Repair Disk Utility For Mac

Posted on by admin



  1. Repair Disk Utility For Mac Catalina
  2. Run Disk Repair Utility Mac
  3. Best Disk Repair Utility For Mac
  4. Disk Repair Software For Mac
  5. Disk Repair Utility For Mac
  6. Apple Disk Utility Download

Disk Utility can find and repair errors related to the formatting and directory structure of a Mac disk. Errors can lead to unexpected behavior when using your Mac, and significant errors might even prevent your Mac from starting up completely.

Before proceeding, make sure that you have a current backup of your Mac, in case you need to recover damaged files or Disk Utility finds errors that it can't repair.

Open Disk Utility

Start up from the install DVD that came with your Mac (or a more recent version, if you’ve purchased one). Select Utilities - Disk Utility. From here, you can choose Repair Disk for your normal. When your hard drive starts to fail, Disk Utility offers some useful disk repair tools. But if they don’t get it done for you, you might want to turn to one of the big guns: fsck. Fsck, which stands for “File System Consistency Check,” is a command-line tool that reviews and repairs the underlying structure of a hard drive.

Start up from macOS Recovery, then select Disk Utility from the Utilities window. Click Continue.
If you're not repairing the disk your Mac started up from, you don't need to start up from macOS Recovery: just open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

Locate your disk in Disk Utility

Choose View > Show All Devices (if available) from the menu bar or toolbar in Disk Utility.

The sidebar in Disk Utility should now show each available disk or other storage device, beginning with your startup disk. And beneath each disk you should see any containers and volumes on that disk. Don't see your disk?


In this example, the startup disk (APPLE HDD) has one container and two volumes (Macintosh HD, Macintosh HD - Data). Your disk might not have a container, and it might have a different number of volumes.

Repair volumes, then containers, then disks

For each disk that you're repairing, start by selecting the last volume on that disk, then click the First Aid button or tab.


In this example, the last volume on the disk is Macintosh HD - Data.

Click Run to begin checking the selected volume for errors.

  • If there is no Run button, click the Repair Disk button instead.
  • If the button is dimmed and you can't click it, skip this step for the item you selected, and continue to the next item.
  • If you're asked for a password to unlock the disk, enter your administrator password.

After Disk Utility is done checking the volume, select the next item above it in the sidebar, then run First Aid again. Keep moving up the list, running First Aid for each volume on the disk, then each container on the disk, then finally the disk itself.


In this example, the repair order is Macintosh HD - Data, then Macintosh HD, then Container disk2, then APPLE HDD.

If Disk Utility found errors that it can't repair

If Disk Utility found errors that it could not repair, use Disk Utility to erase (format) your disk.

If your disk doesn't appear in Disk Utility

If Disk Utility can't see your disk, it also can't see any containers or volumes on that disk. In that case, follow these steps:

  1. Shut down your Mac, then unplug all nonessential devices from your Mac.
  2. If you're repairing an external drive, make sure that it's connected directly to your Mac using a cable that you know is good. Then turn the drive off and back on.
  3. If your disk still doesn't appear in Disk Utility, your disk or Mac might need service. If you need help, please contact Apple Support.

What are disk permissions and why do they need repairing?

Disk permissions on macOS are used to keep your files secure. They’re designed so that certain programs (or other users if you share your Mac) can’t just dip into a system file they have no business with and modify it. They’d need permission to do that.

Every file and folder on your Mac comes with an associated set of permissions. From the Apple Community:

“Many things you install in Mac OS X are installed from package files (whose filename extension is '.pkg'). Each time something is installed from a package file, a 'Bill of Materials' file (whose filename extension is '.bom') is stored in the package's receipt file, which is kept in /Library/Receipts/ in Mac OS X v10.5 and earlier. These files don't take up much disk space and you shouldn't put them in the Trash. Each of those '.bom' files contains a list of the files installed by that package, and the proper permissions for each file.”

