Transfer Apps And Files From Old Mac To New Mac

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Dec 25, 2017  Connect the Thunderbolt, FireWire, or Ethernet cable from your old Mac to your new Mac. If you are using local Wi-Fi, make sure both Macs are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Open your new Mac Launch a Finder window by clicking on the Finder icon in your Dock. On your old Mac, open Migration Assistant, click Continue, choose to transfer To another Mac, and click Continue. Now, go back to your new Mac, where you'll be asked if you want to migrate from a. If you don’t want to use target disk mode - you can also use Disk Utility / Carbon Copy Cloner / Super Duper to make a bootable clone of your old Mac to an external drive and connect that when Migration Assistant asks for the old Mac to be connected. Transfer wirelessly. To transfer the data when you first set up your MacBook Pro, use Setup Assistant. To transfer data later, you can use Migration Assistant. Open a Finder window, go to Applications/Utilities, then double-click Migration Assistant to do a wireless migration. Follow the onscreen instructions.

Migration Assistant copies all of your files to your new Mac so that you don't have to copy your files manually.

  • If your files are currently on a Windows PC, follow the PC migration steps instead.
  • If your new Mac is using OS X Mountain Lion v10.8 or earlier, follow the Mountain Lion migration steps instead.

Check software, settings, and power

  • Install all available Apple software updates on both Mac computers. Install any updates for your third-party apps as well.
  • Make sure that your old Mac is using OS X Lion or later.
  • Make sure that your old Mac has a computer name: Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Sharing and check the Computer Name field.
  • Connect both computers to AC power.

Connect the computers to each other

  • If both computers are using macOS Sierra or later, just make sure that they're near each other and have Wi-Fi turned on. If either is using OS X El Capitan or earlier, connect them to the same network using Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
  • Or connect them using target disk mode and the appropriate cable or adapter. Then start up your old computer in target disk mode.
  • Or connect your new Mac to a Time Machine backup of your old Mac.

Use Migration Assistant

On your new Mac:

  1. Open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  2. Click Continue.
  3. When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk.
  4. Click Continue.

On your old Mac:
If you started your old Mac in target disk mode or are migrating from a Time Machine backup, skip these four steps.

  1. Open Migration Assistant.
  2. Click Continue.
  3. When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer to another Mac.
  4. Click Continue.

On your new Mac:

  1. When asked to select a Mac, Time Machine backup, or other startup disk, click the appropriate icon.
  2. Click Continue. You might see a security code.

On your old Mac:
If you started your old Mac in target disk mode or are migrating from a Time Machine backup, skip these two steps.

  1. If you see a security code, make sure that it's the same code as on your new Mac.
  2. Click Continue.

On your new Mac:

  1. Choose the backup to transfer information from.
  2. Click Continue.

Continuing on your new Mac:

  1. Select the information to transfer from the backup.
  2. Click Continue to start the transfer. If you have a lot of content, the transfer might take several hours to finish.


In the example above, John Appleseed is a macOS user account. If you transfer an account that has the same name as an account on your new Mac, you're asked to rename the old account or replace the one on your new Mac. If you rename, the old account appears as a separate user on your new Mac, with a separate home folder and login. If you replace, the old account overwrites the account on your new Mac, including everything in its home folder.

After Migration Assistant is done, log in to the migrated account on your new Mac to see its files. If you're not keeping your old Mac, learn what to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your old Mac.

Although file sharing has come a long way, there is still no single way or service which can fulfill all requirements of each and every user. So, come with us as we talk about the various ways in which you can transfer files between Mac, be it your own devices or with a friend’s device.

Read: 10 Ways to Share Files between Two Windows Computers Software to open raw files on mac.

Transfer Files From Mac to Mac

1. Online Services

Cloud storage services are a viable option for file sharing if you have a high-speed internet connection. These services or websites allow you to host your pictures, videos and all types of files on their servers and all your files can be accessed from anywhere in the world with a computer connected to the internet. Cloud storage is extensively used as backup solutions by many people and they can even be used to share files with other people just by sending them a link to the hosted file.

