Accidentally Erased Hard Drive in Disk Utility

Will Disk Utility Erase Files?

"Will Disk Utility erase files" is one of the most frequently asked questions of Mac users. Briefly speaking, Disk Utility is one of the built-in utilities used to perform hard drive or hard drive partition-related tasks. It enables Mac users to:

• Erase, format, partition, and clone disks
• Mount, unmount, and eject hard drives, removable storage media, and disk volume images
• Verify and repair a disk (Learn what to do when Disk Utility can't repair a disk here)
• Delete free space or disk
• Restore volumes from Apple Software Restore images
• Create new hard drive partitions

...

As you can see from the list above, Disk Utility allows you to erase hard drives. Thus, the answer to the question "Will Disk Utility erase files" is definitely "Yes".

What Happens If I Erase My Hard Drive on Mac?

Generally, the operation "Erase" will completely wipe out the data, and it is unrecoverable. However, the "Erase" function has a different meaning on Mac. It functions similarly to "Format" and the files erased can be recovered with Mac files recovery software tools as long as the lost data is not overwritten by new content. If you have accidentally erased a hard drive using Disk Utility on your Mac and the files lost are of great importance to you, follow the next part to recover your files erased by Disk Utility right now.

How to Recover Disk Utility Erased Files on Mac

As mentioned above, you can retrieve your erased files with the help of data recovery software. Here we recommend you try EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. With this software, you can recover the erased files on your hard drive with simple clicks. It's a popular choice for users who want to recover emptied Trash on Mac or recover formatted files from internal/external hard drives. Below are some other features of EaseUS Recovery Wizard:

• Quick scan to recover deleted files on Mac
• Support users to get back Mac media files like photos, videos, and audio
• Enable users to preview all recoverable files
• Provide Data Protection for Mac users to prevent data deletion

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

Now follow the three steps below to recover Disk Utility erased files on Mac:

Step 1. Search for lost files

Select the disk location to search for lost files (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or an external hard drive) where you lost data and files. Click the "Search for lost files" button.

Note: Before data recovery, you'd better click "Disk Backup" from the left sidebar to create a backup of your HDD/SSD to avoid further data loss. After backing up, the software can recover data from your disk backup, and you can use the HDD or SSD again.

Step 2. Go through the scanning results

This software will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display pictures, documents, audio, videos, and emails on the left pane.

Step 3. Select the file(s) and recover

Click the data to preview, and click the "Recover" button to have them back.

Accidentally Erased OS in Disk Utility and Now I Can't Erase the HD

In Apple support communities, we have noticed that a user said he/she had accidentally erased OS in Mac's Disk Utility. And now it is unable for him/her to erase the HD. In case there are other users experiencing the same problem. In this part, we will tell you how to solve the above problem.

Step 1. If you have a Time Machine backup, restore data from the backup.

Step 2. Turn off Spotlight by using the terminal command. Please also remember to turn off the Time Machine.

Step 3. Went back to the Disk Utility, reinstall OS.

Step 4. When you finished reinstalling OS, go back to the Disk Utility and you might be able to erase the HD.

The Bottom Line

According to tons of qualified reviews, EaseUS Mac file recovery software performs best in the market due to its excellent scanning speed, success rate, and simplicity in recovering data. Download this accomplished software and use it to get back your lost data with ease.