Erasing a volume is an easy way to free up hard drive space. Many multimedia applications, such as Adobe Photoshop, need a large amount of contiguous disk space to work in. Erasing a volume is a faster way of creating that space than using third-party defragmenting tools. Because this process erases all of the data on a volume, many multimedia-savvy individuals create small volumes to hold a project's worth of data, and then erase the volume before starting the next project.
The data erase method outlined below doesn't address any security issues that may be associated with the erased data. In fact, most data recovery programs would be able to resurrect the data that was erased using this simple process. If you're concerned about security, consider using the secure erase procedure addressed later in this guide.
Erase a Volume
- Select a volume from the disks and volumes listed in the left side of the Disk Utility window. Each disk and volume will be identified by the same name and icon that it displays on the Mac desktop.
- Click the ‘Erase’ tab. The selected volume's name and current format will display in the right side of the Disk Utility workspace.
- Click the ‘Erase’ button. Disk Utility will unmount the volume from the desktop, erase it, and then remount it on the desktop.