Unfortunately, these permissions can easily become messed up unintentionally. It’s quite common for this to happen when installing and uninstalling apps on your system. And when it does, apps can find themselves with free reign to alter files and modify read-only files which can cause all kinds of permission errors and system issues such as lagging, freezing, or crashing.

If you notice anything out of the norm regarding system performance, the first thing you should do is troubleshoot those disk permissions.

Mac

Below we’ll show you two ways: the manual and the easy one. Choose the way that works best for you.

How to repair permissions on Mac: The manual way

Disk

If you’re running an older version of macOS, Disk Utility is the go-to tool for troubleshooting problems.

Why an older version?

Because as of macOS version 10.11 El Capitan, Disk Utility no longer comes with the option 'repair disk permissions'. Boooo!

Apple even removed the command line:

But there’s a method to the madness. macOS now comes with a feature called System Integrity Performance (SIP) which is designed to automatically repair file permissions during software updates and system changes. SIP works by restricting the root account so that it can’t do things like modify protected locations and processes such as /System and /usr. This should prevent malware from gaining root permissions and infecting your system files.

Anyway, back to using Disk Utility to repair disk permissions. If you’re running a pre-El Capitan version of macOS, follow these steps:

Macbook pro disk utility startup

1. Press Command + Space to open Spotlight, type in “Disk Utility”, and hit Enter.

2. Select Macintosh HD from the left sidebar menu.

3. Click on the First Aid tab.

4. Click on Verify Disk Permissions. By taking this step, Disk Utility will work through your hard drive to detect broken or misbehaving permissions and list them for repair. This might take a few minutes but you can check the Show details box to keep an eye on its progress.

5. Click on Repair Disk Permissions and wait while Disk Utility runs through the identified permissions to fix them.

If disk permission issues have played such havoc that your Mac won’t boot correctly, it’s possible to access Disk Utility in Recovery Mode. Do this by holding Command + R during bootup.

If you’re installing a newer (or older) version of macOS on top of your existing operating system, Mac will perform a disk permission repair as a part of the installation so that you start from a clean slate.

How to repair disk permissions on Mac: The easy way

Disk

For users of macOS versions El Capitan and newer, the removal of Repair Disk Permissions means you have no troubleshooting solution to turn to in if your Mac is ailing.

But worry not, CleanMyMac X is the hero you need.

CleanMyMac is like Disk Utility in that it does all of the heavy lifting for you to verify permissions and repair your Mac’s disk.

Repair Disk Utility For Mac Catalina

Even System Integrity Performance running quietly in the background doesn’t prevent certain issues from arising. If you’re suffering from any of the following problems, boot up CleanMyMac and have it take care of business:

  • Improper functioning of applications.
  • Inability to move or delete files.
  • Inability to access files.

If you Mac appears to be running fine, it’s still worth running repairs every so often to ensure it stays that way. Not all broken permissions affect performance but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be fixed.

Run Disk Repair Utility Mac

Repairing Disk Permissions in a few clicks

First things first, you’ll need to download CleanMyMac X. You can do that here. It’s free so you won’t need your credit card. Once that’s done, follow these five steps:

1. Launch CleanMyMac.

2. Click on Maintenance from the left sidebar menu.

Best Disk Repair Utility For Mac

3. Check the box next to Repair Disk Permissions.

4. Click Run.

Disk Repair Software For Mac

CleanMyMac will scan your system to verify disk permissions and automatically repair permissions that are found to be faulty. When the task is complete, you’ll be able to view a log of all the permissions that were repaired.

Disk Repair Utility For Mac

And that’s all there is to it. Your Mac should now be running as intended.

Disk permissions are critical to your system’s security and performance but only when they’re working as they should. Use CleanMyMac to verify and repair disk permissions whenever you run into issues with apps or files for a healthy running Mac.

Enjoy a clean, happy Mac!

Apple Disk Utility Download

These might also interest you: