Multiple Choice – Workarounds for macOS’s Inability to Repair Disks

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Disk Utility is macOS's built-in tool for erasing, formatting, and performing emergency repairs on disks. Some people might compare it to the Disk Management feature in Windows, but they're not the same thing. Disk Utility allows you to mount and unmount external drives that Finder can't, format flash drives and hard drives to specific formats, and check and fix disk errors.

macOS Unable to Repair Disk Overview

The "First Aid" feature in "Disk Utility" is designed for users to repair hard disks and other storage devices. It can be employed in various scenarios, such as application failures, file corruption, external device issues, or when the computer fails to start up normally.

But you should also know that Disk Utility can't fix all disk problems. Sometimes, when you try to repair a disk using First Aid, you get an error message that says “Disk Utility can't repair this disk.” To clarify, you get the error message, but you can still open and copy files from the disk; you just can't save changes to the files.

Why can't Disk Utility repair my disk?

In one case, Disk Utility stops repairing with the message “First Aid failed.” This usually happens when you try to repair Macintosh HD, and you might see an error such as “Could not repair the Macintosh HD volume.” First Aid failure can also occur on a USB flash drive, an SD card, or an external hard drive, in addition to the built-in disk.

The other case is when your hard drive is too damaged for the “First Aid” feature to fix, in which case you'll see an error message. At that point, your best bet is to back up as much of your data as possible, or use data recovery software to try to recover it.

macOS Recovery - What Can It Do When macOS Has Issues?

Recovery Mode on Mac is designed to help users address serious issues. In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know about Recovery Mode. Read on for more details.

How do I fix a disk that Disk Utility can't repair?

Generally, there are three methods you could try to fix this problem. Usually, the methods introduced here won't cause data loss. But, to be on the safe side, it's still recommended to back up your disk. Now, let's see the solutions.

Solution 1: Restart your Mac and run First Aid again to repair the disk

Surprise! This is the official recommended solution for anyone encountering the "Disk Utility can't repair this disk" issue on macOS. It suggests simply retrying as a fix for temporary "First Aid" failures. Here are the detailed steps:

Step 1. Click on the Apple icon in the menu bar and select Restart.

Step 2. Click Restart again when prompted.

Step 3: Your Mac will then restart automatically. Wait patiently.

4. Restart your Mac, then open Applications > Disk Utility.

Step 5: Select the disk you want to repair and click “First Aid” from the top menu.

Step 6: Click on "Run" to confirm and wait for the new round of repairs to finish.

Solution 2: Repair the disk with the fsck command

If the USB won't boot, you can try using the command line as an alternative. This method might look a bit complicated, but it's actually quite simple if you follow the instructions closely. Here's how to do it.

Step 1. Restart your Mac and boot into single-user mode. On older Macs, press and hold Command + S when you hear the startup chime. On an M1 Mac, restart while holding down Command + R, then select “Utilities” and “Terminal.”

Step 2. Enter the command line: diskutil list, and hit Return to list all the external drives connected.

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The last column contains the IDs of all the external devices; write down the ID of the one you want to fix.

4. Type the command: /sbin/fsck_file system -fy /dev/disk_identifier (for example, disk0s2), and press Return to begin the check and repair process.

Step 5: Type reboot and press Return to restart your Mac.

If you see a message that reads “Disk (name of your disk) could not be verified completely,” it means that the FSCK utility was unable to fix your hard drive. Do nothing and proceed to the next solution.

Solution 3: Back up disk data with Disk Utility and reformat

If both of these methods fail, your last resort is to back up the target disk's data and reformat it. If you're fixing an internal hard drive, you can use Time Machine to create a backup. If you're fixing an external drive, check if any backup software can help. If not, try using Mac data recovery software after formatting to restore your data.

Back up with Time Machine

Step 1: Get an empty external hard drive to use as your backup drive. It should be larger than the data you're backing up.

Step 2: Connect the blank disk to your Mac. When asked if you want to use this disk for backups, click Use Disk.

Step 3: Click on Select Backup Disk, then choose the disk you prepared and click Use Disk.

Step 4: In the left sidebar, select “Automatic Backup.” Time Machine will back up your entire “Macintosh HD.”

Format the disk using Disk Utility.

Step 1: Open Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

Step 2. Select the drive you need to format from the left.

Step 3: Click “Erase,” then enter a name for the disk and select a format. There will usually be a default format that you don't need to change.

Step 4: Click “Erase” to begin the formatting process.

Restore from a Time Machine backup

Step 1: Connect your Time Machine backup disk to your Mac, and run Time Machine.

Step 2: Find the last backup you made before formatting the disk. Select it, and then click on the "Restore" button.

Recover Data from Formatted External Drive

If you have already formatted the external drive, we recommend using a Mac data recovery tool to get your data back. The Mac Data Recovery Wizard is a well-designed utility that covers all data loss scenarios. For instance, it can recover data from an emptied Trash, a formatted external hard drive/USB flash drive/SD card, or retrieve data after a system crash.

Please download the software from the below button and follow the guide to know how to recover data from formatted drive using the tool.

Step 1: Look for Lost Files

Connect the external hard drive to your Mac correctly. Launch the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, and select the external hard drive. Then, click “Search Lost Files” to look for lost or deleted files on the external device.

Note: Before you recover data, it's recommended to click “Disk Backup” from the left sidebar to create a backup of your external hard drive to prevent further data loss. After backing up the external hard drive, the software can recover data from the backup of the external hard drive. Then, you can remove the external hard drive and use it again.

Select your external hard drive and click on "Find Lost Files".

Step 2: Filter and locate the missing file

Once the scan is over, all file types will be displayed on the left panel. Select the file type and look for the needed files from the external device.

Step 3: Preview and recover

Click on a file to preview it, then select the files you want to recover and click the “Restore” button. You can save your data to both local and cloud drives.

Conclusion

If you see a message that macOS can't repair the disk, don't panic – this is a common but fixable problem. When this happens, try First Aid again first. If that doesn't help, you can also attempt the FSCK command and disk formatting. And, last but not least, remember to protect your data with backups.