Some of the popular cloud storage services include – Dropbox, One Drive, and Google drive etc. All of them offer 10-15 GB free storage once you sign up. If you need more storage space, you need to upgrade to a paid version, which usually cost $3-4 per month for 100 GB. All of these also come with smartphone clients, making all your files accessible even from your or your friend’s phone.

If you want to share large files with your client, but don’t want to pay for a service, then try pCloud. As of writing this post, the trial version the limit is 20 GB.

However, if the file to be sent is very small in size (less than 30 MB), you can also consider sending easily via emailing services like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.

Read: 7 Ways To Access Your Computer’s Files Remotely Over the Internet

Pros:

  • Allows sharing between two( or more) devices anywhere in the world.
  • Files can be accessed as many times as wanted.
  • Compatible with also Windows, iOS, Android or almost anything that has a browser, including Apple TV.

Cons:

  • Dependent on internet connection
  • To share/host large sized files, might have to shell out some money

Conclusion:
Although all the cloud services offer plans, most offer a free limit (different for each) which should be enough to share files. Cloud offers you the ability to share files with devices or people with whom it is not physically possible to be with.

2. Physical Devices

Physical storage devices such as pen drives, external hard disks (HDDs), Solid State Drives (SSDs) have risen in popularity over the last few years owing to the ease of file sharing they offer. Just connect the device to the sender’s Mac, copy the files to it and then connect it to the receiver’s Mac and then copy from the device to the computer. Pen Drives are good for a quick transfer of small files, HDDs are great for sharing very large files (upto 4TB) and also backing up your computer. And if you want something more compact and much faster, SSDs will do the job pretty well but they do come at a price compared to hard disks.

Another great thing about them is that you can also use these devices to not only share files between two Macs but even Windows and Android device (using an OTG cable or adapter).

However, if plugging in a hard drive is too much work for you, consider getting a Wi-Fi drive like this one from ScanDisk. They cost more than the physical Hard Drive and offers less storage, but comes with the convenience to access those files over the network.

Quick Tip: Before using the same HDD with MacOS and Windows, make sure to format it to exFAT or FAT32 as Window’s default NTFS is read-only on MacOS and might cause problems.

Read: How to Format Hard Drives

Pros:

  • Very easy and minimal number of steps required to use
  • Choose accordingly over a wide variety of sizes (all the way from 4GB to 4TB)
  • Conveniently portable to take everywhere

Cons:

  • Physical devices, so susceptible to damage or data loss

Conclusion:
Physical storage devices are better than cloud services for storing or transferring huge amounts of files as they offer a better bang for the buck and they even work without an internet connection while being portable to take with you. However, keep in mind, they still have to be physically given to the receiver which shouldn’t be a problem if you are sharing with yourself or with a friend at school or work.

3. File Sharing

Old

Of course, most of you knew about the previous two ways, but very few know of the File Sharing System built right into Mac OS. File Sharing, which uses SMB, is one of the most efficient and fastest ways in which you can transfer files between two Macs on the same network.

Read: How to Access your Computer Files From Anywhere With TeamViewer

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But first, you need to activate File Sharing on the Mac from which you want to access data. Go to
System Preferences > Sharing. Turn on File Sharing by clicking on the radio button next to it.

Under “Shared Folders”, remove or add the folders which you want to share, and under “Users”, you can manage the access rights of various users. Make sure the icon is green and says “File Sharing: On” and under it there should be your device’s address starting with “smb://“ which in my case is: “smb://anurags-mbp”

Now on the other device, go to Finder > Go > Connect to Server

Old Mac Laptops

And type in the smb address. Next, there should be a pop-up asking you for which folder you want to open. Select the required folder and input the username and password of the user of the hosting computer and you are good to go.

QuickTip: If you want the fastest transfer speeds, we recommend connecting both the devices to the network via wires.
Also, if you want to share with Windows computers, go to Options and turn on afp along with smb.

Pros:

  • Very fast transfer speeds
  • Rights to each user can be controlled

Cons:

  • Devices need to be on the same network

Conclusion:
If you want to transfer files between your own computers or to a friend’s computer connected to the same network, File Sharing offers faster transfer speeds and even offers management of access rights for the various clients.

