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When using Migration Assistant, do I need to transfer all my files at the same time or can I transfer different files over a period of time?

When using Migration Assistant, do I need to transfer all my files at the same time or can I transfer different files over a period of time?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Apr 30, 2021 2:05 PM

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Posted on Apr 30, 2021 6:10 PM

While an outside backup services seam like a good plan, you should also keep a local backup (Time Machine, CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper) on an external drive for this reason.


That way you can safely Migrate during the initial setup of a new Mac and then carry on without having to bit and piece things from the backup service.


At this point your options are,

  1. get an external drive and make a Time Machine backup of the old iMac that you can Migrate from.
  2. setup the new iMac and then painfully start pulling bits and pieces from your outside backup.
11 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 30, 2021 6:10 PM in response to ken1549

While an outside backup services seam like a good plan, you should also keep a local backup (Time Machine, CarbonCopyCloner, SuperDuper) on an external drive for this reason.


That way you can safely Migrate during the initial setup of a new Mac and then carry on without having to bit and piece things from the backup service.


At this point your options are,

  1. get an external drive and make a Time Machine backup of the old iMac that you can Migrate from.
  2. setup the new iMac and then painfully start pulling bits and pieces from your outside backup.

Apr 30, 2021 3:02 PM in response to ken1549

Migration is all or nothing. The fastest, eastest and best way to Migrate, is to plug your old Mac's Time Machine backup drive into the new Mac and Migrate from it during the initial setup. Do not try and Migrate over your local network, because it is slow and prone to failure.


If you have already setup your new Mac, then Migration will leave your new Mac with both a new and old user Account.

Apr 30, 2021 5:43 PM in response to den.thed

Thank you for your help. I don't have a Time Machine backup drive but use an outside service to backup my iMac. So I guess it means using the backup service files to migrate to the new iMac or using Apple's Migration Assistant to migrate over my network from my existing iMac to my new iMac. But the question still is, do I need to migrate all my files at one time or can I selectively migrate, for example my document files now, but not my photo files and migrate them at a later date?

Apr 30, 2021 8:29 PM in response to babowa

You don't need an exceptionally fast or expensive external hard drive.

You do however want to get one that is reliable and easy to connect to both Mac's.

Have a look > https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/external-storage#drive-configuration:single-bay

However before I can suggest the best one above, I need to know exactly what year model 21.5" iMac you have?

When using Migration Assistant, do I need to transfer all my files at the same time or can I transfer different files over a period of time?

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