---
name: "shred"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "coreutils"
version: "9.12-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/shred"
---

# shred(1)

overwrite a file to hide its contents, and optionally delete it

## 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 details of data and metadata operations performed

- **-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

FILE will be skipped with a diagnostic message if it is a FIFO, socket, or terminal, since its data does not reside on disk.

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

Report bugs to: \<bug-coreutils@gnu.org\>.\
 Report any translation bugs to: \<https://translationproject.org/team/\>.\
 GNU coreutils home page: \<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/\>\
 General help using GNU software: \<https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/\>

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2026 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'