Summary: In this blog post, you will look at the benefits of permanent file erasure with a file erasure tool and understand why erasure using the disk utility software isn’t the most effective method. You will also be introduced to BitRaser File Eraser, a professional file erasure tool which permanently erases all unwanted files on your Mac. You can download the software from below and enjoy 30 days free trial.
- Apple Disk Utility Download
- Download Disk Utility For Mac
- Disk Utility Mac software download, free
- Disk Utility Mac Os Download
Disk utility has been used in Mac systems to erase different types of storage devices such as SSD, Hard disk, flash drive, etc. Data utility is a built-in function in Mac systems, which is used to manage internal disks and external storage devices. Disk utility is also used to erase a partition/volume on your disk. Nevertheless, the erasure done by the disk utility function doesn’t permanently erase the data. In order to wipe the files completely, you must use a dedicated file eraser software. In this blog, we will look at the concept of permanent erasure in detail and introduce you to the most efficient way to erase files on your Mac.
Disk utility free download - File Scavenger Data Recovery Utility, ShowSize Disk Space Analyzer, WinUtilities Free Disk Defragmenter, and many more programs. Dec 21, 2017 The latest version of Disk Utility is 18.0 on Mac Informer. It is a perfect match for CD & DVD Software in the System Tools category. A hard disk repair software is a utility tool that helps in the assessment of the health status of your hard disk and gives you a report on the same. At the same time, it should be able to perform some remedies so as to avert the risk and in the situation that a clash is unavoidable, alert you so that you can perform backups and use an. Our software library provides a free download of OS X Recovery Disk Assistant 1.0 for Mac. This free Mac application is a product of Apple Inc. The latest installer takes up 1.1 MB on disk. The application lies within System Tools, more precisely Backup & Restore. Our built-in antivirus checked this Mac download and rated it as 100% safe.
Reasons to Erase Files on your Mac
There are many reasons to delete the files. Some of them are listed below:
a. Discarding/Selling your Mac: You need to erase the contents of your Mac before you discard or resell them. This way you will be protected against unwanted use of your personal data.
b. Clearing unnecessary files: Deleting unnecessary files is important to better utilize the disk space on your Mac.
c. Infected partition/disk: If your disk is infected (with malware/virus), then you need to permanently erase the contents of the disk.
What is permanent erasure?
Apple Disk Utility Download
A permanent erasure operation erases the data beyond the scope of recovery. When you delete files in your Mac, the data is not actually erased. It just vanishes from your immediate view allowing you to store new files in their place. The deleted files are still there and any data recovery software can recover these files and render your deletion effort worthless. Let us take one scenario for instance. Suppose you are exchanging your Mac with a new system and you have formatted the device before the exchange. The new user can anytime use a data recovery software to retrieve all the data which you thought you had erased.
Why it is important to permanently erase your files?
Data privacy is a crucial aspect nowadays and permanently erasing your sensitive data safeguards you against different types of data breaches. We store personal and sensitive data such as photos, confidential documents, banking credentials, social media details, etc. in our drives. Losing such data can cause you major emotional and financial distress. This is the reason why a permanent erasure is the best shield to protect you against such mishaps.
Why erasure by using Disk Utility isn’t enough?
When you erase a disk using the disk utility function, the data seems to vanish and you assume that the disk erasure is successful. However, the data is not permanently deleted. Only a file erasure software can erase the data by overwriting on top of them and this process makes the data irrecoverable. One of the most reliable and efficient file erasure software is BitRaser File Eraser. It is a professional erasure tool from Stellar which uses cutting-edge techniques to comprehensively erase files, folders, application and system traces permanently from your Mac. BitRaser file, unlike disk utility, permanently erases the file in a more reliable manner.
How to erase files using BitRaser File Eraser?
BitRaser File Eraser can erase files/folders from your Mac hard drive. The erasure will delete all the files in selected files/folder. You also get the option to select multiple files/folders at the time of erasure. Please follow the below steps to erase files in your Mac using BitRaser File Eraser.
1. Download BitRaser File Eraser and run the software.
2. On the software interface window, select Files & Folders option. Then click Next.
3. On the left pane of the window, you will see all the volumes on the computer and on the right pane, the files / folders of the selected volume are listed.
4. Please select the files you wish to delete.
5. Then you will get the option to select the Erasing algorithm for secure deletion. Erasure algorithm is just the method of overwriting the files. If you are unsure about the erasure algorithm, then you need not worry. The tool will choose the default algorithm and erase your files. Then click Erase button.
