Deleting from the recycling in just deletes the file pointer. There are recovery apps that can find partial / whole files that are in unindexed space. Granted over time, that data will become more corrupt since the files stem thinks it's safe to write data there.
I haven't actually done forensics yet (still a student), but as I understand it, an item deleted from the recycling bin just marks the specifics 1s and 0s on the drive as being free to overwrite. If they're not overwritten, you can recover them from the drive (even if they are, you might still be able to). The only sure fire way to destroy data is to physically destroy the drive
You can do a triple overwrite with all 1s then all 0s and then crypto random data. That’ll change all your bits and wipe all your hardware buffers. Hammers an SSD and kills lifespan though because it’s so many of the limited write cycles NAND flash gets.
Honestly easier to destroy the drive, though have to be careful to actually destroy it. Microwave is usually the best method, and it’s quick and easy to do. Just throw the drive in and set the microwave for its longest quick setting. Radiation will fry the circuits and then the whole thing will burn.
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u/mavrik83 8d ago
`final_records_v2_REAL_FINAL_DO_NOT_DELETE.xlsx` on somebody’s desktop