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Migrating to new Mac Mini using Migration Assistant. Will items in the Trash be migrated?

I really screwed up by trashing a bunch of old backup files from my Time Machine drive using my current Mac mini. Now those folders are all sitting in my Trash. Impossible to empty the Trash with them in there. I've tried using Terminal to delete them with limited success (some would delete, others wouldn't, and it's just gotten to be a huge headache).


I don't want them on my new Mac Mini. It looks to me like if I use Migration Assistant, I don't really get to choose which "Other files and folders" get migrated.


So, am I better off (1) migrating the things like user accounts and NOT migrating any files? Or (2) can I check "Other files and folders" and tell MA not to migrate the Trash? Or (3) is Trash something that would not be migrated as part of "Other files and folders" and I don't need to worry about it?



Mac mini, macOS 10.13

Posted on Apr 8, 2019 8:12 AM

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Posted on Apr 9, 2019 7:18 AM

For the record, I went ahead and migrated everything from my backup on Time Machine. The files in the Trash are actually on the Time Machine backup drive, so they are still there. I am using Terminal and deleting them one by one. It's slow but it works. And after they are all gone, I will be able to empty my Trash in the usual way. So, thanks to YouTube and Kellan for showing me how to do it!

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Apr 9, 2019 7:18 AM in response to bsimmons

For the record, I went ahead and migrated everything from my backup on Time Machine. The files in the Trash are actually on the Time Machine backup drive, so they are still there. I am using Terminal and deleting them one by one. It's slow but it works. And after they are all gone, I will be able to empty my Trash in the usual way. So, thanks to YouTube and Kellan for showing me how to do it!

Migrating to new Mac Mini using Migration Assistant. Will items in the Trash be migrated?

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