4. Using Wires

Transfer Apps And Files From Old Mac To New Mac Store

Most of the new Macs come with Thunderbolt ports which offer insane bandwidth, but did you know you can use them solely just for File Transfer? There are two ways in which you can do so: Target Disk Mode or Thunderbolt Bridge.

Target Disk Mode allows you to access the whole hard disk of one Mac from another Mac, allowing you to copy files to and from the target device. Using all the lanes of the Thunderbolt wire, you get the fastest speeds and this method is highly recommended for moving huge files, which is done in a jiffy.

To use Target Disk Mode, on the target machine, that is the machine who’s the hard drive you want to access, connect both mac with FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. You can buy it off amazon for $20 (the apple store sell it for a higher price). Next, go to System Preferences> Startup Disk> Target Disk Mode. This should black out the screen and display a Thunderbolt icon, after which you can connect the two devices using a Thunderbolt cable and the target machine’s hard disk should appear under “Devices” in Finder.

Using a Thunderbolt Bridge is also very similar, except that both the machines stay turned on and you can use both the Macs while the file transfer is taking place.

To use Thunderbolt Bridge, you need to enable it on both the devices. Go to System Preferences> Network> Click on Add(+)> Select Thunderbolt Bridge

Note: You may already have Thunderbolt Bridge enabled. In that case, no need to do anything.

Connect the two Macs via the Thunderbolt cable and you should see the “Not Connected” change to “Self-Assigned IP”. Once that is done, note the IP address and go to Finder> Go> Connect to Server. And input the IP address after which it is the same as File Sharing.

QuickTip: If you are using an old Mac which doesn’t have Thunderbolt, you can use Ethernet cables (will work also with an Ethernet Adapter), to achieve similar transfer speeds.

Pros:

  • Fastest transfer speeds
  • Suitable for moving huge sized files

Cons:

  • The distance between the two Macs depends on the length of the Thunderbolt wire connecting them, which is generally very short.
  • Newer Macbooks only comes with USB type C port, so you’ll have to invest extra for an adapter.

Conclusion:

This is the only fast and convenient way to transfer huge files like video files and games from one Mac to the other. However, as they need to be connected with a single cable, the machines need to be physically close to each other; this might not be a problem if one is a MacBook, but it might be troublesome to do this with two iMacs in different rooms.

5. AirDrop

Mac

AirDrop might be the easiest and most convenient way to share files between two Macs and even iPhones. It basically uses WiFi and Bluetooth to connect and transfer files between the devices.

Old Mac Computer

What makes AirDrop so great is the fact that it is so simple and idiot-proof; just open AirDrop from Finder on both your Macs and wait for the other person’s device to show up. Once you can see their device, just drag and drop the files you want to send on their avatar/icon and Bam! File transferred! There may even be multiple devices, just drag the appropriate file to the appropriate person, that’s all it takes! It is wicked fast for small files like pictures and text files, however for much larger sized files, it does take a little time.

Read: Best Airdrop Alternatives for Android, iOS, and Windows

Pros:

  • No setup or anything extra required
  • Idiot-proof and convenient

Cons:

  • The computers need to be nearby and connected to some WiFi network (not necessarily the same), or else AirDrop won’t work.

Conclusion:
If you can use AirDrop, that is the other Mac is in your vicinity, then you should be using AirDrop as it provides the most hassle-free experience of sharing files between two Macs.

Transfer Apps And Files From Old Mac To New Mac 2017

Wrapping Up: Transfer Files From Mac to Mac

If the two Macs are in the vicinity of each other and the file to be transferred is relatively small, AirDrop is your best bet. However, for larger files, Thunderbolt cables or File Sharing seem to do the job just perfect. And if the two machines are not in proximity, physical storage devices can be used to carry the files from one Mac to the other and for even larger distances, online services are the way to go.

So this was our five ways to transfer files from Mac to Mac. Did we miss anything? Have any doubts? Let us in the comments below.