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Summary :
Are there some disk problems on your Mac? Want to use Disk Utility to fix them but receive an error message 'Disk Utility can't repair this disk'? This post will walk you through how to quick and effectively fix this issue.
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Help! Disk Utility Failed to Repair This Disk
'My external drive is a Samsung M2 Portable 3 Media, 500GB. I might have accidentally disconnected the hard drive without ejecting it first. Now when I run disk utility and click Repair Disk it says: 'Disk utility can't repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.' forums.macrumors
Disk Utility, developed by Apple, is a comprehensive system utility for performing disk and disk volume-related tasks on the Mac operating systems. These tasks include formatting, partitioning, erasing, cloning disks, repairing a damaged disk, etc. When certain disk problems happen, to repair this disk using Disk Utility will be a good choice.
However, sometimes you may receive the error message 'Disk Utility stopped repairing 'Macintosh HD'/disk1s2/External HDD, etc. Disk Utility can't repair this disk'.
Usually, this problem may not only happen on Macintosh HD but also on an external hard drive in Mac Mavericks, Yosemite, EI Capitan, or Sierra.
Actually, the above message won't show up in normal circumstances of disk errors. But if the hard drive is beyond the repair scope of Disk Utility, for example, file system gets corrupted, the issue appears.
Well then, what should you do to fix Macintosh HD, external hard drive or another disk that Disk Utility can't repair? Here are some solutions for you.
Fix Disk Utility Can't Repair This Disk
If Disk Utility can't repair external hard drive or Macintosh HD, you should do as the error message shows: back up as many of your files as possible before fixing the issue for data protection.
Back up Important Files with Time Machine on Mac
Before solving the drive that Disk Utility can't repair, the most important thing is to make a backup of the disk data. Usually, the tool called Time Machine will be a good option.
It is the built-in feature of the Mac and can back up your files with ease to an external storage device so as to restore them in the event of unexpected accidents.
Then, here comes the question: how to make a time machine backup from Disk Utility?
Step 1: Connect an external storage drive to your Mac.
Step 2: Then an alert may appear on your Mac asking if you want to configure it as the backup disk with Time Machine. Just click Use as Backup Disk. Besides, it is recommended to check Encrypt Backup Disk.
Step 3: If you don't receive this alert, please go to System Preferences > Time Machine.
Step 4: Click Select Backup Disk to select the storage device which you wish to back up to, and click Use Disk.
This post from apple website - How to use Time Machine to back up your Mac shows you more information.
Solution 1: Fix the Hard Drive in Single User Mode
What if Disk Utility stopped repairing Macintosh HD? As is well known, Macintosh HD can be viewed on the Mac desktop and it is similar to the 'My Computer' icon in Windows. Moreover, this drive contains the Mac operating system. To fix the issue, you should use FSCK tool. This is the built-in diagnostic & repair program and it can verify & repair the current startup disk.
Step 1: Restart your Mac, and then press and hold the Command + S keys during the startup to enter Single User Mode which will provide you with a text-mode terminal.
Step 2: Type the command /sbin/fsck -fy.
By default, the target disk in Single User mode is read-only, thus, you need to change that: type /sbin/mount -uw /.
- If everything is fine, the message 'The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK' will appear.
- If some problems are found, you will see 'File system was modified'. Just run the fsck -fy command again until you see a 'The volume Macintosh HD appears to be OK' message.
Step 4: Type reboot to exit Single User Mode.
If FSCK cannot help you to fix Disk Utility stopped repairing Macintosh HD, another thing you can do is to reinstall the Mac operating system. How to reinstall macOS will be helpful.
Solution 2: Reformat Drive When Disk Utility Can't Repair External Drive
If Disk Utility failed to repair your external hard drive or other data disk, the above solution is not suitable. In this case, you can do nothing but to reformat the disk. How can you format the target hard drive?
Step 1: Go to Applications > Utilities to find and launch Disk Utility and you can find all the hard drives.
Step 2: Select the target disk or drive, click Erase feature in the top menu. Note that this operation will destroy all the data stored on it.
Step 3: Enter a name, choose a file system and a partition map. Finally, click the Erase button.
After completing the formatting, Disk Utility can't repair this disk issue on an external hard drive can be solved. And there is another thing you should do, that is to restore the deleted data from the backups.
