How to migrate data/apps/songs/purchases from one Apple ID to my other Apple ID?

Question

How to migrate data/apps/songs/purchases from one Apple ID to my other Apple ID?

I need the Apple ID Migration Assistant. I never wanted two Apple ID's but I was forced to create another when I couldn't remember my password while activating a new iPhone in an Apple Store about 8 years ago. Ever since then, its a confusing nightmare juggling two Apple ID's, which are almost the same; email1@yahoo and email2@icloud. One Apple ID has all my music and Mac App and iPhone app purchases but no iCloud email so I can't just delete it without having to repurchase everything again and that's not going to happen. My other Apple ID has my iCloud email and my Apple TV account (by mistake - should have been on the other Apple ID). So having two apple ID's makes it difficult because nothing is ever all in one place - that was suppose to be the promise of the Apple ID in the first place. Apple doesn't have a full accounting of what products I own and services I use - some are one and others on the other Apple ID. How can I migrate my music and app purchases from one ID to the other? They are still going to be used on the same devices. Im still the same person and both Apple ID's use the same credit cards. But now its becoming very difficult to manage now that apple has so many different services that require an Apple ID sign -in, so I'm signing in and out of Apple ID a lot more often than I would like. And I should have wrote this message using my other Apple ID which I usually use to post messages in Support Community.

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on Feb 8, 2021 4:27 AM

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Answer 1

bailier

Community Specialist

Feb 9, 2021 5:51 PM in response to Alexjohnson2013

Hi there Alexjohnson2013,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. It sounds like you have 2 separate Apple IDs and you want to be able to just use one. You would not be able to transfer your purchases to another Apple ID, but you can transfer your iCloud data to a different Apple ID. See how to save your iCloud data here: Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud.

After downloading copies of everything on iCloud, it can be synced back to your devices manually or by turning on iCloud features using your other Apple ID: Turn iCloud features on or off.

We hope this helps!

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

685,251 points

Feb 9, 2021 6:22 PM in response to Alexjohnson2013

You can try setting up Family Sharing between the IDs if you want to be able to share purchases made with the IDs.

Family Sharing.

Family Sharing - Set up.

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Answer 3

Mar 9, 2021 10:17 PM in response to Eric Root

Hi Eric, I do have family sharing using my AppleId 'email@yahoo.com', because that is the account ID most of my Mac and iOS apps have been purchased since the 'email@me.com' era. To start purchasing apps on my 'email@icloud.com" AppleID, (which is what I unfortunately did with the AppleTV and iTunes accounts and now I have 2 AppleTV accounts and 2 iTunes accounts with purchases and free trials under both and I can never be sure which TV app, iOS app or album or song or favorite is under which ID without signing in and out, and its too much content to keep track of. Sad that even though I am the same person for both IDs and the same credit cards are used for both accounts on 4 Apple computers and 2 iPhones, I can't put them under one umbrella and have everything easily accessible without signing in and out of multiple Apple ID's, some of which I do not remember at all . All I want to do is get things simplified so I can have one AppleID associated with an Apple email address that has everything (especially purchases) consolidated in one place. I never understood why I cannot transfer purchases to myself. Migration Assistant does a great job transferring my info from my old Mac to a new Mac, but it looks like I will always be stuck with that old "Yahoo" email address Apple ID unless yahoo goes under or they start charging for email access and use, and the email/ID becomes inaccessible.). I know there must but be a way using 28 cores for Apple to merge or migrate same person Apple IDs tp prevent duplicative purchases - the question becomes, why won't Apple allow it ? Is it not unfair competition to set up an "ID" system where there is high likelihood in having multiple ID's tied to required unmemorable passwords which leads by its inherent complexity and design to prey on the limits of individual human memory, the consumer ends up buying the same product/thing/media twice or more times if you can't access your account which has all those purchases locked down ?

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How to migrate data/apps/songs/purchases from one Apple ID to my other Apple ID?

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