Apple Killed Network Utility. What to Use Now

If you recently upgraded to a newer version of macOS and went looking for Network Utility, you probably noticed it’s gone. Apple quietly removed it in macOS Big Sur, ending a run that stretched back to the classic Mac OS era. The app lived in the Utilities folder for over two decades, and then one day it just wasn’t there anymore.

Apple didn’t announce the removal or explain why. They didn’t offer a replacement. Network Utility simply disappeared, leaving a gap for anyone who relied on it.

What Network Utility did

Network Utility packed several tools into one window: Info, Netstat, Ping, Lookup, Traceroute, Whois, Finger, and Port Scan. (AppleTalk was removed years earlier when that protocol was discontinued.) For most users, the important ones were Ping, Traceroute, Lookup (DNS), and Port Scan.

The app made these tools accessible without opening Terminal. You could ping a server to check if it was responding, trace the network path to a destination, look up DNS records, or scan for open ports on a host. Basic stuff for network troubleshooting, but genuinely useful.

System administrators used it constantly. Developers reached for it when debugging connection issues. Regular users who knew about it appreciated having a GUI for these functions instead of memorizing command line syntax.

Why Apple removed it

Apple never gave an official explanation. The most likely reason is that Network Utility relied on deprecated system APIs and wasn’t worth updating. Apple has been cleaning house on legacy code for years, dropping 32-bit app support and removing features that required maintaining old frameworks.

Network Utility also had some rough edges. The interface hadn’t changed much since the early 2000s. Some functions like Finger were obsolete relics of an earlier internet. Rather than modernize the app, Apple chose to cut it entirely.

There’s also the possibility that Apple sees these tools as unnecessary for most users. The average Mac owner never opens Network Utility. From Apple’s perspective, keeping it around meant maintaining code that almost nobody touched.

The Terminal alternative

Everything Network Utility did is still possible through Terminal. The underlying commands exist on every Mac:

ping google.com checks connectivity. traceroute google.com shows the network path. nslookup google.com or dig google.com handles DNS lookups. whois google.com retrieves domain registration info. Port scanning requires additional tools like nc (netcat) or third-party software.

For people comfortable with the command line, this works fine. But Terminal has drawbacks. You need to remember syntax and flags. Output is plain text that scrolls away. Running multiple tests means juggling multiple windows or tabs. There’s no visual presentation of results.

Network Utility existed because not everyone wants to use Terminal for everything. That need didn’t disappear when Apple removed the app.

Third-party replacements

The removal of Network Utility created an opportunity for independent developers. Several apps now fill the gap.

Some are free and basic, offering a subset of the original features. Others are commercial products with more polish and additional capabilities. The quality varies widely. Many are simple wrappers around the same command line tools, just adding a GUI layer without much thought to the user experience.

When evaluating replacements, consider what you actually need. If you just want to ping a server occasionally, almost anything will work. If you need the full range of network diagnostics, you want something more complete.

What to look for in a replacement

A good Network Utility replacement should include the core tools: Ping, Traceroute, DNS Lookup, Whois, and Port Scan. Netstat and Finger are nice to have but less essential.

The interface matters. Results should be easy to read and understand. You shouldn’t need to parse raw text output the way you would in Terminal.

Performance matters too. A native app built for macOS will feel faster and more responsive than something built on cross-platform frameworks or web technologies.

Privacy is worth considering. Some network tools, especially web-based ones, route your queries through their servers. That means they can see what hosts you’re scanning, what domains you’re looking up, and what ports you’re checking. A local app that runs queries directly from your Mac doesn’t have this problem.

NetUtil as an option

We built NetUtil specifically to replace Network Utility. It includes all seven classic tools: Ping, Traceroute, DNS Lookup, Netstat, Whois, Finger, and Port Scan. Everything runs locally on your Mac with no data sent to external servers.

The app is native SwiftUI, built for both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. It looks and feels like a modern macOS app because it is one.

We’re not claiming it’s the only option. There are other apps in this space, and some of them are perfectly capable. But if you’ve been missing Network Utility since Apple removed it, NetUtil was designed to fill exactly that gap.

The bigger picture

Apple’s decision to remove Network Utility reflects a broader trend. macOS has been shedding power user features for years. Dashboard is gone. The built-in web server is harder to enable. Scripting capabilities have been restricted. The OS increasingly targets mainstream consumers rather than developers and system administrators.

This isn’t necessarily wrong. Apple has to prioritize somewhere, and most Mac users don’t need network diagnostic tools. But for those who do need them, the removal stings.

The silver lining is that macOS remains capable enough for third-party developers to build replacements. The network stack is still there. The command line tools still work. We just need apps that expose this functionality through a reasonable interface.

Network Utility had a good run. Twenty-plus years is a long time in software. But the need it addressed hasn’t gone away, and there are now better options than Apple ever provided.