The best Mac disk repair, diagnostic tools & more! I have put together a list of what are, in my opinion, the ten best Mac disk repair software and other excellent Mac tools for troubleshooting, diagnosing, and repairing a Mac. Many of them are free or offer a free trial. To access the Disk Utility on a modern Mac—regardless of whether it even has an operating system installed—reboot or boot up the Mac and hold Command+R as it boots. It'll boot into Recovery Mode, and you can click Disk Utility to open it up.
If you experience these issues on Mac, your disk may need recovery:
- multiple apps quitting unexpectedly
- corrupted files and access errors
- external devices work improperly
- your computer won't start up
How do you know if your disk needs repair
If you can still turn your Mac on, check the startup disk with an app called CleanMyMac X. Open its Maintenance module and run 'Verify Startup Disk'. If you get the 'Disk needs repair' error, your disk needs immediate attention.
Don't worry, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to replace it right away, there's still a chance to fix it.
We'll go over how to perform hard disk repair on Mac using software solutions. That's only possible if your disk can be saved by means of Mac's native app, Disk Utility. If it fails, the only alternative is backing up your data and getting a new disk.
Hard drive recovery using Disk Utility
- Print this article or open it on any other device. You'll lose access to it after you restart your Mac later.
- Click on the Apple menu (top left corner), choose Restart.
- When your Mac restarts, press Command + R and hold the keys until the Apple logo appears.
- Select Disk Utility and click Continue.
- In the sidebar, choose the disk you think needs repair.
- Find First Aid and click on it.
Note, that if you are using FileVault to encrypt your disk, you must mount the disk first. To do it, click Mount at the top of the Disk Utility window. Then, enter your Mac account password in the dialog that appears.
At this point, there are two options.
Case 1. Disk Utility might tell you right away that your current startup disk is on the very edge of failing. Which means you need to promptly back up all your files and take your beloved Mac to the repair shop. That's about all you can do.
How to back up your Mac
If you've never used Time Machine, you'll need to configure it first:
- Connect an external storage (AirPort Time Capsule, USB flash drive, portable hard drive, or else).
- Go to System Preferences and click on Time Machine.
- Click the Select Backup Disk button in the center of the window.
- Choose the storage device you wish to back up your files to and click Use Disk.
That's it! Your first backup will be started automatically in a couple of minutes. More detailed backup information is specified next to the Select Disk button. We recommend connecting your Mac to power cable before starting the backup.
If your Time Machine is already configured, you probably know what to do:
- Click on the Time Machine status menu at the top right corner of the screen
- Choose Back Up Now
Can't see Time Machine among status menus? Then, open System Preferences > Time Machine and select the 'Show Time Machine in menu bar' checkbox.
Case 2. If Disk Utility offers you to run diagnostics, simply click Run.
If it reports that the disk has been repaired, you're free to close it all and live a happy life from now on. But, unfortunately, there can be other troublesome issues.
For example, Disk Utility may inform you that the underlying task reported failure. In this case, you can try to repair the disk again. If that fails, use our guide above to back up your files and then completely reformat the disk. You'll need to remove all the info from it, reinstall the operating system and restore the data afterwards.
If you continue having issues with your disk and neither recovery option works, it may be physically damaged. Which means you should take it to your local Mac service, they will be happy to assist you at this point.
How to protect a disk from failure and keep Mac healthy
With the proper software tools you can monitor your Mac's well-being and keep it speedy and sound for years.
There are two essentials to a good-working Mac: a clean drive and fast system. Both are covered by CleanMyMac X. It removes useless files from drive, monitors your Mac's performance, and keeps your macOS running smoothly.
That's about it with DIY Mac hard disk recovery. Hope this article helps, stay tuned!
These might also interest you:
No matter which OS you use, whether Windows or macOS, experiencing errors and issues is quite natural. There are thousands and millions of processes running in the background that is far beyond our imagination. So, do you enjoy troubleshooting errors and technical glitches on your MacBook? A few minor errors and bugs can be easily fixed by making a few tweaks in the settings.
Ever got stuck with disk-related errors on Mac? Well, fixing these errors becomes quite crucial as almost all our data is stored on the disk drives and we cannot afford to lose it under any circumstance.
We're all aware of the CHKDSK utility tool on Windows, right? The CHKDSK utility helps in scanning and fixing disk and file system errors on Windows. So, similarly, macOS also offers you a variety of ways where your device can automatically scan and fix disk and file system errors on your MacBook.
In this post, we have covered 3 useful ways that will allow you to fix disk errors on Mac by using your device's in-built utility tools.
Let's proceed.
First Aid
macOS offers you a utility tool that can help you in analyzing the disk health status of your device, known as 'First Aid'.
To use the First Aid tool on Mac, press the Command + Space key combination to launch Search and type 'Disk Utility' in the search box and hit Enter.
Navigate to Applications> Utilities folder and then select the 'Disk Utility' shortcut from the left menu pane.
