5 Fixes for “macOS Disk Utility Can't Repair This Disk” (Seagate Incl.)

Rosa Reyes
time December 14, 2021 Preview 13.9K
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macOS Disk Utility is a versatile utility to perform disk-related tasks on Mac. It can be used to repair storage devices. When you are trying to repair an internal disk or external hard drive like Seagate backup disk with Disk Utility, you may run into errors and get the message as following:

MacOS can’t repair the disk “Seagate Backup Plus Drive”. You can still open or copy files on the disk, but you can’t save changes to files on the disk. Back up the disk and reformat it as soon as you can.
Disk Utility stopped repairing Macintosh HD. 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.

This article will show you 5 fixes to “macOS Disk Utility Can’t Repair This Disk”.

About "macOS Disk Utility Can't Repair This Disk"

What is the macOS Disk Utility can't repair this disk error?

When you try to repair your disk on Mac using Disk Utility, if the First Aid fails, you may receive an error message telling you that Disk Utility stopped repairing Macintosh HD. This error can occur with internal hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, USB flash drive, etc. If it’s the internal hard drive, you may also see information saying “The volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired.” 

What are the possible causes of the Disk Utility can't repair this disk error?

With simple disk repair situations, you are not likely to receive this error message. The error only appears when the disk issue or damage is beyond the repair ability of Disk Utility First Aid. Such issues include file system corruption, dead hard drive, etc.

Can I fix the macOS Disk Utility can't repair this disk error?

Yes, the error is fixable in most cases. The rest of the article will show you how to fix it.

Will this error cause data loss? How can I recover my data?

The causes of the error or the fixes (such as disk formatting) for the error could lead to data loss. But in many cases, it won’t. If unfortunately, you have lost some or all of your files, you can restore them from backup. If there is no backup, don’t panic. You can get your data back using reliable data recovery software for Mac.

Solution 1. Fix macOS Can't Repair the Disk with First Aid Again

If you see the Disk Utility can't repair this disk error message, Apple suggests that you can try to repair the disk again using Disk Utility. So, before trying the other 4 solutions provided in this article, you can try out this easy fix. If this fix doesn’t work, just read on.

Step to Fix macOS Can't Repair the Disk with First Aid Again

  1. Go to Applications>Disk Utility.
  2. Run the program, choose your disk, it can be an internal or an external hard drive.disk utility repair 01
  3. Then click on First Aid>Run, to start repairing your disk again.disk utility repair 02

While, how long does Disk Utility first aid take depends on the capacity and condition of your hard drive.

Solution 2. Using Single-User Mode (FSCK Command) When Disk Utility First Aid Failed

If the first solution to fix “macOS Disk Utilty Can’t Repair This Disk” with First Aid failed, then you can use single-user mode and the FSCK tool. 

This solution is available on every Mac computer. You can only access the FSCK tool through the FSCK command line that appears complex. But this tool is actually pretty simple to use. If you are not familiar or confident with command line usage, don’t worry. The instructions below will walk you through the process.

Steps to Repair Internal Disk Using FSCK under Single-User Mode

  1. Step 1. Restart your Mac and boot into Single User mode.
    For older Mac, as soon as you hear the startup sound, press and hold both the command key and S key, which will boot your system into single-user mode. For M1 Mac, press and hold Command+R during mac restart, then choose Utilities>Terminal.
  2. Step 2. Wait until your system finishes running through its own checks.
    Input the command line: /sbin/fsck -fy. Press the Return key. Wait patiently.
    If the system doesn’t find any errors on the disk that can’t be repaired by Disk Utility, it will say “The volume (the name of your drive) appears to be OK.”
    If it finds any errors, it will say “File system was modified.” In this case, run the  /sbin/fsck –fy command once again until it says “The volume (the name of your drive) appears to be OK.”fsck command line
  3. Step 3. Type reboot  and press Return to exit single-user mode.

Steps to Repair External Disk Using FSCK under Single-User Mode

  • Step 1. Restart your Mac and boot into Single User mode.
    For older Mac, as soon as you hear the startup sound, press and hold both the command key and S key, which will boot your system into single-user mode. For M1 Mac, press and hold Command+R during mac restart, then choose Utilities>Terminal.
  • Step 2. Input the command line: diskutil list and press Enter to find all external hard drives connected on your Mac.fsck command 01
  • Step 3. Find the identifier of the external hard drive you want to repair, and remember (copy) the information for next step.fsck command 02
  • Step 4. Input command line : /sbin/fsck_file system –fy /dev/drive identifier, for example: /sbin/fsck_hfs /dev/disk0s2, press Enter to start the checking and repairing.fsck command 03
  • Step 5. Input Reboot and press Enter to restart your Mac.

If you see a line saying “The volume (the name of your drive) could not be verified completely”, it means FSCK tool can’t repair the disk. If this solution can’t fix the Disk Utility stopped repairing (the name of your drive) issue, then use the next solution.

Solution 3. Repair Startup Disk Using macOS Recovery Mode

All Macs come with a recovery mode to help users recover their Macs and get their Macs back into good condition again. You can reinstall macOS and restore data under this mode, also can repair startup disk. 

Steps to Repair Startup Disk Using Recovery Mode

  1. Restart your Mac and boot into Recovery mode.
    For Intel Macs, press and hold Command+R when restarting the Mac, then enter Mac password to enter the recovery mode. For M1 Macs, press and hold Power button until you see “Loading startup options”, then select Options and press Return.
  2. Choose Disk Utility and run First Aid to fix your disk under the recovery mode.

Solution 4. Use A Professional Disk Repair Tool (Internal & External Hard Drive)

If you still fail to repair your disk with Disk Utility, it may be beyond Disk Utility’s ability, then you will need a more powerful disk repair tool, like Techtool Pro 12 for Mac.

