How to Repair a Mac Disk with Disk Utility [Official Method]

Users can repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility by opening Disk Utility in the macOS Finder. If your macOS cannot boot, you can boot Mac into Disk Utility and repair a Mac disk with First Aid.

What Is Disk Utility and When Will You Need It

Disk Utility is a macOS built-in disk repair tool that can help you solve common disk issues on Mac, and Disk First Aid is a valuable feature that can check whether the disk and volume are healthy. You can apply Disk Utility to repair your disk in many situations:

• Mac crashes frequently.
• Mac or MacBook won't turn on after macOS Ventura.
• Files or folders on Mac disappear unreasonably.
• USB flash drive or SSD not showing up on Mac.

The next part will discuss how to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility. Before that, you can get information about how to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility in Recovery Mode in the following video. Here are the highlights of this short video:

• 00:12 Recovery Mode introduction
• 00:41 How to run Disk Utility
• 00:57 Use Disk Utility to solve the disk problem

How to Open Disk Utility on macOS Ventura

When you want to repair a Mac disk on a working Mac, you should learn how to open Disk Utility with the Finder or the Launchpad. We will introduce both two ways to open Disk Utility on the working Mac, and we will take macOS Ventura as an example:

Method 1. Use the Finder to Open Disk Utility:

Step 1. Open the Finder on macOS Ventura.

Step 2. Click "Go" and then choose "Utilities" on macOS Ventura.

Step 3. Scroll down until you find Disk Utility, and double-clicking can help you open it.

Method 2. Use the Launchpad to Open Disk Utility:

Step 1. You can click the macOS Launchpad in the Dock.

Step 2. Type in Disk Utility, and click the icon to open it.

How to Repair a Mac Disk with Disk Utility in 2 Ways

After finding a way to open Disk Utility, we can start to repair a Mac disk with Disk Utility. We will show detailed tutorials for repairing a Mac disk with Disk Utility when your Mac can boot and when your Mac fails to boot.

How to Repair a Mac Disk with Disk Utility When Your Mac Can Boot

When there are small errors appear on your disk, you can open Disk Utility on macOS to repair the disk errors. After opening Disk Utility by using Launchpad or the Finder, you should follow these steps:

Step 1. Choose "View" and click "Show All Devices".

Step 2. All the available disks on Mac will show up in the sidebar.

Step 3. Select a Mac disk you want to repair.

Step 4. Click the First Aid button, and then choose "Run".

Step 5. You can click "Done" when the process is finished.

How to Repair a Mac Disk with Disk Utility When Your Mac Fails to Boot

Encounter serious disk errors that may cause your Mac to not boot normally. In that case, you can repair the disk with Disk Utility in Recovery Mode. By the way, if your macOS Ventura Recovery Mode missing, you may need to reinstall macOS Ventura first.

Step 1. Make sure your Mac or MacBook has shut down already.

Step 2. How to boot Mac into Disk Utility? For Apple Silicon Macs: Turn on the Mac and hold the power button. For Intel-Based Macs: Turn on the Mac and hold down the Command and R keys.

Step 3. Release the key until you see the Recovery Mode window.

Step 4. Choose "Disk Utility" and continue.

Step 5. Choose "View" and click "Show All Devices".

Step 6. All the available disks on Mac will show up in the sidebar.

Step 7. Select a Mac disk you want to repair.

Step 8. Click the First Aid button, and then choose "Run".

Step 9. You can click "Done" when the process is finished.

Note: If your macOS can't repair the disk, you can restart the Mac, use the FSCK command, or reformat the disk to solve the problem.

Rescue Data from a Corrupted Mac Disk with Software

When your Mac disk is damaged or corrupted, it is possible to recover data from it. You need to seek the help of professional recovery software – EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

Step 1. Select the drive to be scanned

In the main EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard window, there will be a list of the drives connected to your Mac. Select the drive you need to recover lost/deleted files from, and click the "Search for lost files" button.

Note: Before data recovery, you'd better click "Disk Backup" from the left sidebar to create a backup of your Mac to avoid further data loss. After backing up, the software can recover data from the Mac backup, and your computer can wirte new data again.

Step 2. Select your lost data/files

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane. You can sort the results to find the wanted files if you are looking for certain files.

Step 3. Recover lost/deleted data

Once you have found the desired files, preview the files and then click "Recover" to begin the recovery of your deleted/lost Mac files.

Repair a Mac Disk with Disk Utility FAQs

Do you want to know more about repairing a Mac disk with Disk Utility? Here are four questions you might be interested in:

How to repair bad sectors on an external hard drive on Mac with Disk Utility?

There are two workable ways to fix bad sectors on an external hard drive. You can repair bad sectors on external hard drive on Mac with the Disk Utility First Aid option or restore the target external hard drive to replace the failing external hard drive.

Is Disk Utility available in macOS recovery?

Yes, you can boot your Mac into macOS Recovery Mode and use Disk Utility to fix disk errors on your Mac. How to boot Mac into Recovery Mode?

1. 1. Make sure your Mac or MacBook has shut down already.
2. 2. For Apple Silicon Macs: Turn on the Mac and hold the power button. For Intel-Based Macs: Turn on the Mac and hold down the Command and R keys.
3. 3. Release the key until you see the Recovery Mode window.
4. 4. Choose "Disk Utility" and continue.

Can I recover data from a Corrupted Mac disk?

You can recover data from a corrupted Mac disk with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

1. 1. Install and launch the recovery software on Mac.
2. 2. Scan the Mac disk to find lost files.
3. 3. Filter and preview the files lost on the Mac disk.
4. 4. Then, you can recover data from the corrupted Mac disk.

How to repair a Mac disk if my Mac cannot boot?

You need to boot Mac into Disk Utility to repair a Mac disk.

1. 1. Make sure your Mac or MacBook has shut down already.
2. 2. For Apple Silicon Macs: Turn on the Mac and hold the power button. For Intel-Based Macs: Turn on the Mac and hold down the Command and R keys.
3. 3. Release the key until you see the Recovery Mode window.
4. 4. Choose "Disk Utility" and continue.
5. 5. Choose "View" and click "Show All Devices".
6. 6. All the available disks on Mac will show up in the sidebar.
7. 7. Select a Mac disk you want to repair.
8. 8. Click the First Aid button and choose "Run ".
9. 9. You can click "Done" when the process is finished.