6. A Confirm Erasure dialog box will then appear. You can then click ‘Confirm Erasure’ to erase files/folders permanently from your system.
A message will then appear after the successful completion of erasure process.
Note: After the successful erasure, it is mandatory to restart the system.
Conclusion
Erasure via disk utility cannot permanently erase the files on your Mac and protect you against data threats and breaches. The only failsafe way to permanently erase your data is by using a file erasure software. One of the best file erasure software is BitRaser file erasure, a DIY tool from Stellar which is designed to permanently wipe files from your Mac. Click on the below link to download the software for a 30 days free trial.
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Summary: If your external drive is greyed out in Mac's Disk Utility, you will find the best solution to fix this problem in this post. If necessary, you can also download iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to recover lost data from your greyed-out external hard drive.
You plug an external hard drive into your Mac as normal, but the external hard drive is not showing up in Mac Finder nor on the desktop this time. So, you launch Disk Utility to check this drive, only to find that the external hard drive is greyed out in Disk Utility. You can calm down first because if you see the external hard drive in Disk Utility with some disk information, your external hard drive at least has no hardware errors. That's to say, you have a great chance to repair it without data loss.
Now, look through the table below and find the best solution to fix this greyed out external hard drive issue on your Mac.
- Table of contents
- 1. Why external hard drives greyed out in Disk Utility?
- 2. How to fix when external hard drives greyed out in Disk Utility?
- 3. How to fix when external drives won't mount on Mac?
- 4. How to fix when Partition external hard drive greyed out in Disk Utility?
- 5. How to fix when Erase hard drive greyed out in Disk Utility?
The symptoms of hard drive dimmed out in Disk Utility are different from case to case. Therefore, let's first take a closer look at the reasons for this issue before you set about repairing your external hard drive that is faded in Disk Utility.
Why external hard drives greyed out in Disk Utility?
Many users are confronted with this annoying issue and are looking for a feasible solution. However, they have no idea exactly why their external hard drives are greyed out in Disk Utility, just like the user from the forum of MacRumors:
'I've been Googling for solutions for the past seven hours. The thing is, I was about to back up and of course, My External Hard Drive in Disk Utility Is Grayed Out!!! My life lives on this disk. I want to also mention that the computer reads the disk. I know this because it appears in Disk Utility, but it's grayed out. Someone helps me.'
Then what could be the cause of this problem?
Some common reasons, including sudden power failure, unsafe ejection, virus attacks could make the disk unrecognizable. What's worse, they may damage the file system or partition table of this drive, resulting in disk corruption. If the file system is corrupted too seriously to be read by the operating system, your external hard drive, for example, WD My Passport will be greyed out in Disk Utility.
After knowing what may make your disk greyed out in Disk Utility, now you can suit the remedy to the case by finding the corresponding solutions in the following part.
How to fix when external hard drives greyed out in Disk Utility?
One of the most common appearances you might see is that the external hard drive shows up in Disk Utility but is greyed out in the left sidebar. What you can do in this situation?
Solution 1:Try to mount the external hard drive manually
Sometimes, your external hard drive is greyed out in Disk Utility just because it was not mounted. Thus, you try to mount this external hard drive in Disk Utility manually. To do this, you can select your external drive and click on the 'Mount' button at the upper menu bar. If theexternal hard drive is not mounting in Mac Disk Utility still, reboot your Mac and try again.
Solution 2:Update the disk driver and extension
Another practical solution to this issue is to update the necessary drivers and extensions. To update an outdated disk driver, you can simply open your App Store and choose the available one to update. Or if you receive some errors like 'System Extension Blocked', it means a disk driver on your Mac is not working due to the lack of an extension, and you can easily enable this extension to be loaded in 'Security and Privacy'. After updating the disk driver or extension, you can reboot your Mac, reconnect the external drive to your Mac, and then remount this drive.
![Software Software](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126435390/215451533.png)
How to fix when external drives won't mount on Mac?
The external hard drive shows up in gray but won't mount in Disk Utility, even you have tried to manually mount it? Don't worry, you can check the following solutions and see if they can solve your problem.
Solution 1:Repair this external hard drive with First Aid
In some cases, a disk is unmountable and greyed out in Disk Utility because some minor disk errors are stopping your Mac reading this drive. Fortunately, there is a built-in utility on your Mac called First Aid is able to check and repair such minor file system errors.
Step 1: Go to Utilities, find Disk Utility and run this program.
Step 2: Click Show All Devices in View option and select this external hard drive in the left sidebar.
