What Replaced Network Utility on macOS (2026)

By Paul Snyman · Published September 2, 2026 · 7 min read

Short version. Network Utility.app is gone. Apple deprecated it and it is no longer present on current macOS, so the guides telling you to open it from Applications or Spotlight are describing an app you do not have. Every function it provided still exists, mostly as command line tools that were always doing the actual work behind its interface.

It Is Genuinely Removed, Not Hidden

Network Utility lived at /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Network Utility.app. On macOS 26 that path does not exist, and neither does a copy anywhere else on the disk. Apple's own support documentation for the app stops at macOS 10.15 Catalina, which is the last release its help pages describe.

This matters because a great deal of Mac networking advice still opens with "launch Network Utility", including advice from otherwise reliable sources. If a guide starts there, it has not been revised in years.

Tab by Tab, What Replaced It

Old tab	Replacement
Info	`ifconfig`, or System Settings › Network › Details
Netstat	`netstat -s`, routing table with `netstat -nr`
Ping	`ping -c 5 example.com`
Lookup	`dig +short example.com`
Traceroute	`traceroute example.com`
Whois	`whois example.com`
Finger	Nothing. The protocol is long obsolete.
Port Scan	`nc -zv host 1-1024`, or install nmap

The Ones Worth Knowing Properly

Ping

ping -c 5 1.1.1.1

Without -c it runs forever, which is what the old GUI's checkbox was for. Ctrl-C stops it and prints the summary, which is the part that matters: packet loss and min/avg/max round trip.

Traceroute

traceroute example.com

Stars at a middle hop are normal and do not indicate a fault. Routers deprioritise generating replies to probes while forwarding traffic perfectly. Only loss that starts at a hop and continues to the destination is real. This single misreading generates more incorrect ISP complaints than anything else in networking.

Port scan

nc -zv 192.168.1.1 1-1024

nc is built in. For anything more, install nmap. Scan machines on your own network, and nothing else.

Info

ifconfig | grep "inet "
route -n get default

If You Want the GUI Back

The command line versions are strictly more capable, and if you are comfortable there, you do not need anything else. The reason people miss Network Utility is not capability, it is that a window with tabs did not require remembering flags.

The eight diagnostic tools in PingKit Agent for Mac: My Network, Speed Test, Ping, Traceroute, Security Scan, Port Scanner, DNS Lookup and Wake-on-LAN. — Ping, traceroute, port scan and lookup in one window, which is roughly the set Network Utility used to cover.

PingKit Agent covers most of what Network Utility did, in a Mac app with eight tools: My Network (the Info tab, plus Wi-Fi signal and DNS provider detail Network Utility never had), Ping, Traceroute, DNS Lookup, Port Scanner, Speed Test, Wake-on-LAN and Security Scan. Its traceroute additionally resolves each hop's geographic location and network operator, which the old app did not attempt.

Where it does not match, precisely:

No Whois tool. Use whois in Terminal, which is built in.
No Netstat tab. Use netstat.
No Finger. Nobody needs Finger.

The difference in intent is worth stating: Network Utility ran a test when you opened it. PingKit Agent's reason to exist is that it keeps running afterwards, watching the network from the menu bar and alerting on changes. The tools are the familiar part, not the point.

Honest Limits

No Whois, Netstat or Finger equivalent in the app. Terminal covers the first two.
No packet capture. Network Utility never had it either; that is Wireshark's job.
Port scanning is for your own network.
macOS 15 or later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Network Utility on macOS?

It has been removed. Apple deprecated Network Utility and it is no longer present at /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications on current macOS versions. Its functions are available as command line tools such as ping, traceroute, dig, whois, netstat and ifconfig.

What replaced Network Utility on Mac?

No single Apple app did. Ping, traceroute and lookup moved to the ping, traceroute and dig commands, Info to ifconfig and the Network settings pane, and Port Scan to nc or nmap. Third-party apps bundle these into one window again.

How do I ping on a Mac without Network Utility?

Open Terminal and run ping -c 5 example.com. The -c flag limits it to five packets, and the summary line at the end reports packet loss and minimum, average and maximum round trip times.

How do I scan ports on a Mac now?

netcat is built in: nc -zv 192.168.1.1 1-1024 checks a range on a host. For faster or more detailed scanning, install nmap. Only scan devices on networks you own or administer.

Is there a GUI replacement for Network Utility?

Yes, several third-party apps collect the same tools into one window. PingKit Agent provides ping, traceroute, DNS lookup, port scanning, speed test, Wake-on-LAN, a network information pane and a security scan, and additionally keeps monitoring in the background rather than only running tests on demand.

The tools in one window again

Ping, traceroute, DNS lookup, port scanner, speed test, Wake-on-LAN and network info, plus continuous monitoring from the menu bar. macOS 15 or later.

Get PingKit Agent for Mac