How to Wipe All Data from PC – 2 Ways Included

Why You Should Delete Everything of a Computer?

How you wipe your computer depends on what you plan to do with it later. If you want to keep your computer, you can simply refresh your PC. However, if you plan to sell, donate or give away your computer, you need to take extra precautions to ensure that the next owner of the computer cannot access the data stored on your PC. Such as the photos, financial documents and other private data. In such case, you need to reset your PC to wipe all data from the PC.  There are two methods in this article, keep reading to see how to do it.

Preparations before Delete Everything on Your Computer

Before you start wiping data on your computer, you still need to do some preparations on how to delete everything on your compueter.

#1. Backup your valuable data

If you still have some important files on your computer, you can choose to create a file backup first. You can prepare a USB flash drive or another external hard drive to store the data you want to keep. Or back it up to Google Drive or OneDrive. If not, you will not be able to get your data back using any data recovery software.

#2. Encrypt your SSD

If you have a hard disk drive (HDD) on your computer, it will be completely erased when you refresh Windows. But if your computer has a solid-state drive (SSD), you have to take an extra step to ensure your old data can’t be recovered even after it’s erased. You should perform an SSD encryption on Windows 10.

Navigate to: Settings -> System -> About -> Related Settings -> Bitlocker settings.

If you cannot find encryption from settings, you can navigate to: Control Panel -> BitLocker Drive Encryption -> Turn on BitLocker.

How to Wipe All Data from Computer on Windows 10

Once the preparations are complete, you can start erasing all data on your computer. Follow the steps below to learn how to wipe all data from PC.

#1. Delete Everything of Your Computer with Windows Built-In Feature

A factory reset restores your settings and drivers to default values. All your applications, files will be deleted. You can choose to keep your personal files or delete all your personal files, apps and settings.

1. Press Win + I key together to open Windows Settings. Then select Update & Security.

2. Click Recovery on the left panel and then select Get Started button under Reset this PC section.

3. Next, choose “Remove everything” to wipe all data from computer.

4. Select “Remove files and clean the drive" when you are asked to whether to clean the drives too. The cleaning process may take longer, but it can ensure that no one can recover the erased files.

5. Click "Next" and "Reset" button on following steps to complete the task.

#2. Wipe All Data from PC Safely using Third-Party Disk Wipe Software

According to some users, when they wanted to use "Reset This PC" on Windows 10, they encountered the "There was a problem resetting your PC" error. There are many reasons for this problem, and finding the exact fix is tedious. Fortunately, you have another option to delete all data on your computer.

The second method makes it easier to wipe all data from PC, and also helps you create a backup before erasing. All are done with just a few mouse clicks. The software I introduce to you is AOMEI Backupper Professional. It is a powerful disk wiping software which can help you securely clean up all data from PC. You can choose to wipe partitions or unallocated space on the disk or delete all data on the disk. All data you delete with this software cannot be recovered after erasure.

Learn how to wipe all data from PC via AOMEI Backupper in the following tutorial.

1. Click the download button below to install this software on your computer.

2.  Launch AOMEI Backupper, click "Tools" in the left tab. Then select the "Disk Wipe" tool under "Common Tools".

3. Then you will be asked to select your desired wiping type. If you want to delete everything of your computer, select Wipe disk to delete all partitions and wipe all sectors on the disk. The data can’t be recovered after wiping.

4. Select the hard drive you want to erase and click Next to continue.

♨ Note: if you are choosing to wipe the system disk, a popup window will prompt you that wipe boot drive will run in reboot mode, press OK to confirm.

5. Next, select a Wiping Method – Fill sectors with Zero (Safe, Quick) and hit Start to begin the wiping process.

❀ Tip: There are four methods available that represent different degrees of overwriting, and the final wiping effect will be different. The more thorough the wipe is, the more difficult it will be to recover so that it is securer.

6. Then you will enter the erasing process page. If you want to stop this process, you can click "Cancel" in the right corner.

Conclusion

This article provides you with 2 ways on how to wipe all data from PC. Both methods can help you effectively delete everything on your computer and make them unrecoverable. However, some users also reported that their "Reset This PC" was unavailable. To save your time and effort, I suggest you still choose the second method - AOMEI Backupper to delete everything on your computer. This method is simpler and faster.

This powerful third-party software can help you much more than that, it is an all-in-one backup, restore, clone and sync software. You can use it to perform a bootable clone on all Windows. This software can comprehensively protect your computer and system. Try it now!