Restore Your Backed-up Files
Step 1: Select Enter Time Machine from the menu bar. If you don't see this option, please go to System Preferences > Time Machine to check Show Time Machine in menu bar.
Step 2: In Time Machine, open the folder containing the files you want to restore.
Step 3: Use the timeline on the edge of the screen or onscreen up and down arrows to quickly find needed items.
Step 4: Select the needed items and click the Restore button to finish the recovery.
Recover Data from Formatted Hard Drive on Mac
When Disk Utility failed to repair disk, you may forget to back up the important files and directly format the target disk. As a result, formatting will make you lose all the data. In this case, the key thing is to recover lost files from the formatted hard drive.
Well then, is there any data recovery software that can help you to get files back? Sure! Just keep reading.
As to data recovery for Mac, Stellar Data Recovery, is worthy of being recommended. It is specialized in recovering deleted data like files, photos, videos, audios, emails, and more from your internal hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, USB flash drives, memory sticks and other storage devices on all the Mac devices.
Besides, it can restore data from formatted, damaged, and lost partition, as well as unmounted and encrypted drives. What's more, it supports APFS, HFS+, FAT, and NTFS file systems. And it is compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 and above.
When 'Disk Utility can't repair this disk error' appears if you forget to make a backup of your external hard drive or other data drives and format it, get Stellar Data Recovery Premium Trial on your Mac.
Please don't waste time; just get files off failing hard drive on Mac immediately since they may disappear at any time.
Now, let's see how to use Stellar Data Recovery.
Step 1: After getting this Mac data recovery software, install it on your Mac and then launch it to the main interface where you can decide what to recover. Then, click Next to continue.
Step 2: Select your disk and click Scan to start a scan.
Step 3: Now, this data recovery software starts the scan. Depending on the size and condition of the disk, this may take some time and you should wait patiently.
Step 4: After the scan, the deleted files after fixing 'Disk Utility can't repair disk' error will be found. In the left section, unfold each folder to search for needed files or you can go to Deleted List to look for files.
Step 5: Check the items that need to recover and click Recover. Then, specify a path to save the data.
If you don't activate Stellar Data Recovery Premium, you will get a prompt to ask you to purchase a license key via MiniTool Store after clicking Save. This is since the trial edition can only scan data but not recover it.
Within simple steps, Stellar Data Recovery for Mac helps you to recover lost files from the formatted drive. If you encounter 'Disk Utility can't repair this disk' error message and format the target drive but forget to back up the crucial files, just get this software to get lost data back.
Bottom Line
Get 'Disk Utility can't repair this disk' error message on Macintosh HD or an external hard drive in Mac Mavericks, Yosemite, EI Capitan, or Sierra?
This post offers you the corresponding solution in two cases - Disk Utility stopped repairing Macintosh HD and Disk Utility can't repair external drive. Just do as the above paragraphs show. Besides, if you lost some important files when fixing the issue, try to recover them with MiniTool Mac Data Recovery.
Should you have any suggestions of Disk Utility failed to repair disk issue or any questions during using our software for Mac hard drive recovery, please don't hesitate to tell us by leaving a comment in the following area or sending an email to [email protected].
Disk Utility Can't Repair This Disk FAQ
MacOS Disk Utility is perhaps one of the most overlooked and underused programs on a MacOS computer. But it is extremely helpful, as you will soon see. One of the best features is being able to reformat a USB stick, a SD card, or even an entire hard-drive at the click of a button.
There are many reasons why you would want, or would need, to reformat something. I can think of three off the top of my head.
Each Operating System Has Its Own System Format
That means once a USB stick or a SD card is formatted for say Microsoft Windows, you will have some difficulties with it on another operating system. For example, I cannot delete files on a Windows-formatted USB stick if I put it into my Mac.
So you may want to format something to another operating system format.
Your Operating System May Have Been Damaged By a Virus
If your computer has been hit by a serious virus, or is just generally under-performing, reformatting may be your only option. Reformatting your hard drive will wipe it completely, and you would then need to reinstall the operating system.
You should also do this, if you are selling your computer. If you do not reformat your hard drive, deleted files can be recovered by the new owner, if they have the right software. If those files are extremely sensitive (social security number, bank records, etc), then that is obviously not good for you.
Before reformatting your hard drive, make sure all of your files are backed up in a secure separate location. But not the operating system files obviously!
