# Deleting Files Do you know how a file is deleted? If the answer is no, read the part below, if you know, skip this section and save time. Deleting a file from a hard drive can be a long process, that's why operative systems made it this way:\ They don't want you to have a bad user experience waiting 2h for a file to be deleted completely. \ That's why when u "delete" a file, the OS just marks the space where the file was installed as "free", so it overwrites something else there that you download. (Read about fragmentation and defragmentation in the Forensics topic).\ But deleted data can be retrived using specific tools, that's why it is important if you don't want that data to be able to come back from the dead - use a file shredder. File Shredder is an app that overwrites the disk multiple times, making file carving (retrieving deleted data) hard or impossible.\ File Shredder, for example, is a free desktop app that lets you choose from five shredding algorithms to destroy files completely --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://digitalgarden.batamladen.com/notes/privacy/deleting-files.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.