blkdiscard

Discard all sectors

$ blkdiscard /dev/device

$ blkdiscard -s /dev/device

$ blkdiscard -l 100MB /dev/device

blkdiscard [OPTIONS] device

blkdiscard sends TRIM/DISCARD commands to a storage device to mark sectors as unused. This is particularly useful for SSDs as it allows the drive to optimize its internal storage and improve write performance.

-l, --length size

Number of bytes to discard from the offset

Byte offset into the device to start discarding

Perform a secure discard (hardware must support this)

Zero-fill rather than discard

Disable all checking

Print aligned offset and length

This operation destroys data and is irreversible. Not all devices support discard operations. Secure discard requires hardware support and may not be more secure than regular discard on all devices. The device must not be mounted.

blkdiscard is part of the util-linux package, providing SSD optimization and secure erase functionality.

fstrim(8), hdparm(8), blkid(8)