ScrapIt

You probably know this already, but pressing the “Delete” button on your keyboard to erase a file is not enough for it to be gone for good. In fact, the file is first sent to the Recycle Bin, just in case you change your mind and also as a way to prevent accidental data loss.

On the other hand, the “SHIFT-Del” key combination skips the Recycle Bin step and deletes the file from your PC. But even in this case the file is not completely erased, as this action only deletes the location label, not the content of the file. A good recovery tool can still get it back.

Not to worry though. To make sure the files you intend to delete are gone forever, you can try out a dedicated data wiping tool. And it does not have to be complicated at all: ScrapIt is the proof that a lightweight, small software utility will do the trick just as well as a more complex one.

ScrapIt comes in two flavors. There is a standard installer and a portable tool you can use. Needless to say, the portable application requires no setup and can be used on the go, which is quite convenient.

It’s not just the application that is small, but also the interface. Once you launch ScrapIt, you are greeted by a tiny window that bundles just a few options, namely to add one or more files or remove the selected files from the list.

ScrapIt does not simply delete the files in its input list. What it actually does is generate random data and use this data to overwrite the content of the files, one by one, making sure that the data is impossible to recover in the future.

Once you start wiping the files in the list, ScrapIt calculates the amount of random data needed and start generating it. Since new data is generated, it is not advisable to use ScrapIt for wiping large files, as it takes a lot of time to process the data. In fact, the developer recommends using it only for documents.

During our tests, we added larger files to the list and it took a significant amount of time for the application to carry out the task. It is definitely not worth waiting so much to get rid of sensitive data. We recommend using ScrapIt only for documents and small-size files.