How do I check my external drive for errors or health problems?

Q: How do I check my external drive for errors or health problems?

Use First Aid in Disk Utility. Open Disk Utility, choose View → Show All Devices, select the drive's volume and click First Aid, then Run. It checks the file system and repairs what it can. Quit apps using the drive first, and expect the volume to be briefly unavailable while it runs. Disk Utility can also show a drive's health status, but many USB enclosures don't report it, so a missing status isn't a bad sign by itself. In Storage Studio, Inspect fast drive → Validate confirms the drive is connected, prepared and usable — it's a set-up check, not a hardware test. If First Aid finds problems it can't fix, copy everything to a new drive with Transfer Drive promptly.

Short answer: Run First Aid on the drive in Disk Utility (View → Show All Devices, select the volume, First Aid). Many USB enclosures don't report health status. If errors can't be fixed, move everything to a new drive with Transfer Drive.

Use First Aid in Disk Utility. Open Disk Utility, choose View → Show All Devices, select the drive's volume and click First Aid, then Run. It checks the file system and repairs what it can. Quit apps using the drive first, and expect the volume to be briefly unavailable while it runs.

Disk Utility can also show a drive's health status, but many USB enclosures don't report it, so a missing status isn't a bad sign by itself.

In Storage Studio, Inspect fast drive → Validate confirms the drive is connected, prepared and usable — it's a set-up check, not a hardware test. If First Aid finds problems it can't fix, copy everything to a new drive with Transfer Drive promptly.

Last reviewed October 1, 2026

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How do I check my external drive for errors or health problems?

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