Mac storage basics · Erasing, encryption and selling a Mac
Is a deleted file on a Mac SSD really gone?
Short answer: On an encrypted SSD, effectively yes once the Trash is emptied and snapshots holding it are gone. Copies in backups or iCloud remain until you delete them too.
On an encrypted SSD (FileVault on, or Apple silicon's built-in encryption), a deleted file is effectively unrecoverable once the Trash is emptied and any local snapshots holding it have gone. That's why macOS removed the old Secure Empty Trash option: overwriting doesn't work reliably on SSDs, and encryption does the job instead.
If a file is still in a Time Machine backup, iCloud or another copy, it can be restored from there — delete those too if you need it gone everywhere.