Your Removable Media May Have Potentially Embarrassing Hidden Files
When I recently received a SD card from a friend with some holiday photos on it, I had the 'show hidden files' option ticked in Windows Explorer. Not for the purposes of the SD card – I merely forgot to switch it off earlier.
So when I put the SD card into the computer, up popped all the hidden files which my friend thought were deleted. The actual files were not readable, but the file titles were. They were of the adult variety, so imagine his horror and embarrassment.
When you delete a file, the crap 'temp files' are left behind. They take up space, but they can't be seen unless you have the option on to view them. Reformatting will nuke them all for good.
MacOS Disk Utility
Disk Utility is inside the Utilities sub-folder of the Applications folder. When you start it up, it will look like this.
On the left are all of the hard drives and removable devices that Disk Utility can detect. If you don't see something here, eject it then re-insert it. It should then pop up in the list.
The SD card I will be reformatting today is TOM (the other one is JERRY, get it?). TOM has had some sensitive work files on it, so I want to reformat the card and destroy any chance of the files being recovered by some dastardly dude later.
Well then, is there any data recovery software that can help you to get files back? Sure! Just keep reading.
As to data recovery for Mac, Stellar Data Recovery, is worthy of being recommended. It is specialized in recovering deleted data like files, photos, videos, audios, emails, and more from your internal hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, USB flash drives, memory sticks and other storage devices on all the Mac devices.
Besides, it can restore data from formatted, damaged, and lost partition, as well as unmounted and encrypted drives. What's more, it supports APFS, HFS+, FAT, and NTFS file systems. And it is compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 and above.
When 'Disk Utility can't repair this disk error' appears if you forget to make a backup of your external hard drive or other data drives and format it, get Stellar Data Recovery Premium Trial on your Mac.
Please don't waste time; just get files off failing hard drive on Mac immediately since they may disappear at any time.
Now, let's see how to use Stellar Data Recovery.
Step 1: After getting this Mac data recovery software, install it on your Mac and then launch it to the main interface where you can decide what to recover. Then, click Next to continue.
Step 2: Select your disk and click Scan to start a scan.
Step 3: Now, this data recovery software starts the scan. Depending on the size and condition of the disk, this may take some time and you should wait patiently.
Step 4: After the scan, the deleted files after fixing 'Disk Utility can't repair disk' error will be found. In the left section, unfold each folder to search for needed files or you can go to Deleted List to look for files.
Step 5: Check the items that need to recover and click Recover. Then, specify a path to save the data.
If you don't activate Stellar Data Recovery Premium, you will get a prompt to ask you to purchase a license key via MiniTool Store after clicking Save. This is since the trial edition can only scan data but not recover it.
Within simple steps, Stellar Data Recovery for Mac helps you to recover lost files from the formatted drive. If you encounter 'Disk Utility can't repair this disk' error message and format the target drive but forget to back up the crucial files, just get this software to get lost data back.
Bottom Line
Get 'Disk Utility can't repair this disk' error message on Macintosh HD or an external hard drive in Mac Mavericks, Yosemite, EI Capitan, or Sierra?
This post offers you the corresponding solution in two cases - Disk Utility stopped repairing Macintosh HD and Disk Utility can't repair external drive. Just do as the above paragraphs show. Besides, if you lost some important files when fixing the issue, try to recover them with MiniTool Mac Data Recovery.
Should you have any suggestions of Disk Utility failed to repair disk issue or any questions during using our software for Mac hard drive recovery, please don't hesitate to tell us by leaving a comment in the following area or sending an email to [email protected].
Disk Utility Can't Repair This Disk FAQ
MacOS Disk Utility is perhaps one of the most overlooked and underused programs on a MacOS computer. But it is extremely helpful, as you will soon see. One of the best features is being able to reformat a USB stick, a SD card, or even an entire hard-drive at the click of a button.
There are many reasons why you would want, or would need, to reformat something. I can think of three off the top of my head.
Each Operating System Has Its Own System Format
That means once a USB stick or a SD card is formatted for say Microsoft Windows, you will have some difficulties with it on another operating system. For example, I cannot delete files on a Windows-formatted USB stick if I put it into my Mac.
So you may want to format something to another operating system format.
Your Operating System May Have Been Damaged By a Virus
If your computer has been hit by a serious virus, or is just generally under-performing, reformatting may be your only option. Reformatting your hard drive will wipe it completely, and you would then need to reinstall the operating system.
