What happens to files you delete on a flash drive?

**mayerj72** · 12-01-2009, 06:49 AM

What happens to files you delete on a flash drive? They don't end up in the recycle bin I heard. Apparently the flash drive just signals that the space is available once a file is deleted. Is that correct?

And once you deleted files on your flash drive, can you still retrieve them? I heard for instance that people should not sell their used flash drives online because people could just retrieve that info. Is that true?

If I have a 1 GB flash drive and delete everything on there is it permanently gone? What if I delete everything and then fill up the flash drive again with other stuff? Is it overwritten then and permanently gone? How does that work?

**manoj** · 12-01-2009, 06:50 AM

Yes it is permanently gone;however, since flash memory can only sustain few read/write cycles some of the stuff it left permanently on the flash drive. You can get to this stuff though and there is no way to remove it.

**chad p** · 12-01-2009, 06:51 AM

Yes, if you simple right click and select "delete", the file is not completely gone. It is only gone programmatically and not physically. The right program however can usually recover the file(s). If you want to make sure the files are completely gone you will have to use a specific program or reformat the drive. Reformatting a drive will destroy everything on the drive.