Hello, my Disk Utility cant format any drives, it just hangs on the first step. I tried Techtool and that has totally no problem formatting any drive. Do I need to give Disk utility some permissions or something? I tried all kinds of different format types and schemes. I noticed it doesnt even unmount the drive when it tries to format. I tried 5 drives allready, none of them I can format (SSD and HD). I'm on a Macbook Air M1 with Monterey latest version.
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Disk Utility cant format any drives
- Thread starter thomasjans
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I’ve noticed that too, even when running First Aid.
Manually unmount the disk and try to format after that.
Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac
In Disk Utility on your Mac, erase and reformat a storage device to use with a Mac.
support.apple.com
The Key factor in DU is View >> View All Devices and choose the User most Manufactures Name of said drive
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Try this.
It sounds "illogical", but try it anyway.
Connect the drive you want to format.
Open disk utility.
Select the drive and choose erase, but...
DO NOT choose a "Mac" format.
Instead, try erasing the drive to exFAT.
Does this work (it may or it may not, but try it anyway)?
If it DOES work, NOW try erasing the drive to a Mac format.
For platter-based drives that WILL NOT be bootable or used for time machine, I recommend "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format"...
It sounds "illogical", but try it anyway.
Connect the drive you want to format.
Open disk utility.
Select the drive and choose erase, but...
DO NOT choose a "Mac" format.
Instead, try erasing the drive to exFAT.
Does this work (it may or it may not, but try it anyway)?
If it DOES work, NOW try erasing the drive to a Mac format.
For platter-based drives that WILL NOT be bootable or used for time machine, I recommend "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format"...
I notice when using drives for Windows or Linux and then trying to use them with MacOS I have problems with the boot sectors. Only way I get around it is to use Windows Diskpart to delete all of the disk.
The easiest way to erase any storage drive on Mac is by using the Disk Utility feature. But sometimes, Mac Disk Utility can’t erase the hard drive due to various reasons. However, the issue can be fixed using the below DIY methods:
1. Erase Mac Hard Drive by Enabling "Show All Devices"
2. Use First Aid to Repair Drive before Erasing
3. Use Recovery Mode to Erase Mac Hard Drive
4. Erase Data using 3rd party tool such as BitRaser File Eraser
Hope it will help!
1. Erase Mac Hard Drive by Enabling "Show All Devices"
2. Use First Aid to Repair Drive before Erasing
3. Use Recovery Mode to Erase Mac Hard Drive
4. Erase Data using 3rd party tool such as BitRaser File Eraser
Hope it will help!