Migrating Office Files To The New iMac

Welcome!

If I purchase a new iMac 2021 will those files migrate to the Big Sur OS so they can be viewed?

The 2011 version of Office software is now unsupported by both Apple and Microsof., The good news is that,, if you buy a current version of Office or get one of the free alternative like LibreOffice, your 2011 Office files should open without issues. I jumped from Office 2008 to Office 2019 and lost no files.

I don't use Migration for Office files. Call it a trust issue with my work-related Office files. When I upgraded iMacs I made sure all Office files were herded into one folder on the old computer. Then I copied that folder to TWO locations--an external hard drive and a USB3 thumb drive. Safety first.

When I had the new iMac set up, I copied that transfer folder to the Documents folder on the new computer. I had thousands of files and all survived the trip.

Yes they will migrate, however you will need either Office 365 or Office 2019 for the new Mac or another app to replace Office for Mac. Big Sur will only run 64 bit apps and Office for Mac 2011 is very old and is a 32 bit version.

Next, when migrating PLEASE follow the directions below for a smooth migration.

When you buy a new Mac the easiest, quickest and most reliable method is to simply connect the old Mac's Time Machine External Hard Disk to the new Mac using a USB cable before you turn on the new Mac. You will likely need a USB A to USB C adapter, you can find them on Amazon for $10 or less. When you start the new Mac for the first time it will startup Setup Assistant (SA), SA will get to a point where it asks if you are migrating from another computer, select Yes  and follow the on-screen prompts and it's done! It is THAT simple.

If you have already done SA on the new computer then simply connect the Time Machine External Hard Disk using a USB cable and launch Migration Assistant (MA) which is located in Applications - Utilities - MA. Then follow the on-screen prompts.

The ONLY difference between MA and SA is MA will create a new user account that you need to log into.

Both SA and MA migrate applications (not 32 bit apps) , data files, settings, it does not migrate Mac OS itself. Some professional apps such as Adobe and Microsoft apps may require re-installing their apps as they will not allow them to be migrated. As long as you kept the security keys for installing their apps, it is not a big deal.

Finally, NEVER EVER use WiFi to migrate, this will fail in almost 100% of the situations in my experience. WiFi was never intended to move large amounts of data at one time.

You don't need to download it on the older computer first.

When I got the new iMac in Late 2018 and had to decide Office or LibreOffice, I downloaded L.O. to the NEW Mac and then tested to see if it worked with my newly-imported Office 2008 files. LibreOffice opens and reads Word files but there was difference in the margin formtting. Whether this was something inherent in LibreOffice or in the formatting I used in my files is the big unanswered question.

Had I but a few dozen affected files, I would have made the changes and used LibreOffice. However, I had thousands of Word files, and there was no way to batch-change their margin setting in one stroke. That was a deal-breaker for me. I bought Office 2019.

If you have a lot of Word files I do not see Apple's Pages as a suitable substitute either. I had more trouble with it than LO.