Once the Disk Utility window opens up, select the disk which you need to repair, and then hit the 'First Aid' button. macOS also offers you a choice where you can run the First Aid operation on either a specific partition or the entire disk. You can pick your selection in the lefthand sidebar.
To confirm your selection, hit the 'Run' button to perform the disk scan on your device. If in case your device has any disk-related issues or errors, the First Aid tool will automatically fix it. To know about a specific issue in detail, you can tap the 'Show Details' option in the window.
Safe Mode
Another useful hack to fix disk errors on Mac is by booting your device in the Safe mode. When you boot your device in safe mode, your device the operating works on startup issues and repairs file system errors while loading the OS in a secure environment.
To boot Mac in safe mode, press the Shift key while restarting your device. Follow the on-screen instructions and load the OS in safe mode to check whether it helped you in resolving disk and file system errors on your MacBook.
To know more on how to boot your macOS in Safe mode, visit this link.
Recovery Mode
You can also use Mac's Recovery mode, which is another utility tool offered by macOS. With the help of the Recovery mode tool, you can scan and fix disk errors on Mac with ease. To use the Recovery mode on Mac, press the Command + R key combination while you're device is booting.
If nothing from the above-mentioned works well, you can also try restoring your Mac to factory settings. But yes, before you make up a firm decision about that, backup all your data so that you don't lose anything precious.
Also, if you're bothered with your Mac's slow performance, download the TuneUpMyMac tool to optimize your Mac's performance. With the help of this utility tool, clean up your Mac to free up space, fix hard disk errors, and speed up your device in just a few clicks.
How to protect a disk from failure and keep Mac healthy
With the proper software tools you can monitor your Mac's well-being and keep it speedy and sound for years.
There are two essentials to a good-working Mac: a clean drive and fast system. Both are covered by CleanMyMac X. It removes useless files from drive, monitors your Mac's performance, and keeps your macOS running smoothly.
That's about it with DIY Mac hard disk recovery. Hope this article helps, stay tuned!
These might also interest you:
No matter which OS you use, whether Windows or macOS, experiencing errors and issues is quite natural. There are thousands and millions of processes running in the background that is far beyond our imagination. So, do you enjoy troubleshooting errors and technical glitches on your MacBook? A few minor errors and bugs can be easily fixed by making a few tweaks in the settings.
Ever got stuck with disk-related errors on Mac? Well, fixing these errors becomes quite crucial as almost all our data is stored on the disk drives and we cannot afford to lose it under any circumstance.
We're all aware of the CHKDSK utility tool on Windows, right? The CHKDSK utility helps in scanning and fixing disk and file system errors on Windows. So, similarly, macOS also offers you a variety of ways where your device can automatically scan and fix disk and file system errors on your MacBook.
In this post, we have covered 3 useful ways that will allow you to fix disk errors on Mac by using your device's in-built utility tools.
Let's proceed.
First Aid
macOS offers you a utility tool that can help you in analyzing the disk health status of your device, known as 'First Aid'.
To use the First Aid tool on Mac, press the Command + Space key combination to launch Search and type 'Disk Utility' in the search box and hit Enter.
Navigate to Applications> Utilities folder and then select the 'Disk Utility' shortcut from the left menu pane.
Once the Disk Utility window opens up, select the disk which you need to repair, and then hit the 'First Aid' button. macOS also offers you a choice where you can run the First Aid operation on either a specific partition or the entire disk. You can pick your selection in the lefthand sidebar.
To confirm your selection, hit the 'Run' button to perform the disk scan on your device. If in case your device has any disk-related issues or errors, the First Aid tool will automatically fix it. To know about a specific issue in detail, you can tap the 'Show Details' option in the window.
Safe Mode
Another useful hack to fix disk errors on Mac is by booting your device in the Safe mode. When you boot your device in safe mode, your device the operating works on startup issues and repairs file system errors while loading the OS in a secure environment.
To boot Mac in safe mode, press the Shift key while restarting your device. Follow the on-screen instructions and load the OS in safe mode to check whether it helped you in resolving disk and file system errors on your MacBook.
To know more on how to boot your macOS in Safe mode, visit this link.
Recovery Mode
You can also use Mac's Recovery mode, which is another utility tool offered by macOS. With the help of the Recovery mode tool, you can scan and fix disk errors on Mac with ease. To use the Recovery mode on Mac, press the Command + R key combination while you're device is booting.
If nothing from the above-mentioned works well, you can also try restoring your Mac to factory settings. But yes, before you make up a firm decision about that, backup all your data so that you don't lose anything precious.
Also, if you're bothered with your Mac's slow performance, download the TuneUpMyMac tool to optimize your Mac's performance. With the help of this utility tool, clean up your Mac to free up space, fix hard disk errors, and speed up your device in just a few clicks.
Repair Disk Utility For Mac Windows 10
Here were the 3 most effective ways to fix disk errors on Mac. You can use any of these above-mentioned methods to resolve disk-related issues on macOS. These in-built utility tools are sound enough for scanning and fixing disk and file system errors on your device.
Good luck!
Repair Disk Utility For Macbook Air
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