desktop.
- Open PowerShell as Administrator
- Go to where you saved it and run it:
cd $HOME\Desktop
.\diskwiper.exe list # show your drives
.\diskwiper.exe analyze D: # look at drive D:, changes nothing
.\diskwiper.exe wipe D: # clean free space on D: (it asks first)The program shows a plan and asks you to confirm before it writes anything.
The first time you run it, Windows may show a blue "Windows protected your PC" box because the file is not signed. Click More info → Run anyway.
diskWiper has three commands:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
diskwiper list |
Shows all your drives (letter, type, free space). Changes nothing. |
diskwiper analyze D: |
Inspects drive D: and prints the plan. Changes nothing. |
diskwiper wipe D: |
Cleans the free space on D:. Asks you to confirm first. |
Typical first run:
.\diskwiper.exe list # 1. see your drives, pick one (e.g. E:)
.\diskwiper.exe analyze E: # 2. check what will happen
.\diskwiper.exe wipe E: --dry-run # 3. see the full plan, still no changes
.\diskwiper.exe wipe E: # 4. do it (it asks you to confirm)While a wipe runs you'll see a live progress bar with speed and time left. You
can press Ctrl+C at any moment to stop safely. Run diskwiper help to see
every option.
⚠️ Important; this is a terminal tool, not a click-to-open app. Double-clickingdiskwiper.exewill not work; the window just flashes and closes, because the program needs a command (likelistorwipe D:). Always open PowerShell first, then type the command. To run a real wipe, use PowerShell as Administrator (needed for full speed, SSD detection, and TRIM).
If you'd rather build from source, install Rust (1.70+) and the Visual C++ Build Tools, then from the project folder:
cargo build --release
cargo run --release -- list
cargo run --release -- analyze D:
cargo run --release -- wipe D: --dry-run # show the plan only, change nothingRun as Administrator for best speed and SSD detection. Run diskwiper help
for all options.
MIT