When to Use Disk Utility. As mentioned above, there are many instances where you can use Disk Utility. But many Mac users usually only open it if they experience any of the following problems: Macs don’t start up. External devices don’t work. Apps quit unexpectedly. Files are corrupted. A disk needs to be ejected, mounted, or unmounted. OS X’s Disk Utility—which enables you to format, partition, repair, and perform other kinds of maintenance on disks (including SSDs, flash drives, and disk images)—is good for what it does. System Disk Utility 2.6.2 for Mac OS X Server 1.2 is a Mac OS program that allows you to select which hard disk your computer will start up from. The macOS Disk Utility App has always been a workhorse for doing Mac stuff. People have complained about it over the years, but it really is a very useful App. I took a look at the Disk Utility App in Big Sur recently. It is very similar to the Catalina version with a few improvements. Disk Utility App.
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. As Macs continue to gain market share, there is an increased likelihood that you will have to support them if you are a tech. And even if you aren’t a tech, it’s good to know which tools are the best to use when it comes time to repair your own.
Mac OS from Apple WWDC2019
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Disk Warrior Trial
Free Mac Disk Repair Software
Drive Genius – is it the Best Mac Repair App
Introduction to our Top 10 Mac Repair Software
Did you know there are several Mac disk repair options that each function differently and one may suit your needs better than another? I detail several for you below so you can decide.
More than just a list of disk repair software, I provide many Mac software solutions for you and your clients! Even better, some are free!
Want to clone a Mac drive? Want to monitor a Mac’s hardware sensors? Want heroic system recovery for mere mortals?! Oh, there are some great software here! Read on.
TechTool Protogo
TechTool Protogo is a Mac repair program suite which contains three of Micromat’s best Mac repair tools; TechTool Pro 8, TechTool Pro Classic, and DiskStudio.
Protogo creates a bootable Mac repair toolbox with these tools as well as any of your own tools on a portable hard drive or flash drive.
You can then boot from this drive, bypassing the OS, and run diagnostics on a computer to determine problems.
Protogo also allows you to repair and recover data from problematic hard drives as well as defragment, optimize, and securely delete data.
Cost: $129.99
Memtest OS X
Memtest OS X is a memory testing program for Mac OS X. It is a command line utility so it can be ran in OS X or in Single-User Mode if your Mac will not boot.
It is great for testing intermittent system problems when you are having trouble determining if it is a memory problem.
If you prefer memtest with a GUI front-end, then be sure to check out Rember.
Rember will run in OS X but will not work in Single-User Mode so Memtest OS X is the better option.
Cost: $1.39
Mac Disk Repair – DiskWarrior 5
Disk Repair for Macs – DiskWarrior utilizes a unique disk repair method for Macs
DiskWarrior is arguably one of the best hard drive repair programs for the Mac.
It works differently than other data repair programs.
Instead of trying to rebuild the damaged data itself, DiskWarrior builds replacement data based off of the original data.
It then verifies the new data structure based on the original to make sure it is error free.
You can also use DiskWarrior as a preventative maintenance utility for hard disks.
When run, it rebuilds your directory eliminating any damage that you may not be aware of. It also optimizes the directory for better performance.
Cost: $99.95 but look for a trial.
If it is more serious and your Mac’s hard drive has crashed, I have provided an extensive data recovery guide with a list of Hard Drive Recovery Tools in my article How to Recover Data from a Crashed Hard Drive.
First Free Disk Repair-Mac – OnyX
Onyx is a maintenance, optimization, and personalization utility for Mac OS X.
It allows you to run hard drive diagnostics, run system maintenance tasks, delete caches, and configure tons of OS X hidden features.
Even if you aren’t using it as a repair utility, it is a great application to help keep your Mac running in top shape.
Cost: Free!
Mac Data Rescue
Data Rescue is a data recovery program that focuses purely on recovering data from corrupt drives instead of hard drive repair.
It scans the corrupt drive analyzing all of its contents and allows you to choose which data you would like to recover.
It even scans for deleted files. Data Rescue II restores the data to a separate drive leaving the original data intact.
It comes with an emergency boot CD that you can use to recover data when the computer will not boot and it also works on drives that won’t mount.