Techtool Pro 12 from Micromat is a famous program to test and repair mac or hard drives on mac, it also supports the latest macOS10.15.

It helps to:

  • Test and repair Mac’s hard drive, including internal and external hard drive
  • Offer emergency startup disk
  • Protect and backup important data
  • Test hardware
  • Test memory
  • Test battery on Mac, iPhone and iPad
  • Clone volume

Steps to Fix macOS Disk Utility Can’t Repair the Disk (External Hard Drive Included) 

  1. Download and install Techtool Pro 12 on your mac.
  2. Choose Volume Rebuild and select your disk, then click “Run Volume Rebuild” to start repairing.techtool repair 01
  3. Then click “Replace” to get a repaired disk.techtool repair 02

Cons:

  • High price: $129.99
  • Take time to repair

Solution 5. Format the Disk and Restore Files from Backup

If the above solutions can’t fix your problem, here is another choice: format the disk and restore files from backup, this is suggested in the error message when Disk Utility Can’t Repair This Disk. This solution applies to fix macOS can’t repair disk of internal and external hard drive, also applies to portable storage devices such as USB as well. Here you can find the step-by-step instructions to fix macOS can't repair your disk by formatting.

Step 1. Back up as many of our files as possible

It’s very important to back up your files because formatting and reformatting your hard disk or other storage device will delete all the data stored on it. The backup tool you can use is Time Machine. It is built to Mac operating systems since Leopard and makes it easy to back up and restoring files on Mac. If you haven’t used Time Machine before, before backing up, you need to set it up first.

  1. Get an external hard drive. Its storage size should be bigger than the size of your internal storage.
  2. Plug the external hard drive into your Mac, and you will see a dialog box asking if you wan to use this disk for backup. Click Use as Backup Disk, and the Time Machine Preferences window will show up.
  3. Click Select Backup Disk and select the disk you want to back up to. Click Use Disk.
  4. On the left side column, you can find the Back Up Automatically option. Select it, and Time Machine will automatically back up your entire Macintosh HD.
  5. Once the backup finishes with a Backup Complete message, you can eject the external hard drive now.

To backup manually, just unselect the Back up Automatically option. Instead, select the Show Time Machine in menu bar. If you need to back up, just click the Time Machine icon and select Back Up Now.

time machine

Tip: By default, Time Machine backs up everything on your Macintosh HD. But you can exclude folders or item from backup in Options. As long as there is enough space on the external hard drive, it’s still recommended to backup all the data so that you won’t lose your precious data in situations like Disk Utility can’t repair this disk.

Step 2. Reformat/Erase the Disk

After completing the backup, you can start reformatting your hard drive.

1. Go to Disk Utility. Click the Erase tab, and a dialog box will show up.

disk utility erase tool

2. In the Name field, you can name your drive. In the Format field, Disk Utility will automatically choose a compatible format/file system for you. If the disk that has the Disk Utility can't repair this disk error is your internal hard drive, just stick to the file system given. But there can be different situations.

Disk Use on File system to select
Mac internal hard drive Stick to the format given
External hard drive, SD card and other storage devices Mac only Stick to the format given
External hard drive, SD card and other storage devices Mac and Window ExFAT

3. Click Erase.

Step 3. Restore your backed-up files

  1. Plug your Time Machine disk into your Mac. Launch Time Machine. 
  2. Open the folder containing the data you need to restore. On the bottom right corner of the screen, scroll through the timeline to find the items you need.restore from time machine
  3. You can find the latest version prior to the reformatting of your disk. Select it. Hit the Restore button.

Extended: Disk Formatted and Lost All Files? Get the Files Back!

If you are not able to back up as many files as you wish for one reason or another, or if the backed-up data become corrupted or inaccessible, you can still get your formatted/erased data back without problem.

This tip will show you how to easily recover your data from formatted disk during fixing the Disk Utility can’t repair this disk error.

To retrieve your data and files, you need reliable data recovery software like Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac. This application is able to recover formatted, erased and deleted data and data lost due to other causes from Mac internal hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, flash drive and other devices. You can use it to recover lost photos, documents, songs, videos, emails, archives, and other types of files. Also, it can repair damaged videos in different formats.

Step 1Download and install Cisdem Data Recovery to your mac.

Free Download

Step 2Select the drive.

Go to Disk Data Recovery, select the disk that you have lost the files.

select data recovery solution

Step 3Scan and preview

Click Search for lost files.

During scanning, this app will provide you with real-time scan results. You are able to preview the files before they are recovered. Also, you can use the filter tool to quickly search specific files.

select a disk to scan

Step 4Start recovering your data

Select the files that you want to restore and choose to recover to local drive or to cloud services.

preview and recover files on mac

With just three simple steps, you can get the lost files back from the formatted hard drive. If you see the “Disk Utility can't repair this disk” error message and format your drive according to the message’s suggestion without backing up files important to you, you can use Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac to effectively recover them. It works for internal and external hard drive, memory card, pen drive, etc.

Conclusion

macOS “Disk Utility can't repair this disk” is a common and fixable error. In a situation like this, don’t panic. Just try out the solutions and instructions mentioned in this guide. Disk formatting is a common and very useful way to fix disk errors. Although you can easily get formatted data back using recovery software, it’s always a good idea to back up your files on a regular basis, especially the crucial ones. This will save the day with any data loss situation. If data loss does happen, Cisdem Data Recovery and other powerful recovery software will help.

Free Download

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Rosa Reyes
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Rosa has worked in Mac software industry for more than eight years. She believes that the purpose of software is to make life better and work more productively. In addition to writing, Rosa is also an avid runner.

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