I scanned a large collection of family photos and kept copies on two portable SSDs for redundancy. The active backup is now complete, and I also archived the photos on hard drives and M-Disc media. Before selling the SSDs, I want to make sure the old data cannot be recovered. Is deleting the partitions and running TRIM enough, or should I use the drive's secure-erase or sanitize function? Would it be wiser to keep the SSDs as part of a 3-2-1 backup strategy?
4 Answers
If the SSD supports hardware encryption, a secure erase or sanitize operation usually changes or destroys the encryption key, making the existing contents practically unrecoverable. Verify that the command completed successfully and then create a new empty partition table before selling the drive.
The best option is the SSD’s built-in Secure Erase or Sanitize command, available through the manufacturer’s utility or sometimes the computer’s firmware settings. These commands are designed for flash storage and typically erase the internal encryption key or reset the flash efficiently. Avoid repeatedly overwriting an SSD with old hard-drive wiping tools, since that adds wear without providing a better result.
If the photos are irreplaceable, keeping the SSDs as additional offline backups may be worthwhile if storage space and cost are not concerns. SSDs can lose charge after long periods without power, so they should not be the only archival copies. Your hard-drive and optical-disc copies provide useful additional media types for a 3-2-1 strategy.
For an ordinary consumer sale, deleting the partitions and forcing TRIM is generally sufficient, especially if the drive has always been encrypted. On Windows, the drive optimization tool can issue TRIM; on Linux, use `fstrim`. macOS handles TRIM automatically on supported setups, though the manufacturer’s secure-erase utility is preferable if you need stronger assurance.
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