Disk Utility is a multi-purpose system utility developed by Apple for managing drives for use with macOS.
Features[]
The functions supported by Disk Utility include:[1]
- Creation, conversion, backup, compression and encryption of disk images from a wide range of formats read by Disk Utility, such as .dmg (for drive images) or .cdr (for CD/DVD images).
- Mounting, unmounting and ejecting drive volumes (including hard disks, removable media, and disk volume images)
- Enabling or disabling journaling
- Verifying a disk's integrity, and repairing it if the disk is damaged (this will work for both Mac compatible format partitions, and FAT32 partitions with Microsoft Windows installed)
- Erasing, formatting, partitioning,[2] and cloning disks
- Secure deletion of free space or disk using a "zero out" data, a 7-pass DOD 5220-22 M standard, or a 35-pass Gutmann algorithm
- Adding or changing partition table between Apple Partition Map, GUID Partition Table and master boot record (MBR)
- Checking the S.M.A.R.T. status of a hard disk
- Restoring volumes from Apple Software Restore (ASR) images.
Disk Utility functions may also be accessed through the macOS Terminal command line interface with the diskutil and hdiutil commands.[3]
History[]
Drive Utility dates back to on January 4, 2001, before the first release of Mac OS X 10.0 (Cheetah). It initially consolidated the features of Disk First Aid and Drive Setup from classic Mac OS. The version included with Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) incorporated the features of Disk Copy.
Version 15, which was included with OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), greatly streamlined the user interface, eliminating permissions repairs due to the introduction of System Integrity Protection (SIP).[4] Version 16, which was included with macOS 10.13 (High Sierra), added support for APFS.
References[]
- ↑ "Disk Utility 10.5 Help: Testing and repairing a disk or volume". Apple Computer. Archived 2006-04-27.
- ↑ "Mac OS X 10.5: About resizing disk partitions". Apple Computer. 2008-08-04. Archived 2008-09-14.
- ↑ Landau, Ted (2005-12-20). Mac OS X Help Line, Tiger Edition (en). Peachpit Press.
- ↑ All you need to know about Disk Utility in El Capitan by John Harris, Remo Software. 2020-02-14.
See also[]
External links[]
- Disk Utility User Guide at Apple Support
- File system formats available in Disk Utility on Mac
- Intro to Disk Utility on Mac (for macOS Ventura 13)
- Intro to Disk Utility on Mac (for macOS Monterey 12)
- About Disk Utility on Mac (for macOS Big Sur 11.0)
- About Disk Utility on Mac (for macOS Catalina 10.15)
- About Disk Utility on Mac (for macOS Mojave 10.14)
- About Disk Utility (for macOS High Sierra 10.13)
- Disk Utility at Wikipedia
Articles[]
- What’s the Difference Between APFS, Mac OS Extended (HFS+), and ExFAT? by Justin Pot at How-To Geek (2019-09-20)