Cost: $99.00
AppCleaner
AppCleaner may not be classified as a repair tool but it can be used as one.
When you are having trouble with an application in OS X, you can simply remove it by dragging it to the Trash.
However, this still leaves behind the applications preferences, caches, and other files that could still cause the same problem after you reinstall it.
AppCleaner will remove all of these files making sure that the app is completely gone before you attempt a reinstall.
Interesting interface!
Cost: Free!
Drive Genius – Is this the Best Mac Repair App?!
Drive Genius is a disk utility application for Macs.
Its main features include:
- defragmenting,
- running benchtests,
- directory repair,
- integrity checks,
- surface scans,
- repartitioning,
- cloning,
- shredding data, and more.
With all these features, you can see why I ask is it the best Mac repair app overall!
This is actually the same program used to defrag Macs at the Genius Bar in Apple Stores.
Oh yes, Apple uses it.
Drive Genius also comes on a bootable DVD so you can run it even when a Mac will not boot.
Cost: $99.00
Mac Backup – Carbon Copy Cloner
Carbon Copy Cloner is a simple yet very effective backup utility for the Mac. Like most other backup utilities, it can be scheduled to backup your Mac on a regular basis.
The best part, however, is its ability to completely clone a hard drive with it still being bootable.
This tool comes in very handy when you are replacing hard drives, setting up multiple Macs, or recovering from a system crash.
Carbon Copy Cloner is donation-ware so you can download it for free without any restrictions.
Maybe you will be so pleased you will buy them a coffee anyway!
You can also check out SuperDuper which has more features but costs $27.95.
However, if you just need a simple backup and cloning utility, Carbon Copy Cloner does a great job.
Cost: Free! (donation-ware)
Apple Mac Disk Repair – AppleJack
AppleJack is a troubleshooting utility for Mac OS X. It runs under Single-User Mode so it can be used even when OS X will not boot.
AppleJack will repair disks, repair permissions, cleanup cache files, validate preference files, and remove swap files.
You can select these tasks individually or have AppleJack run all of them and even reboot when finished.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing this article, AppleJack is not yet compatible with Leopard but a new version is in the works. Be sure to check their page frequently for an update because this is an invaluable tool.
When I updated this article for 2020, I checked on SourceForge and there were over 600 downloads last week!
Cost: Free! (open-source)
Hardware Monitor
Hardware Monitor is a utility that allows you to view data from the hardware sensors in a Mac.
It currently has support for temperature readings, battery data, voltage, current, fan speed, power and load, ambient light, as well as user-defined artificial sensors.
It’s a great utility to use when simply trying to find out if your hardware is malfunctioning.
Cost: € 7.00 (can also be purchased with U.S. Dollars)
Also consider
OSX disk repair
This is kind of a nice segway into handy hardware tools and toolkits. Click on the following link if you want to see some great ideas on what I recommend for your Mac or PC Repair Toolkit.
As you may know, I believe your should support Macs in your Computer IT Consultant Business. I state my case here in my article on Why You Should Support Macs With Your IT Business.
Well if you were counting, that is 4 totally free Mac OSX disk repair utilities, and one so cheap it may as well be free!
The best Mac repair disk software may well be a paid one depending on your exact needs, and I’ve shown you my pick for the best of those too.
If you know of other great Mac software let me know in the comments below. What Mac OS X repair tools do you like? Is there another Mac Disk Repair utility you’d suggest? Please leave a comment to help others, or if the above tools have helped you.
And as for hardware, click this link if you want to repair hard drive-Mac for more details.
Summary of Best Mac Repair Software:
Excellent Mac disk repair software is provided above, for you to consider and try their features for yourself. I didn’t stop there. This list contains some other handy Mac software I consider to be the best tools for techs and Mac owners.
Related posts:
At times data stored in Mac’s internal hard drive suffers from data corruption and damage. To rid of such issues, you need to take help from professional disk repair software. In this blog, there is an earnest attempt to list the top five disk repair software for Mac users.
