How to Resolve “Mac Disk Utility Can’t Erase External Hard Drive”?
Overview: As a Mac user, have you ever faced the error: “Mac Disk Utility Can’t Erase External Hard Drive”. This happens usually when you try to reformat a drive, or want to wipe it completely for resale or repair. It can be a confusing experience for everyone during one particular moment. Through this guide, we will discuss why this happened and what are the main causes of it, as well as the methods to fix the problem. So, that you can get back with your external hard drive process.
Mac Disk Utility Unable to Erase External Hard Drive – Possible Reasons
There would be various reasons why Mac disk utility can’t erase external hard drive. Let’s see those possible points.
- Another application running in the background could be stopping it from erasing the external drive.
- A few external drives like USB flash and older HDDs have a physical or software based write protection.
- If a drive is formatted in a way that macOS does not support. Then, erasure can become a problem.
- Additionally, it can be due to restricted permissions that stop you from performing any kind of data erasure task to the drive.
- Another reason could be that your disk is encrypted, or formatted with data from another user.
- You might not have permissions to wipe it from your logged in account.
- It can be due to any hardware failure like bad cables or USB ports which can interrupt the connection.
Mac Disk Utility Can’t Erase External Hard Drive – Manual Steps
In this section, you will see various small sets of steps to resolve the error. Let’s begin quickly to continue your erasure process.
#1. Close all the Apps & Unmount the Drive Manually
But just to be on the safe side, never do anything except erasing before you check that you have ended all apps using the drive.
- Go to Finder > Applications> Utilities > Disk Utility.
- Next, choose your external drive > Unmount.
- Once unmounted, click on Erase again.
If unmounting is not possible, use the below Terminal approach.
#2. Force Erase the Drive Using Terminal
If Disk Utility cannot execute a task, the terminal will still work. It’s just that you have more chances for flexibility than the other.
- Open Terminal from your system.
- Type the command to list all drives.
diskutil list
- Locate your external drive.
- To trash use the below command:
diskutil eraseDisk APFS MyDisk /dev/disk2
If that doesn’t work, try:
sudo diskutil unmountDisk force /dev/disk2
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/disk2 bs=1024k
Be Careful: dd Command deletes data permanently. Please confirm disk identity first before running this command.
3. Disable SIP (System Integrity Protection)
If it fails on Terminal too, there might be SIP blocking the process. Here, are the steps to disable quickly and fix Mac disk utility can’t erase external hard drive.
1. Press Command + R shortcut key to boot your Mac into Recovery Mode state.
2. Open Utilities > Terminal.
3. Type the following:
csrutil disable
4. Simply reboot your Mac and retry the erase task.
5. Remember to re-enable SIP by executing csrutil after wiping.
4. Restart in Safe Mode
In that case, reboot Windows into safe mode which will automatically disable third-party processes.
- Reboot the Mac, holding the Shift key.
- Start up into Safe Boot and use the Disk Utility.
- Attempt to erase the drive.
5. Check a Different Port, Cable or Mac
I know this sounds very basic, but lots of things can go wrong at the connection points. Test on a different drive:
- USB port
- USB cable
- Mac system
Limitations of Using Manual Solutions
Although we have provided many different methods, they are limited to some point. Let’s acknowledge those points:
- A terminal command could be difficult to understand & operate.
- Any faulty physical drives can simply quit working entirely.
- Disabling SIP is a major security risk and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
- So, unless you have already decrypted your external drive with BitLocker unlock key. Then, your macOS will refuse to erase that volume.
- Disk Utility and Terminal can get almost every last byte of data.
- However with modern SSDs in use today. Not all of the files can be securely wiped.
Smart Alternative to Mac Disk Utility
After trying all the above manual ways, still your Mac disk utility can’t erase external hard drive. Then, you should go for the smart & safe option that is SysTools Data Erasure Tool. It is designed to permanently delete data in a secure way following the standards for personal and governmental use. No matter if you are working on an external hard drive, USB flash drive, SSD or partition, it helps to wipe your data in an easy and professional way.
Salient Features:
- You have the option to erase a complete drive or empty space without affecting existing files.
- Multiple wipe algorithms such as DoD 5220.22-M, NIST 800-88, and other wiping standards.
- The interface is simple and easy to use.
- SSDs, HDDs, Flash drives and External USB devices are supported.
- Your data remains permanently unrecoverable even with advanced forensic tools.
Concluding Words
The main reason behind Mac Disk Utility can’t erase external hard drive is often permission, connection and file system problems. Though both terminal and safe mode are good. But, it comes with certain limitations. So, go with our smart alternative to guarantee that files are securely deleted especially when dealing with storage devices. Do not panic, and fix the external drive yourself and secure data efficiently.