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Retirement Planner Clear, Purge, Destroy Blank certificate Disposal Ledger Pricing About
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Sources

Where every fact comes from

The planner, the methods guide and the certificate use only these published pages, read on 9 October 2026. Makers change their menus: when a step here differs from what your screen shows, follow the maker's current page.

  1. NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2, Guidelines for Media Sanitization (September 2025)
    https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-88r2
  2. NIST, Frequently Asked Questions for SP 800-88r2 (July 16, 2026)
    https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/88/r2/final
  3. Microsoft Support, "Reset your PC"
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reset-your-pc-0ef73740-b927-549b-b7c9-e6f2b48d275e
  4. Apple Support, "Erase your Mac and reset it to factory settings"
    https://support.apple.com/en-us/102664
  5. Apple Support, "Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac"
    https://support.apple.com/en-us/102639
  6. Apple Platform Deployment, "Erase Apple devices"
    https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/dep0a819891e/web
  7. Apple Support, "What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone or iPad"
    https://support.apple.com/en-us/109511
  8. Android Help, "Reset your Android device to factory settings"
    https://support.google.com/android/answer/6088915
  9. Chromebook Help, "Reset your Chromebook to factory settings"
    https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/183084
  10. FTC, "Digital Copier Data Security: A Guide for Businesses"
    https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/digital-copier-data-security-guide-businesses

How the planner decides

NIST's decision flow asks how sensitive the data is and whether the device is leaving the organisation. The planner turns that into four rules, and every result says which one applied:

  1. R1. Going to be destroyed, or the device does not work: Destroy.
  2. R2. High-sensitivity data on a device leaving your hands (sold, given, recycled, returned at lease end): Destroy.
  3. R3. Otherwise Purge, when the device has a documented Purge technique (NIST: "When possible, the purge sanitization method should be used instead of the clear sanitization method").
  4. R4. No documented Purge technique: Clear for low-sensitivity data or a device you keep; Destroy otherwise (NIST lets an owner accept Clear for moderate data; write it on the certificate if you do).

These rules are this site's reading of the guideline for small offices and households, not NIST's own text. Your organisation's policy, contracts and laws come first.