this post was submitted on 19 May 2025
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Hey guys,

I want to shred/sanitize my SSDs. If it was a normal harddrive I would stick to ShredOS / nwipe, but since SSD's seem to be a little more complicated, I need your advice.

When reading through some posts in the internet, many people recommend using the software from the manufacturer for sanitizing. Currently I am using the SSD SN850X from Western digital, but I also have a SSD 990 PRO from Samsung. Both manufacturers don't seem to have a specialized linux-compatible software to perform this kind of action.

How would be your approach to shred your SSD (without physically destroying it)?

~sp3ctre

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[–] Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee -2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Would 'overwrite with zeroes' in gnome Disks work?

[–] JustEnoughDucks 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

No, ssds have a ton of wear leveling where data is shifted around and not deleted. Deleting data wears out the SSD, so it is held as much as possible with the controller. SSDs are like 10% bigger than advertised just to prolong the life.

Even if you write the whole thing with random data then zeros, it will still have blocks in unaccessible (to normal users) places that contain old data.

Always best to use disk encryption or keep any sensitive data in filesystem encryption like plasma vaults or fscrypt.

[–] Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee 1 points 2 weeks ago

That's good to know.

All of my own drives are encrypted except for a USB stick that I use for transferring files to a windows machine.