You should also do this, if you are selling your computer. If you do not reformat your hard drive, deleted files can be recovered by the new owner, if they have the right software. If those files are extremely sensitive (social security number, bank records, etc), then that is obviously not good for you.
Before reformatting your hard drive, make sure all of your files are backed up in a secure separate location. But not the operating system files obviously!
Your Removable Media May Have Potentially Embarrassing Hidden Files
When I recently received a SD card from a friend with some holiday photos on it, I had the 'show hidden files' option ticked in Windows Explorer. Not for the purposes of the SD card – I merely forgot to switch it off earlier.
So when I put the SD card into the computer, up popped all the hidden files which my friend thought were deleted. The actual files were not readable, but the file titles were. They were of the adult variety, so imagine his horror and embarrassment.
When you delete a file, the crap 'temp files' are left behind. They take up space, but they can't be seen unless you have the option on to view them. Reformatting will nuke them all for good.
MacOS Disk Utility
Disk Utility is inside the Utilities sub-folder of the Applications folder. When you start it up, it will look like this.
On the left are all of the hard drives and removable devices that Disk Utility can detect. If you don't see something here, eject it then re-insert it. It should then pop up in the list.
The SD card I will be reformatting today is TOM (the other one is JERRY, get it?). TOM has had some sensitive work files on it, so I want to reformat the card and destroy any chance of the files being recovered by some dastardly dude later.
Before I do this though, it is worth quickly going through the other macOS Disk Utility features, in case you are not familiar with them.
Info
Straightforward to understand. This gives you information about the media you have highlighted.
Mac Disk Utility Sd Card Waiting For Partitions To Activate Windows 7
Unmount
This will safely eject the removable media from the computer, identical to the 'eject' function in the Windows right-click menu. Once it has been unmounted, the button will rename itself to 'mount'. Press that to start up the removable device again.
Restore
As the screenshot below shows, 'Restore' will erase everything on the highlighted device and you can have the contents of another connected device copied over.
Partition
'Partition' allows you to take a hard-drive and split it up into sections. This is invaluable if you are an Apple beta tester, and you want to put the beta OS on a separate area of your computer.
Simply choose the hard-drive from the list on the left, and click 'partition'. Name your partition, choose the format (make sure it is for MacOS), and the size you want it to be. Disk Utility will do the rest.
Mac Disk Utility Waiting For Partitions To Activate
First Aid
In a nutshell, 'First Aid' checks and repairs file system errors on the removable media you have highlighted. If you get strange error messages, or your computer is crashing frequently, then run First Aid to see if it can diagnose the problem.
With a hard-drive however, 'First Aid' will lock the hard-drive while it is being checked. This means all other programs will be non-responsive. Just a warning in advance!
Erase
Now we finally come to the meat of the article – erasing and reformatting a removable media device. In this case, a SD card.
When you click the 'Erase' button, you will be given the opportunity to change the name of the card, as well as choose its format. Unless you have a very special reason for doing so, do NOT change the format it is currently on.
If you click on the 'Security Options' button at the bottom, you will be able to specify how tough the reformatting should be. On the least end of the scale is this :
As it says, it is the fastest method of reformatting but you are not going to securely erase them. The files may still be recoverable. So you need to start moving the slider along until you get to something you are comfortable with.
The furthest end of the scale is this and is the hardcore option :
This is bad-ass level. You will be erasing media at the same level as the US Pentagon, by going over the data 7 times. But this comes with a warning. 7 times takes a very….very….long….time. I am now at two and a half hours and counting, and we are only on Pass 2! Extreme security comes at a very high price, including laptop battery!
The crappy thing is that once it starts, it is impossible to stop. You could pull the card out, but you risk damaging it. So be very careful if you decide to go down that route. We don't recommend it.
Conclusion
Mac Disk Utility Sd Card Waiting For Partitions To Activate Windows 10
As I said before, Microsoft Windows comes with a reformatting option, which lives in the Explorer right-click menu. But I really like MacOS Disk Utility, for the fact that everything is concentrated in the one interface. For me, it's user-friendly, and hard to mess up. Just my kind of program!
Mac Disk Utility Sd Card Waiting For Partitions To Activate Key
Have you had any kinds of negative experiences with MacOS Disk Utility, which you'd like to share? If so, the comments are open and waiting below for your input.
