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Advice for fresh install

I'm about to set up a new Mac, and want to do a fresh install, as there's years of crud that's built up on the old one.


Is there an efficient way to move just Preferences and Settings over to the new Mac? I don't mind installing apps from scratch, but it would save a lot of time if I could copy the many customizations like screen saver, notifications, energy saver settings, Finder sidebar settings, Safari toolbar, etc.


Or am I better off just doing it all manually?


Thanks in advance for any advice.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Mar 20, 2022 9:21 PM

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Question marked as Best answer

If the new computer is going to be the Apple Silicon M1 Equipped Computer - would suggest Only Migrating the User Account and nothing more.


1 - Apple Silicon with either Big Sur macOS 11 or Monterey macOS 12 Only Support everything 64 bit and there is no workaround.


2 - Issues that may exist on the older computer will be migrated to the New Computer. This would badly pollute the new Original and Pristine installation of the new OS.


3 -  Applications, extensions and Software Drivers may or may not even work on the new computer.


4 - IMHO - it would be best to only install new application etc Directly from the Developer or the Apple Apps Store.


5 - Due Diligence on New Applications and make sure they are Monterey / Big Sur compatible and factor in the ARMs CPU of the Apple Silicon Computer  

Posted on Mar 21, 2022 8:13 AM

2 replies
8 replies

Mar 20, 2022 9:39 PM in response to Roger Barre

In the long run, I have found that "starting from scratch" the best overall method with a new Mac, especially if your goal is to prevent migrating any cruf from an older one. Albeit, it may take a bit more work to get it "up and running" exactly the way you want it, but you may just find that you really don't need (or want) all those things you "collected" over the years.


Although Migration Assistant is helpful, it doesn't provide for fine-tuning what gets transferred, but a limited to some rather general categories from what to choose from.

Mar 21, 2022 8:12 AM in response to Tesserax

I always use Migration Assistant when setting up a new mac.


My recommendation is to elect to migrate ONLY the user accounts. This guarantees that all your photos, music and especially mail are just as they were. At the same time no system extensions, daemons or agents are transferred. H

You start with a clean system that nonetheless has all your content.

Question marked as Best answer

Mar 21, 2022 8:13 AM in response to Roger Barre

If the new computer is going to be the Apple Silicon M1 Equipped Computer - would suggest Only Migrating the User Account and nothing more.


1 - Apple Silicon with either Big Sur macOS 11 or Monterey macOS 12 Only Support everything 64 bit and there is no workaround.


2 - Issues that may exist on the older computer will be migrated to the New Computer. This would badly pollute the new Original and Pristine installation of the new OS.


3 -  Applications, extensions and Software Drivers may or may not even work on the new computer.


4 - IMHO - it would be best to only install new application etc Directly from the Developer or the Apple Apps Store.


5 - Due Diligence on New Applications and make sure they are Monterey / Big Sur compatible and factor in the ARMs CPU of the Apple Silicon Computer  

Advice for fresh install

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