Where Does Disk Utility Store Data on Mac?
What Disk Utility actually stores on Mac, where its preferences sit, and where disk images live.
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Disk Utility keeps almost nothing of its own: a preferences plist with sidebar and view options, while disk images and volumes live wherever you saved or attached them. First Aid reports vanish with the window.
Back up the .dmg files themselves, not the app state. The plist restores window comfort quickly and nothing else. Debug menus some guides mention come and go between macOS releases; the plist path stays put.
Where Disk Utility stores this, by platform
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.DiskUtility.plist
View options in one plist; images and volumes live where you saved them. Delete the plist to reset the view. Back up .dmg files themselves.
Frequently asked questions
How do I back up my disk images?
Disk images live wherever you saved them, commonly Documents or Downloads. Disk Utility preferences hold no image data. Move the .dmg files themselves; settings never contain volumes.
How do I reset Disk Utility to defaults?
Quit Disk Utility and delete its preferences plist, then relaunch. Sidebar favorites and view options reset; attached volumes reappear on their own. No disk data is touched by a prefs reset.
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