Take note that when you erase a device, it erases all the Volumes contained within it as well. Select the parent folder for the drive you want to reformat or erase, then click the Erase button again. You should see the device names for each of your drives appear in the sidebar. Open Disk Utility and select View > Show All Devices from the menu bar. A Volume is the partition or section of a drive you store data in. Show All Devices and Erase the Parent Driveīy default, Disk Utility only shows the Volumes on your connected drives, rather than the drives themselves. Use the steps below to fix it and let us know in the comments which one worked for you. You’re probably reading this article because the Erase button was grayed out when you tried to erase or reformat a drive using Disk Utility. What if the Erase Button in Disk Utility is grayed Out?

Wait for Disk Utility to erase or reformat your drive, then click Done.ĭisk Utility shows each process it completes in the window.

Choose a new name and format for your drive, then click Erase.ĭecide what to name your drive after erasing it.

Click the Erase button at the top of the window.ĭisk Utility presents several tools at the top of the window.

In the sidebar, select the drive you want to erase or reformat.

Spotlight is the quickest way to open Disk Utility.

Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder in your Applications.

When you’re ready, here’s how to erase or reformat drives: So make sure to back up any important files before erasing or reformatting your drives. When you reformat a drive, it also erases all the data on it. Or you might need to reformat it so it works with different operating systems, like Windows, Linux, or even iPadOS. You may want to erase your drive as a quick way to create space for new files.

Feel free to skip this section if you already know how to do it. Let’s start with a brief explanation of the correct way to reformat or erase drives using your Mac. How to erase or reformat a Drive using Disk Utility

Factory Reset MacBook Air and Other Macs With macOS.

The Startup Disk Is Almost Full on My Mac But I Can’t Delete Anything.

Mac or MacBook Doesn’t Recognize External Drives, Troubleshooting Tips.

If your MacBook’s Disk Utility won’t let you erase drives, follow the steps below to fix it.

This might happen for a variety of reasons, all of which keep you from erasing or reformatting the drives connected to your Mac. You can’t reformat a drive in macOS Disk Utility when the Erase button is grayed out.

First aid failed on external hard drive