Deleted ≠ Gone? A 7-day recovery experiment reveals the truth
Let’s be clear: just because you hit “delete” doesn’t mean your file is gone. That idea bothered me enough that I decided to test it—methodically. Over 7 days, I ran a file deletion experiment across two drives to see what could still be recovered, and how fast files actually vanish. Turns out, some of what I believed was right. But most of it wasn’t. And by Day 4, I was honestly creeped out by what I found lingering on my so-called “wiped” hard drive. This post walks you through that journey: the test setup, the day-by-day results, and what you need to do if you actually want your deleted files to be unrecoverable. Table of Contents How file deletion really works The experiment setup Day 1–2: What I could still recover Day 3–4: When recovery turned weird Final findings and what you should do How file deletion really works Deleting a file just removes its pointer—your data stays until it’s overwritten. Most operating systems don’t ...