Step 3: Click First Aid in the top menu of Disk Utility.
Step 4: Click Run to check and repair errors in this drive.
Solution 2:Reformat this external hard drive
SupposeFirst Aid failed on the external hard drive and you still can't open it, your drive is greyed out in Disk Utility because the file system of the drive could be seriously corrupted. Reformatting can fix the file system corruption, but it also will erase all data on it. Therefore, if you didn't back up data before or this external hard drive is used as a Time Machine backup drive, the safe choice is to recover lost data firstly with reliable data recovery software, likeiBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac. If data loss is not a hassle for you, you can just skip to reformatting.
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is professional and free Mac data recovery software, which can recover lost data from unmountable/formatted/inaccessible external hard drives. It can recover lost data from APFS, HFS+, HFS, FAT32 and exFAT formatted external hard drives, USB drives, flash drives, SD cards, CF cards, memory cards, etc. This software also can undelete documents, pictures, emails, music, etc. from Trash.
It supports macOS 10.15 (Catalina), macOS 10.14 (Mojave), macOS 10.13 (High Sierra), macOS 10.12 (Sierra) and Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan), 10.10 (Yosemite), 10.9 (Mavericks), 10.8 (Mountain Lion), 10.7 (Lion).
Step 1: Recover lost data with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac
- 1. Download, install and launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on your Mac.
- 2. Select the external hard drive that is greyed out in Disk Utility and click Next to scan for data stored on this drive.
- 3. You will see the scanning results in the left sidebar with three categories: files path, type and time. Please double click these files to preview them to make sure your files are not corrupted.
- 4. Select the files you want to get back and click Recover to recover them from this external hard drive. Remember to save these files to another healthy drive for your sake.
Step 2: Reformat this external hard drive with Disk Utility
- 1. Launch Disk Utility.
- 2. Click the external hard drive that is greyed out in the left sidebar.
- 3. Click Erase and fill in the information that the wizard asked, then click Erase to complete this process.
How to fix when Partition external drive greyed out in Disk Utility?
It is possible that an external hard drive is greyed out in Disk Utility, so you try to reformat it by re-partitioning it. However, the Partition feature is greyed out as well. How to fix this problem? Well, you have two options to try.
Solution 1:Check if the external hard drive is NTFS formatted
Download Disk Utility For Mac
As you probably know, most external drives would be formatted with Windows NTFS file system by the manufacturer, while NTFS file system is read-only on Mac computers. That's to say, you can't perform any input operation to this disk, including re-partition. So have a check if this external disk is Windows NTFS file system by viewing the disk information directly. If so, you may need an NTFS driver for Mac so that you can rearrange the space of this disk by partitioning it in Disk Utility.
Solution 2:Enable Show All Devices in Disk Utility
What if your external disk is not formatted with NTFS but some other file systems like Mac OS Extend and FAT, how to fix this issue then? Well, it's likely that the Partition option is greyed out in Disk Utility because you select the wrong item. You can't partition a volume (Even though the Partition option is highlighted for APFS volumes). Instead, you should select the disk drive when you want to partition a disk, and the following steps would be helpful.
Disk Utility Mac software download, free
- 1. Open Disk Utility like you usually do.
- 2. Click the View icon at the upper left, and then choose Show All Devices in the context menu.
- 3. In the left sidebar, you should select the name of the external drive instead of the single volume.
- 4. Then the Partition feature will not be greyed out and you can click it to partition your disk now.
How to fix when Erase hard drive greyed out in Disk Utility?
Another problem you might meet in Disk Utility is that you can erase a disk because the Erase option is greyed out. Usually, it happens when you try to erase an internal drive, which is reasonable because you can't erase the startup disk that you are currently running. Then if you want to install a new OS, or if you need to erase personal data before you donate your Mac, how can you erase a system volume?
Solution:Erase the disk in macOS Recovery mode
- 1. Reboot your Mac and immediately press and hold Command + R to boot your Mac in macOS Recovery mode.
- 2. Then choose Disk Utility in macOS Utilities.
- 3. Select the volume you want to erase and click on Erase as usual.
Note: Be sure you have an up-to-date backup of your important files and data. But if you lost some important data in this process, you can try iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac to recover your data.
Conclusion
Disk Utility Mac Os Download
However, if your external hard drive is greyed out in Disk Utility, and the disk information and the storage capacity is not even showing up correctly, the disk may die from physical damage. If this is the case, you can try your luck by sending it to a disk repair service.
It will be great if this article has helped you repair the external hard drive that is greyed out in Disk Utility.