Erase And Reformat A Storage Device In Disk Utility On Mac

• Apple
• • Store
  • Mac
  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • Watch
  • Vision
  • AirPods
  • TV & Home
  • Entertainment
  • Accessories
  • Support
• 0+

Disk Utility User Guide Open Menu Close Menu

• Communities

macOS Tahoe 26 macOS Sequoia 15 macOS Sonoma 14 macOS Ventura 13 macOS Monterey 12 macOS Big Sur 11.0 macOS Catalina 10.15 macOS Mojave 10.14 Select version: macOS Tahoe 26 macOS Sequoia 15 macOS Sonoma 14 macOS Ventura 13 macOS Monterey 12 macOS Big Sur 11.0 macOS Catalina 10.15 macOS Mojave 10.14 Modifying this control will update this page automatically Search this guide Clear Search Table of Contents

Disk Utility User Guide

• Welcome
• Overview
  • Intro to Disk Utility
  • View all devices or only volumes
  • File system formats
  • Partition schemes
  • Get detailed information about a disk
• Manage physical disks and volumes
  • Add, delete or erase APFS volumes
  • Erase and reformat a storage device
  • Initialise a storage device
  • Encrypt and protect a storage device with a password
  • Partition a physical disk
  • View APFS snapshots
  • Format a disk for Windows computers
  • Repair a storage device
  • Restore a disk
• Store data on disk images
  • Create a disk image
  • Convert a disk image to another format
  • Resize a disk image
  • Restore a disk image to a disk
• Set up and manage RAID disk sets
  • Overview of creating disk sets
  • Create a disk set
  • Delete a disk set
  • Unmount a disk set or disk member
  • Repair a disk in a mirrored disk set
  • Add a disk to a disk set
  • If a disk in a disk set on Mac fails or is missing
• Troubleshooting
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Copyright and trademarks

In Disk Utility on Mac, you can erase and reformat storage devices to use with your Mac. Erasing a storage device deletes everything on it.

Important: If you have any files you want to save, copy them to another storage device before erasing a device.

Open Disk Utility for me

1. Go to the Disk Utility app on your Mac using one of the following methods, depending on the type of disk or volume you want to erase:

   • If you want to erase your startup disk: Start up your computer in macOS Recovery, then choose Disk Utility in the Recovery app. To learn how to start up your computer in macOS Recovery, see Intro to macOS Recovery.

     Note: If you want to get your Mac ready to trade in, sell or give away, and your computer is a Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel-based Mac with an Apple T2 Security Chip, use Erase Assistant.

   • If you want to erase any other type of storage device: Double-click Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities folder.

2. Choose View > Show All Devices.

3. In the sidebar, select the storage device you want to erase, then click .

4. Click the Scheme pop-up menu, then choose GUID Partition Map.

   If the Scheme pop-up menu isn’t available, make sure you selected the storage device you want to erase — it’s at the top of the hierarchy.

5. Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose a file system format.

6. Enter a name.

7. (Optional) If available, click Security Options, use the slider to choose how many times to write over the erased data, then click OK.

   Secure erase options are available only for some types of storage devices. If the Security Options button is not available, Disk Utility cannot perform a secure erase on the storage device.

8. Click Erase, then click Done.

Note: With a solid-state drive (SSD), secure erase options are not available in Disk Utility. For more security, consider turning on FileVault encryption when you start using your SSD drive.

See alsoPartition a physical disk in Disk Utility on MacFile system formats available in Disk Utility on MacPartition schemes available in Disk Utility on MacFormat a disk for Windows computers in Disk Utility on MacApple Support article: Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based MacApple Support article: Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon Helpful? Yes No Character limit: 250 Please don’t include any personal information in your comment. Maximum character limit is 250. Submit Thanks for your feedback.