Expert Guide to Wipe eMMC Drive Storage – You Should Try

I recently saw someone on a forum who wanted to wipe eMMC drive but didn’t know how to do it. Read on for more information.

From what I have read, it is difficult to securely wipe an SSD or eMMC before disposing of a pc/laptop. What is the best way to destroy either type?

What Is eMMC Drive?

You may have heard of and are familiar with SSD and HDD, but rarely have you heard of eMMC. In fact, eMMC is a variant of MMC, which is a memory card standard for solid-state storage. There are many variants of MMC: eMMC, MMCmobile, MMCplus, MMC HD, MMCmicro, etc.

eMMC stands for embedded multimedia card, which is a storage solution that integrates MMC technology into embedded devices. It is usually used in devices such as smartphones, tablets, and low-cost notebooks.

eMMC integrates flash memory and controller in one package and is directly soldered on the motherboard of the device. It is not removable like traditional MMC. The advantages of eMMC are low cost, low power consumption, and small size, but the read and write speed is relatively slow.

eMMC VS SSD Storage: Which Is More Suitable for Your Laptop?

This article is going to have an introduction to eMMC and SSD so as to help you select the right storage device for your laptop.

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Why Wipe eMMC Drive Storage?

Sometimes, you may need to erase an eMMC drive. Here are some common reasons:

• Factory reset: When your eMMC drive has a software failure, you can erase all the data on the eMMC drive and restore it to a brand-new state.
• Protect privacy and security: When you want to sell or give away an eMMC drive, erasing the eMMC drive can ensure that the data on the disk cannot be recovered by others.
• Improve performance: After using the eMMC drive for a long time, it will continue to accumulate a large number of temporary files, caches, log files, etc., which may cause the device to slow down. Erasing the eMMC drive and reinstalling the operating system can improve the responsiveness and performance of the device.
• Data repartitioning: Some users want to repartition their hard drive, and erasing the drive is a necessary step.

How to Wipe eMMC Drive?

Below are 5 ways to help you secure erase eMMC hard drive. Each method has its characteristics and limitations. Please continue reading for more information.

Way 1: Wipe eMMC Drive by Resetting the PC

Resetting a computer usually erases the data on the disk, and you need to restore the computer to factory settings. During the reset process, you have two options: one is to Keep my files. This option will uninstall all applications and reset system settings but will keep the user’s personal files (such as documents, photos, etc.).

The second option is to Remove everything, which will delete all personal files, applications, and settings, which is equivalent to restoring the computer to factory settings.

Way 2: Wipe eMMC Drive by Using File Explorer

You can use File Explorer to perform a full format to wipe eMMC drive storage. When formatting the drive, you need to remember to uncheck the “Perform a quick format” option. If you do the default formatting of the partition, your files can be recovered.

Step 1: Press the Windows logo key + S to open the Search box and type This PC. Then click Open from the right side.

Step 2: Right-click on the eMMC Drive and click on Format.

Step 3: In the new pop-up window, uncheck Quick Format. Then click Start to begin the process.

Way 3: Wipe eMMC Drive by Using Command Prompt

Command Prompt allows you to perform tasks (such as managing files, system configuration, network settings, etc.) by entering commands. To wipe eMMC drive storage, you need to use Windows’ diskpart to help. Then execute the command “clean all” to erase the data.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Press the Windows logo + R key to open the Run dialog. Then type diskpart in the Run box and click OK.

Step 2: Next, type list disk and hit Enter to continue.

Step 3: You can see all the disks listed here and select the eMMC drive. Here I take the input select disk 1 as an example and press Enter. (The number 1 can be changed according to your needs.)

Step 4: Then type the command clean all and hit Enter to continue.

After the process is finished, you’ll notice that using the “clean all” command will remove all partitions on the disk and turn it into unallocated space.

Way 4: Wipe eMMC Drive by Using Disk Management

Disk Management is a built-in tool in the Windows operating system, which is used to manage hard disks, partitions, and volumes. It provides a variety of functions, which can help you delete partitions, format disks, extend partitions, initialize disks, etc.

Here’s how to use Disk Management to erase an eMMC storage drive.

Step 1: Press the Windows logo + R key together to open the Run dialog. Then type diskmgmt.msc in the box and hit Enter to continue.

Step 2: In the Disk Management window, choose the eMMC hard drive and click Format from the context menu to continue.

Step 3: In the popup window, uncheck Perform a quick format to perform a full format and click OK to continue.

Step 4: A warning will pop up, notifying you that formatting this volume will delete all data on it. Click OK to continue.

Way 5: Wipe eMMC Drive by Using MiniTool Partition Wizard

The last method is to use MiniTool Partition Wizard to wipe eMMC drive. It can help you delete every data sector on the storage device connected to your computer, including SSD, USB, SD card, etc. Once the data is erased, no data recovery software can recover it.

MiniTool Partition Wizard is also a professional partition manager. It can not only help you erase hard disk data but also help you resize/extend/format/create/recover/copy partitions, format USB to FAT32, rebuild MBR, change cluster size, clone HDD to SSD, recover data from external hard drive, etc.

MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1: First, download the MiniTool Partition Wizard by clicking the button above. Once downloaded, run the setup file and follow the on-screen instructions to install the partition manager on your computer.

Step 2: Run MiniTool Partition Wizard to enter its main interface.

Step 3: Right-click the eMMC drive and select Wipe Disk. Or you can highlight the target disk and select Wipe Disk from the left action panel.

Step 4: You will see a pop-up window, as shown below. First, the software will prompt you about the consequences of wiping the disk or partition: “Wiping Disk will remove every sector of data on the disk. Data once wiped can not be recovered by any data recovery solutions.”

Then, you will see five wiping methods listed. Select the one you want to use. Here, I recommend you use the last method. DoD 5220.28-STD is a classic data erasure standard, which is mainly used to ensure that the data on the hard disk cannot be recovered after deletion. It completely destroys the data on the disk by overwriting the hard disk multiple times.

Then click the OK button below to proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Once the process ends, you will return to its main interface, and you can preview that the target Disk 2 is marked as “Unallocated” without a partition letter. Then, you still need to click the Apply button at the bottom left corner of the toolbar to execute all changes.

This article explains what an eMMC drive is and why you need to erase it. It also introduces 5 methods to teach you how to erase it. After my attempts, I highly recommend you use MiniTool Partition Wizard.Click to Tweet

Bonus Tip: Copy Data from eMMC Drive

Sometimes, you need to migrate eMMC data to another disk. What should you do? MiniTool Partition Wizard’s Copy Disk function can help you complete the data migration.

Here are the full steps:

Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard to enter its interface. Right-click the disk and then select Copy from the menu. Also, you can click the Copy Disk feature from the left action panel.

Step 2: In the new pop-up window, select one SSD as the target disk and then click Next.

Step 3: You can choose a different copy option and click Next to continue.

Step 4: Click the Finish > Apply to complete the progress.

Bottom Line

This is the end of this article. This article introduces you to what an eMMC drive is and why you need to wipe eMMC storage drive. Finally, 5 methods are collected to teach you how to wipe eMMC drive and the factors to be considered during the erasing process.

Among them, I recommend you to use MiniTool Partition Wizard the most. In short, this is a complete guide on how to help you wipe eMMC drive.

If you have any questions or suggestions while using MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can contact us via [email protected] to get a quick reply.

Wipe eMMC Drive FAQ