What’s the safest way to permanently erase deleted files from a Windows laptop?

First find out whether the laptop has an SSD or a traditional hard drive. For a hard drive, a full overwrite of the entire disk can make the old data effectively unrecoverable; tools such as a bootable disk wiper or DiskPart’s `clean all` can do that. This erases the operating system and everything else, so back up anything you still need first.

Most newer Zenbook models use an SSD. Don’t repeatedly write random data to it, since SSD controllers can move data between flash cells and that just adds unnecessary wear. Use the SSD manufacturer’s secure-erase or sanitize utility, or a secure-erase option provided by the laptop’s firmware. If you’re selling or disposing of the laptop, Windows’ reset option with the drive-cleaning setting may be convenient, but a manufacturer sanitize command is the stronger choice for an SSD.

If the files were deleted long ago, there may be no practical way to erase only those exact areas, especially on an SSD. The reliable approach is to securely erase the entire drive before reinstalling Windows. For extremely sensitive information, physically destroying or replacing the drive is the only way to guarantee that no readable copy remains. In the future, enable full-disk encryption before storing private files, since deleting an encrypted drive is much easier to make unrecoverable.