You might have used the Disk Utility functionality of Mac to diagnose and resolve problems encountered in your computer. Disk Utility is an in-built macOS diagnostic tool to rid of basic issues such as hard disk drive directory structure damage, file system permission problem, and so forth. But, the utility lacks comprehensive storage drive management features, repair functionality, and other advanced diagnostic & tech tools that are essential for you to run Mac smoothly. Therefore, you need to use a third-party tool to augment advanced utilities catering to repair, diagnosis, and disk management. The following list of top five Mac disk repair software is an earnest attempt to showcase other enhanced options and use Mac to its fullest.
Best Tools for Mac External Hard Disk Repair
The top 5 list is as follows:
1. Stellar Data Recovery Technician for Mac (supports macOS Catalina 10.15)
This is the world’s first and only software that recovers corrupt Mac hard disk’s data & repairs your video & photos files. Moreover, the software recovers lost APFS partitions, external hard disks, SSD’s, Time Machine, password-enabled drive and Fusion drives. The latest version of the software creates recovery drive and performs file recovery from non-booting Mac systems.
No Disk Utility On Mac
Leverage this Mac Technician data recovery tool if the storage disk drive has logical corruption and the external drive is unmounted or not showing up on Mac. Stellar Data Recovery Technician for Mac scans the Mac storage disk drive to recover permanently deleted files as well.
You can connect an external hard drive and perform formatted recovery, partition recovery and restore lost data conveniently. The software has a built-in Drive Monitoring utility that monitors the health and S.M.A.R.T. status of your start-up drive. With the Technician version, you can run a Surface Scan to find out the bad-blocks on Mac’s storage disk. Apart from data recovery capabilities, this software also has ‘Video & Photo Repair’ features that fix corrupt or damaged digital files like your favourite video or photos in a few simple clicks.
You can free try this software on your Mac system without the need of an expert.
Explore the Mac data recovery options and download the brochure of Stellar Data Recovery Technician software for detailed information.
2. DiskWarrior
This is a useful disk repair utility for Mac with quite a different repairing functionality, unlike other disk repair tool. The software creates a replacement data basis the original data instead of rebuilding damaged data. Subsequently, the software ensures there is no inaccuracy in creating the new data structure from the original one. The software can also be used as a preventive maintenance utility for Mac storage device. When you execute the software, it rebuilds and optimizes the directory, thereby removing any kind of data structure damage and improving drive performance.
3. Drive Genius:
This is a really beneficial disk utility tool for your Macintosh computer. The tool can be used to repair hard disk drive even if your Mac does not boot; supplementary bootable DVD comes handy to boot your computer from it and launch the tool. Some of the important features of the tool include directory repair, repartitioning, cloning, surface scanning, defragmenting, executing bench tests, performing integrity checks, and above all shredding data (which is generally not a consolidated feature of a repair utility).
4. OnyX
This is a personalization, optimization, and maintenance utility for Mac OS X. The software has advanced features to execute system maintenance, run storage drive diagnostics, configure system hidden features, and delete caches. Its repair utility helps you to repair hard disk drive for errors and inaccessibility. The software is great for up keeping your Mac so that it functions without any glitch.
5. TechTool Protogo
This is quite a good holistic Mac utility that is laden with advanced features. The volume rebuild tool examines, rebuilds, and repairs corrupted directories of hard drives. The utility can help you to create a bootable Mac repair toolbox on your flash drive or external hard disk drive, which can be used in the situation when your Mac does not boot. The software can be used to run diagnostics, repair and recover data, optimize hard disk drive’s performance, defragment the drive, and delete data securely.
To Sum Up
Best Disk Utility App For Mac
Now you are aware that the inbuilt Disk Utility tool of your Mac computer is not sufficient to meet your advanced troubleshooting needs. Functionality beyond Disk Utility is a must to get your Mac up and running. The top five Mac disk repair software presented in this blog can be used to repair your hard disk drive for errors, inaccessibility, or system corruption. This 5 software is either free or can be availed as a trial. So, download the trial version of any repair software to recover your hard disk drive. And above, do not forget to give Stellar Data Recovery Technician for Mac a considerate try, as its latest release excels in disk repair capability, appealing GUI, advanced features, and excellent technical support.
Moreover, the software has a price advantage over the other disk repair utilities. Stellar Data Recovery Technician for Mac is 100% Safe & Secure and has a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied.