Shredding Files and Folders

You can "shred" files from Windows Explorer. Window Washer adds a Shred (Wash with Bleach) item to the menu that displays when you right-click a file or folder in Windows Explorer.

Using this menu item deletes the selected files or folders and overwrites each deleted item once with random characters, similar to the bleach option when you run a wash. This is a more secure way of deleting files from your computer.

Caution: You cannot recover shredded files from the Recycle Bin or using an undelete or unerase program.

To shred files or folders:

Start Window Washer, if it is not already open.
You do not need to display the Window Washer window. It just needs to be open in the system tray. For more information, see Starting Window Washer.
From Windows Explorer, right-click the files or folders you want to shred.
From the pop-up menu, select Shred (Wash with Bleach).
If you selected a file or folder that is in a Windows system folder, Window Washer asks you to confirm that you want to shred the selected item.
The Window Washer Shredding window displays showing each file shredded and a progress bar.