# ntfswipe - overwrite unused space on an NTFS volume - man(8) - [phpMan]

[_NTFSWIPE_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/NTFSWIPE/8/markdown)                            System Manager's Manual                           [_NTFSWIPE_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/NTFSWIPE/8/markdown)

## NAME
       ntfswipe - overwrite unused space on an NTFS volume

## SYNOPSIS
       **ntfswipe **[_options_] _device_

## DESCRIPTION
       **ntfswipe  **clears  all or part of unused space on an NTFS volume by overwriting with zeroes or
       random bytes.

## OPTIONS
       Below is a summary of all the options that **ntfswipe **accepts.  Nearly  all  options  have  two
       equivalent  names.  The short name is preceded by **- **and the long name is preceded by **--**.  Any
       single letter options, that don't take an argument, can be combined into  a  single  command,
       e.g.  **-fv **is equivalent to **-f -v**.  Long named options can be abbreviated to any unique prefix
       of their name.

### -a --all
              Wipe all unused space. This may take significant time. If the option --unused-fast (or
              -U) is also present, the faster wiping method is used.

### -b --bytes 
              Define  the allowed replacement bytes which are drawn randomly to overwrite the unused
              space. BYTE-LIST is a comma-separated list of values in range 0-255 expressed  in  oc‐
              tal, decimal or hexadecimal base.

### -c --count 
              Define  the  number  of  times  the unused space is to be overwritten. If both options
              **--bytes **and **--count **are set, the space is repeatedly overwritten this number of  times
              by each of the values in the list.

### -d --directory
              Wipe all the directory indexes, which may contain names of deleted files.

### -f --force
              This  will  override  some sensible defaults, such as not using a mounted volume.  Use
              this option with caution.

### -h --help
              Show a list of options with a brief description of each one.

### -i --info
              Display details about unused space, without wiping anything.

### -l --logfile
              Overwrite the logfile (update journal).

### -m --mft
              Overwrite the unused space in the MFT (main file table, which contains the file names,
              and the contents of short files).

### -n --no-action
              Executes the wiping process without writing to device.

### -p --pagefile
              Overwrite the Windows swap space.

### -q --quiet
              Suppress some debug/warning/error messages.

### -s --undel
              Overwrite the space which had been allocated to a file which has been deleted recently
              and is still undeletable. This option is not compatible with **--bytes **and the  replace‐
              ment bytes are random ones or taken from a standard list.

### -t --tails
              Overwrite the space at the end of files which is unused, but allocated because the al‐
              locations are always done by full clusters.

### -u --unused
              Overwrite  the  space  which is currently not allocated to any file (but may have been
              used in the past).

### -U --unused-fast
              Overwrite the space which is currently not allocated to any file, trying not to  over‐
              write the space not written to since the previous wiping.

### -v --verbose
              Display  more  debug/warning/error  messages. This option may be used twice to display
              even more messages.

### -V --version
              Show the version number, copyright and license of **ntfswipe**.

## EXAMPLES
       Wipe out all unused space in an NTFS volume.

              **ntfswipe -a /dev/sda1**

       Wipe out all deleted file names from an NTFS volume.

              **ntfswipe -dms /dev/sda1**


## BUGS
       There are no known problems with **ntfswipe**.  If you find a bug please send an email describing
       the problem to the development team:
       <ntfs-3g-devel@lists.sf.net>

## AUTHORS
       **ntfswipe **was written by Richard Russon, Anton Altaparmakov and Yura Pakhuchiy.  It was ported
       to ntfs-3g by Erik Larsson.

## AVAILABILITY
       **ntfswipe **is part of the **ntfs-3g **package and is available from:
       <https://github.com/tuxera/ntfs-3g/wiki/>

## SEE ALSO
       [**ntfs-3g**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ntfs-3g/8/markdown), [**ntfsls**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ntfsls/8/markdown), [**ntfsprogs**(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ntfsprogs/8/markdown)

ntfs-3g 2022.10.3                             June 2014                                  [_NTFSWIPE_(8)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/NTFSWIPE/8/markdown)