For years, Network Utility sat quietly in /System/Library/CoreServices: a small app with tabs for Info, Netstat, Ping, Lookup, Traceroute, Whois, Finger and Port Scan. With macOS Big Sur, Apple deprecated it, pointing people to Terminal instead, and later versions dropped it altogether.
The good news: almost every tab was a front end for a command that’s still on your Mac. Here’s what replaces each one.
Tab by tab
| Network Utility tab | Use instead | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Info | ifconfig en0, networksetup -getinfo Wi-Fi, netstat -ib |
ifconfig |
| Netstat | netstat -rn, netstat -an -p tcp, lsof -i |
netstat on Mac |
| Ping | ping -c 10 host |
ping on Mac |
| Lookup | dig host, nslookup host |
dig |
| Traceroute | traceroute host |
traceroute |
| Whois | whois domain |
whois |
| Finger | finger user@host (rarely useful now) |
— |
| Port Scan | nc -vz host 20-1024 |
port scanning |
All of these ship with macOS; nothing needs installing.
If you’d rather not use Terminal
- DEVONtechnologies publishes Neo Network Utility, a free look-alike of the original app, for recent macOS versions.
- Wireless Diagnostics is still built in: hold ⌥ and click the Wi-Fi icon, then choose Open Wireless Diagnostics. It covers Wi-Fi scanning and logging, not general networking.
What Network Utility never did
Network Utility could tell you your interface’s statistics, but never which app was using the network or where it was connecting. For that, nettop -P and lsof -i in Terminal get you part of the way, and a network monitor like LightAtom shows it per app, live. The full command list is in our Mac network commands cheat sheet, with a printable PDF.
Frequently asked questions
Is Network Utility still on macOS?
No. Apple deprecated it in macOS Big Sur and later versions dropped it. Its features are available as Terminal commands.
How do I ping on a Mac without Network Utility?
Open Terminal and run ping -c 10 followed by the host name or IP address. Press Ctrl+C to stop a ping without -c.
What replaced Network Utility's Port Scan tab?
nc -vz host 20-1024 in Terminal checks a range of TCP ports on a host.
Is there an app that looks like Network Utility?
DEVONtechnologies publishes Neo Network Utility, a free look-alike for recent macOS versions.