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/>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2023 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.

SEE ALSO

       Full documentation <https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/shred>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) shred invocation'