Accidentally erased the hard drive in Disk Utility

Will Disk Utility erase my files?

"Does Disk Utility erase files?" is one of the questions Mac users often ask. In short, Disk Utility is a built-in utility for performing tasks related to hard drives or disk partitions. It enables Mac users to:

- Erase, format, partition, and clone disks - Mount, unmount, and eject hard drives, removable storage media, and disk images - Verify and repair disks (learn what to do if Disk Utility can't repair a disk) - Delete free space or a disk - Restore a volume from an Apple Software Restore image - Create a new partition on a disk

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As mentioned above, Disk Utility can erase hard drives. So, the answer to “Does Disk Utility delete files?” is definitely “Yes.”

# What Happens When I Erase the Hard Drive on My Mac?

Normally, "erasing" means completely wiping out data that can never be recovered. But on a Mac, "erasing" has a different meaning. It's similar to "formatting," and the deleted files can still be restored with a Mac file recovery tool as long as the lost data hasn't been overwritten by new content. If you accidentally erased your hard drive with Disk Utility on Mac and the lost files are very important to you, read on to recover files erased by Disk Utility right now.

How to Recover Files Deleted with Disk Utility on a Mac

As mentioned, you can use data recovery software to retrieve your deleted files. We recommend trying the reliable Mac Data Recovery Wizard tool. With this software, you can easily recover deleted files from your hard drive with just a few clicks. It's a popular choice for users wanting to restore emptied Mac Trash or recover formatted files from internal/external drives. Here are some additional features of the Recovery Wizard tool:

• Performs quick scan to restore deleted files from Mac Trash
• Supports retrieval of Mac media files like photos, videos, and audio
• Enables users to preview all recoverable files
• Provides data protection for Mac users against accidental deletion

Download and install the software to recover files from deleted hard drive immediately.

Now, follow the below three steps to recover files deleted from Disk Utility on Mac:

Step 1: Search for the Lost File

Select the disk location where you want to search for the lost files (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or an external hard drive), and then click on the “Search for lost files” button.

Note: Before data recovery, it's recommended to click “Disk Backup” on the left sidebar and create a backup for your HDD/SSD to prevent further data loss. After the backup, the software can restore data from the disk backup, and then you can reuse your HDD or SSD.

Step 2: Browse the scan results

The program will immediately scan the disk volume you select and display images, documents, audio, video, and email in the left pane.

Step 3: Select the files and recover them.

Click on the data to preview them, and then hit the "Recover" button to get them back.

Accidentally deleted the operating system in Disk Utility, now unable to erase the hard drive

We've noticed in the Apple Support Communities that some users have accidentally deleted their operating system from the Disk Utility on their Mac and are now unable to erase the hard drive. In case you're one of those users, we'll show you how to fix this problem in this section.

If you have Time Machine backups, restore your data from the backup.

Step 2. Disable Spotlight using the terminal command, and make sure to turn off Time Machine as well.

Step 3. Go back to Disk Utility and reinstall the operating system.

Step 4: Once you've finished reinstalling, you can use Disk Utility to wipe the drive.

Bottom line

Based on numerous favorable reviews, Mac File Recovery software excels in the market due to its excellent scanning speed, success rate, and ease of data recovery. Download this comprehensive tool to effortlessly retrieve your lost data.