| -f--force | change permissions to allow writing if necessary |
| -n--iterations | overwrite N times instead of the default (3) |
| --random-source | get random bytes from FILE |
| -s--size | shred this many bytes (suffixes like K, M, G accepted) |
| -u | deallocate and remove file after overwriting |
| --remove | like -u but give control on HOW to delete; See below |
| -v--verbose | show progress |
| -x--exact | do not round file sizes up to the next full block; this is the default for non-regular files |
| -z--zero | add a final overwrite with zeros to hide shredding |
| --help | display this help and exit |
| --version | output version information and exit |
NAME
shred - overwrite a file to hide its contents, and optionally delete it
SYNOPSIS
shred [OPTION]... FILE...
DESCRIPTION
Overwrite the specified FILE(s) repeatedly, in order to make it harder for even very expensive hardware probing to recover the data.
If FILE is -, shred standard output.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
- -f, --force
change permissions to allow writing if necessary
- -n, --iterations=N
overwrite N times instead of the default (3)
- --random-source=FILE
get random bytes from FILE
- -s, --size=N
shred this many bytes (suffixes like K, M, G accepted)
- -u
deallocate and remove file after overwriting
- --remove[=HOW]
like -u but give control on HOW to delete; See below
- -v, --verbose
show progress
- -x, --exact
do not round file sizes up to the next full block; this is the default for non-regular files
- -z, --zero
add a final overwrite with zeros to hide shredding
- --help
display this help and exit
- --version
output version information and exit
Delete FILE(s) if --remove (-u) is specified. The default is not to remove the files because it is common to operate on device files like /dev/hda, and those files usually should not be removed. The optional HOW parameter indicates how to remove a directory entry: 'unlink' => use a standard unlink call. 'wipe' => also first obfuscate bytes in the name. 'wipesync' => also sync each obfuscated byte to the device. The default mode is 'wipesync', but note it can be expensive.
CAUTION: shred assumes the file system and hardware overwrite data in place. Although this is common, many platforms operate otherwise. Also, backups and mirrors may contain unremovable copies that will let a shredded file be recovered later. See the GNU coreutils manual for details.
AUTHOR
Written by Colin Plumb.
REPORTING BUGS
GNU coreutils online help: <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/> Report any translation bugs to <https://translationproject.org/team/>
SEE ALSO
Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/shred> or available locally via: info '(coreutils) shred invocation'
Packaged by Debian (9.7-3) Copyright © 2025 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.