Background Nowadays continuous developments in science and technology are increasing the availability of thousands of medical devices, all of which should be of good quality and used appropriately to address global health challenges. Many appropriate technologies are inaccessible to the majority of people who need them, particularly in low and middle-income countries. To the best of our knowledge, we can’t findevidence about barriers in medical equipment utilization in the study area. Objective The objective of this study is to explore the barriers in the utilization of medical equipment among public hospitals of Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia, 2022 Method A phenomenological study design was used.Store managers, matron, Operation room heads, intensive care unit coordinatorwere included purposively for the key informant interview.Ten interviews were performed from February 11 2021 to March 19 2021 GC. The principal investigator conducted all the interviews, transcribed them, and then translated into English. The qualitative data coding and categorizing were done using ATLAS.ti version 7.0. A thematic analysis approach was used for analysis. Caution during coding and colleague debriefing were used to maintain the quality of the study. Ethical approval was secured from the institutional review board of Bahir Dar University and verbal informed consent was applied. Results Non-functionality, procurement-related, maintenance-related barriers, acquisition issues, and training were identified as barriers in medical equipment utilization. A majority of the participants reported that there was problem from donated medical equipment and repeatedly became un-functional.As reported by respondents they had disposed of non-usable equipment by donating to other institutions and using it as an accessory for other equipment. Conclusion and recommendation Major barriers in the medical equipment utilization were; non-functionality of equipment, procurement-related, maintenance-related barriers, acquisition issues, training and donation. Disposing of medical equipment was done haphazardly.The public hospitals in the study are better to have attentions towards wise utilization and handling of medical equipment.