Can't open Disk Utility -- says the application is damaged or incomplete

Question

Can't open Disk Utility -- says the application is damaged or incomplete

Context

A year or so ago I made the mistake of using MacPaw's CleanMyMac service to try to free up space on my MacBook Air. Since I did this, I have had difficulties opening up key applications like Finder, Calendar, Dictionary etc. by searching for them on Spotlight. When I try to use Spotlight for these applications, I get an error message like 'You can't open the application "Finder" because it may be damaged or incomplete. However, I can still open almost all of these applications from my Dock/the Applications folder in Finder, and MacPaw weren't forthcoming with help, so I've just been putting up with not having the Spotlight function working properly.

Current problem

Today I tried opening the application Disk Utility, as I was in the process of trying to set up an external hard-drive for Time Machine backup. When I tried searching for it using Spotlight, I got the same error message. However, when I tried to search for Disk Utility in Finder, I saw that the application still wouldn't open because damaged/incomplete. However, I can't find anywhere online to re-download Disk Utility. What do I do?

Thanks in advance, and please bear with me -- I'm not very computer literate.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Apr 18, 2025 9:19 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Apr 18, 2025 10:59 AM in response to toboldlysplitinfinitives

Startup from macOS Recovery and reinstall macOS. This will not erase or delete your user files, but will simply lay down a fresh copy of macOS any associated files and apps. All the guidance you need is here: How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Do not erase, format, partition or otherwise alter the startup drive. Just reinstall macOS.

Of course, it's always best to update your Time Machine backup before doing this, just in case it goes sideways for some reason. You'll have a way to fall back.

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

212,411 points

Apr 20, 2025 1:58 PM in response to toboldlysplitinfinitives

Another way to reinstall the system is to boot \ the Recovery volume (boot with the Command + R keys held down - Intel Macs) or (How to Boot an M1 Mac into Recovery Mode) and select macOS Sonoma:

It overwrites the system by leaves the user data intact. However, regardless make sure you have a current backup of your user data with Time Machine or another app.

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Answer 3

Apr 18, 2025 10:02 AM in response to toboldlysplitinfinitives

toboldlysplitinfinitives wrote:

I can't find anywhere online to re-download Disk Utility.

Disk Utility is bundled in macOS.

The easiest possibility might be to backup, then download Sonoma from App Store, and install it on top of the old system and wish it would fix the damage the "cleaner" has done.

If that fails, then backup, Command-R boot to Recovery, erase the internal disk as APFS, install, restore.

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Answer 4

Apr 18, 2025 3:14 PM in response to D.I. Johnson

Thanks so much for your advice! I'm not in a position to try your suggestions just yet as one of the reasons I was trying to get access to Disk Utility is that the new external hard drive I've bought for back-ups apparently can't be erased or "unmounted" by Time Machine. I just opened a support ticket with San Disk to see if they know what might be going wrong, and for the time being I'm taking the rather laborious route of manually copying pasting especially important folders. Thanks again for your time.

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Answer 5

Apr 18, 2025 10:28 PM in response to toboldlysplitinfinitives

toboldlysplitinfinitives wrote:

Is there a reason that you recommend erasing rather than simply reinstalling macOS as D.I. Johnson suggested? Thanks.

Installing on top of the old system is the easiest way. D.I. Johnson's suggestion doing it via Recovery should be more thorough than my suggestion to apply the installer while booted normally. Erase is the last option if all else fails.

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Answer 6

Apr 18, 2025 3:15 PM in response to Matti Haveri

Thanks for your advice! Is there a reason that you recommend erasing rather than simply reinstalling macOS as D.I. Johnson suggested? Thanks.

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Can't open Disk Utility -- says the application is damaged or incomplete