Overwrite review
A focused macOS wiper with affordable certificates and clear pass-level controls.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Overwrite is a native macOS disk-sanitization utility for securely erasing external drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, and external SSDs or HDDs. It supports both free-space and full-disk wiping, making it relevant to individuals, IT asset disposal professionals, forensic examiners, laboratories, and organizations that need documented external-media sanitization. Sector mapping, drive-health views, and automatic unmounting before wiping add useful operational context, while APFS read-only partition and hidden-snapshot safeguards address common Mac storage considerations.
The plan structure starts with Preview, a free option for scanning and inspecting external drives, viewing sector maps and drive health, and previewing features without secure wiping. Annual Pro costs $12.99 per year and adds unlimited secure wipes, four wipe protocols, signed erasure certificates, wipe history, and CSV export. Lifetime Pro costs $24.99 one time and includes Annual Pro features without a recurring subscription, with use on every Mac you own. Elite costs $99 one time and adds raw whole-device access, a cryptographically signed certificate, a standalone certificate verifier, and read-back verification. Lab Pack costs $399 one time for professional lab licensing, while Site License costs $2,999 one time. Enterprise adds site-wide licensing, organization branding on certificates, consolidated erasure records, and purchase order, W-9, and invoice support.
For routine external-media sanitization, the combination of selectable overwrite levels, locally signed PDF certificates, CSV history, and live progress gives Overwrite a clear focus on documented erasure. The one-, three-, seven-, and 35-pass choices suit workflows with different wiping requirements, while SSD, removable-media, and disk-wiping support broaden its practical scope. Its main boundary is platform and workflow: Overwrite runs on macOS and is non-bootable. Mac users seeking affordable certificates should consider Lifetime Pro or Annual Pro; laboratories and professional deployments have higher-tier licensing, while teams needing bootable or non-macOS wiping should choose an alternative.
Overwrite pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Signed PDF certificates and CSV wipe-history exports
- One-, three-, seven-, and 35-pass overwrite protocols
- APFS safeguards, automatic unmounting, and live wipe progress
- Where it doesn't
- Runs only on macOS
- Non-bootable, limiting system-drive workflows
- Advanced verification features require the Elite plan
Overwrite fact sheet, pricing and score →
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