---
syntax: markdown
tags: [tldr, common]
source: https://github.com/tldr-pages/tldr.git
---
# shred

> Overwrite files to securely delete data.
> More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/shred-invocation.html>.

- Overwrite a file:

`shred {{path/to/file}}`

- Overwrite a file and show progress on the screen:

`shred {{[-v|--verbose]}} {{path/to/file}}`

- Overwrite a file, leaving zeros instead of random data:

`shred {{[-z|--zero]}} {{path/to/file}}`

- Overwrite a file a specific number of times:

`shred {{[-n|--iterations]}} {{25}} {{path/to/file}}`

- Overwrite a file and remove it:

`shred {{[-u|--remove]}} {{path/to/file}}`

- Overwrite a file 100 times, add a final overwrite with zeros, remove the file after overwriting it, and show verbose progress on the screen:

`shred {{[-vzu|--verbose --zero --remove]}} {{[-n|--iterations]}} 100 {{path/to/file}}`