Download Techtool Pro for Mac

In the edit

Macs don't often break down, but when they do — a drive that won't mount, permissions that go haywire, a system that just feels off — you need something that can dig into the hardware and the file system without guesswork. Techtool Pro has been that something for a long time, and version 20.1.7 (build 9559) keeps the tradition going with a few refinements and the same broad toolkit.

Catch hard drive failures before they cost you a wedding gallery

• Running SMART tests on hard drives to catch state changes or an approaching failure before it costs you a wedding gallery.
• Restoring file access permissions on a partition after a messy install or a permissions meltdown.
• Cloning volumes for backups or migration, with a fix in this build for a File Sync clone that could fail during verification.
• Detecting bad blocks on a hard drive and recovering files stored in them — useful when a drive starts clicking.
• Creating an emergency boot partition on the active system volume without needing a DVD, plus using Protogo to build custom test drives.
• Monitoring device configuration on a local network for security management.

English-only interface and proactive monitoring built right in

• Techtool Protection is built in as a proactive monitoring feature, not a separate app.
• The interface is English-only, which is fine for most of us but worth noting if you prefer another language.
• It runs on macOS 10.13 High Sierra and later, on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.
• There are no new features in this version — the focus was on stability and fixing that volume cloning issue.

Deeper repairs alongside Disk Utility for photographers and techs

Techtool Pro doesn't sit in its own corner — it works alongside the tools you already use. If you're a photographer or a technician who keeps Disk Utility around for quick repairs, think of Techtool Pro as the deeper version that can handle SMART monitoring and bad-block recovery when Disk Utility gives up. It also plays well with macOS's built-in file system journaling, so running a volume repair here won't conflict with what the system is already tracking.

The emergency boot partition it creates lives on your active system volume, which means you don't need to carry a separate drive or dig out an old USB stick. That partition can then be used with Protogo to build a custom test environment, giving you a bootable diagnostic system without hunting for an external disk. For network administrators or anyone managing a handful of Macs, the device configuration monitoring ties into the local network without extra software on the other machines.

And if you're already using Time Machine or a cloning tool like Carbon Copy Cloner, the volume cloning in Techtool Pro can serve as a secondary backup method or a way to migrate data between drives without leaving the app.

File Sync clone fix for failed verification in earlier builds

A few things trip people up when they first get into Techtool Pro. The volume cloning fix in 20.1.7 addresses one of them directly — a File Sync clone could fail during verification in earlier builds. If you've had a clone fail on you before, that update should make the process more reliable. Make sure you're running build 9559 if cloning is part of your routine.

Another thing I've heard about: the emergency boot partition setup can be confusing if you're not sure which volume is your active system. The app will show you the available options, so take a moment to confirm you're selecting the right drive before you create the partition. It won't damage anything if you pick the wrong one, but it saves time.

Techtool Protection's email notification is handy, but it needs a working SMTP setup on your Mac. If you're not getting alerts, check that your outgoing mail server is configured in macOS's Mail or that you've got a lightweight relay like Postfix running. The on-screen message still works either way, so you won't miss a warning entirely.

And if you're running an older Mac on High Sierra or Mojave, the Intel version of the app works fine — just make sure you mount the disk image correctly before running the installer. A quick mount and standard install is all it takes, then use the SN.txt for activation.

Set once and forget: background tracking of removed files and free space

Techtool Protection's ability to track removed files and monitor free disk space runs quietly in the background. You can set it up once and forget about it until a warning appears — it's not nagging you every day, just watching for the thresholds you've defined. The same goes for the SMART monitoring: it can save backups of critical directories automatically, so if a drive starts showing early warning signs, you've got a recent copy without thinking about it.

The Protogo integration is worth a second look even if you've used it before. It lets you create a custom test drive that boots your Mac into a diagnostic environment, which is useful when the main system is too unstable to run the app normally. You don't need a separate license or tool for that — it's all inside Techtool Pro.

If you're managing multiple Macs on a network, the device configuration monitoring gives you a view of what's connected and how things are set up. It's not a full management suite, but it catches configuration drift that could lead to security gaps.

Mac it needs

• macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later
• Intel or Apple Silicon