delete

Remove or erase. In computing, the deletion of a character removes it from the file; the deletion of a file normally means removing it from its directory rather than actually deleting it from the disk. Many systems now have an undelete or undo facility that allows the restoration of deleted material. Deleted files may be recovered by specialist software, providing they have not been overwritten. Windows provides a second chance via its Recycle Bin, from where deleted files may be restored if they have not yet been permanently deleted.

The persistence of apparently deleted files on a hard disk is a potential security risk for confidential information. There are special programs which are designed to write random data to free space on the disk and to the swap file.