What’s the Best Way to Wipe a Used NVMe Drive?

Honestly, if the previous owner left files, just delete their partitions in Disk Management and create your own. Once you format it, the old data will be pretty much unrecoverable as soon as TRIM runs. And if you're worried about sensitive data when selling drives in the future, consider encrypting your drives right from the start to avoid issues.

I've built my first computer not long ago, so I'm a bit nervous about these things. I just want to make sure that putting this used drive in my PC won’t spread any malware or viruses. Should I actually be concerned about that, or is it just my imagination running wild?

Just give it a normal format through Disk Management or Explorer; it won't hurt. Secure erase is mainly necessary when you're wiping a drive to sell it and you’re worried about the new owner accessing your old data. For your case, a regular format will do.

Most BIOS systems have a secure erase feature nowadays. If you’re using Windows, just head over to Disk Management and format the drive there. Alternatively, you could create a boot disk with Hiren’s BootCD PE to manage it, which is straightforward.

You don’t actually need to go for a secure erase unless you’re super worried about data recovery. A regular format will work just fine here. Secure erase would typically make sense if you were selling the drive, but since the previous owner didn't care, formatting it will clear everything effectively. You can also use secure erase from BIOS if you prefer that route, or even use a command in Linux if you're comfortable with it.