Intro To Disk Utility On Mac - Apple Support

• 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 macOS High Sierra 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 macOS High Sierra 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
  • Initialize 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

You can use Disk Utility on your Mac to manage internal and external storage devices. Using Disk Utility, you can:

• Format and manage volumes on physical storage devices.

• Create a disk image, a single file you can use to move files from one computer to another or to back up and archive your work.

• Combine multiple hard disks into a RAID set that acts as a single disk. Using multiple hard disks in a RAID set can increase the performance, reliability, and storage capacity of your data storage system, depending on the type of set you choose.

• Check for and repair errors on your disks and volumes.

Open Disk Utility for me

On your Mac, use one of the following methods to open Disk Utility:

• Use Apps: Click in the Dock, type Disk Utility in the search field, then click .

• Use the Finder: In the Finder on your Mac, choose Go > Utilities, then double-click the Disk Utility icon. (Disk Utility is located in the /Applications/Utilities folder.)

• Open Disk Utility in macOS Recovery: Start up your Mac in macOS Recovery, choose Disk Utility in the Recovery app window, then click Continue. See Intro to macOS Recovery.

  Use Disk Utility in macOS Recovery when you need to completely erase your internal storage device and reinstall macOS.

  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. See Erase your Mac.

See alsoErase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on MacAdd, delete, or erase APFS volumes in Disk Utility on MacRepair a storage device in Disk Utility on MacSee used and available storage space on your MacApple Support article: Free up storage space on your Mac 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.