I recently purchased a new 5TB LaCie drive to replace an older one, anticipating a purchase of a new iMac. I have been using Time Machine for backups. How do I know if everything I need to transfer to a new iMac is in the back-up? (I have never done this on my own before - and depended on a tech to do it.)
Hello, Meemster_1344.
Follow the directions found in this support document to create a full Time Machine backup of your old machine onto your new LaCie drive.
Back up your Mac with Time Machine – Apple Support:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
When that is complete (could take several hours depending on how much data), use the new backup drive to eventually migrate your data to your new Mac when you first turn it on.
The Best Way to Migrate Data from an Old Mac to a New Mac:
When you’re ready to setup your new Mac the easiest and most reliable way to migrate your data and files from the old Mac is simply to connect the old Mac's Time Machine external backup drive to the new Mac using a USB cable before you turn on the new Mac for the first time. You may need a USB/USB-C adapter for this; easily found at many resellers for ~$10 or less.
When you start your new Mac for the first time it will launch Setup Assistant and lead you through the setup process. Eventually Setup Assistant will ask if you are migrating from another computer. You are, so select that option and follow the on-screen prompts to completion.
If you have already run and completed the Setup Assistant on your new Mac, then you can use the Migration Assistant application to move your data over. Connect the Time Machine external backup drive using a USB cable and launch the Migration Assistant app (located at Applications > Utilities > Migration Assistant). Then follow the on-screen prompts to complete the data transfer.
When migrating from an older macOS to Catalina or Big Sur, I suggest only migrating the User Account(s) and nothing more. Do not migrate Settings and especially not Applications as High Sierra and earlier will have outdated apps that won’t work on Big Sur.
Hello, Meemster_1344.
Follow the directions found in this support document to create a full Time Machine backup of your old machine onto your new LaCie drive.
Back up your Mac with Time Machine – Apple Support:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201250
When that is complete (could take several hours depending on how much data), use the new backup drive to eventually migrate your data to your new Mac when you first turn it on.
The Best Way to Migrate Data from an Old Mac to a New Mac:
When you’re ready to setup your new Mac the easiest and most reliable way to migrate your data and files from the old Mac is simply to connect the old Mac's Time Machine external backup drive to the new Mac using a USB cable before you turn on the new Mac for the first time. You may need a USB/USB-C adapter for this; easily found at many resellers for ~$10 or less.
When you start your new Mac for the first time it will launch Setup Assistant and lead you through the setup process. Eventually Setup Assistant will ask if you are migrating from another computer. You are, so select that option and follow the on-screen prompts to completion.
If you have already run and completed the Setup Assistant on your new Mac, then you can use the Migration Assistant application to move your data over. Connect the Time Machine external backup drive using a USB cable and launch the Migration Assistant app (located at Applications > Utilities > Migration Assistant). Then follow the on-screen prompts to complete the data transfer.
When migrating from an older macOS to Catalina or Big Sur, I suggest only migrating the User Account(s) and nothing more. Do not migrate Settings and especially not Applications as High Sierra and earlier will have outdated apps that won’t work on Big Sur.
When you buy a new Mac the easiest, quickest and most reliable method to migrate from the old Mac to the new Mac 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. They do 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 an issue.
Finally, please NEVER EVER use WI-FI to migrate, this will fail in almost 100% of the situations in my experience. WI-FI was never intended to move large amounts of data at one time.
Thank you. I'll give it my best shot! I have not started up my new mac yet - so I will try your suggestion.
You're welcome.
You got this. Everything's shiny! Not to fret. 🙂
New Mac data transfer from old Mac
