GPT fdisk For Mac

GPT fdisk is a collection of disk partitioning tools that can be controlled via the command line. The set includes the gdisk, cgdisk, sgdisk, and the fixparts components, which you can call upon via the Terminal application.

Even through all the components included in the GPT fdisk deal with similar tasks, gdisk is the one that is commonly used to partition volumes and edit the GUID partition table (sgdisk is designed to be employed in connection with scripts that need access to a specific function, and cgdisk integrates curses libraries).

Besides the partitioning tasks, GPT fdisk is also able to convert MBR (Master Boot Record) partition tables or BSD disk labels to GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) partition tables, while ensuring that there is no data loss.

GPT fdisk offers you the possibility to repair both GPT and MBR data structures via the fixparts component. Keep in mind that fixparts comes as a separate download and has its own package installer.

To start using the gdisk tool, you need to type the appropriate command together with the device filename in the Terminal application. The gdisk will provide details about the volume’s partition table and lets you know if you can make changes.

Note that you might have to run the utility as root to gain full access to its capabilities. Moreover, in the case of certain macOS versions, you might have to deactivate the System Integrity Protection (SIP) function for the utility to be able to make changes.

gdisk offers you the possibility to backup the GPT data, to change the partition name, to view extensive details about a partition or delete it altogether. The app can list all known partition types, is able to create a new partition or an empty GUID table, can modify the partition’s type code, helps you verify the disk, and so on.

Bottom line, GPT fdisk delivers versatile command line utilities that can be used to both gather information about your volumes and the status of their partitions table and to edit them and delete or create partitions.

GPT fdisk integrates conversion and repair capabilities but keep in mind that some of the functions are intended for expert use only.