How do i transfer documents from an old mac to a different one if old is not working

From the backups you were hopefully making along the way? If you have no backups, you may be able to find a service which "may" be able to extract data from a bad hard drive. But if you can't, you've learned a painful lesson that backups need to occur before catastrophe strikes.

Yaret31 Said:

"What can I do to transfer data to a new computer if old one not hard drives doesn't work"

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Get this Working Again:

How exactly is it not working? Is it a laptop that is not charging? If so, refer tot the following....

Troubleshooting Mac Charge:

As for replacing that battery, that may not be necessary. So, try troubleshooting it.

A. Black Mac Screen:

Go Here: If your Mac doesn't Turn On or Start Up - Apple Support

Using External Devices: Try Resetting the SMC and NVRAM, but this time, using an external keyboard. Connect an external monitor and see if you get an output.

B. Mac Power Issues:

Try a New Charger:

If it is currently charging from a charger, then use a new charger:

• Power & Cables - Mac Accessories - Apple - Select "Mac Compatibility" on the left
• Find the right power adapter and cable for your Mac notebook - Apple Support

C. A Few Links to Refer to Power:

• If your Mac doesn't Turn On - Apple Support

• How to Turn your Mac On or Off - Apple Support

• About Mac Notebook Batteries - Apple Support

• Charge the MacBook Pro Battery - Apple Support

• If your Mac Battery won't Charge - Apple Support

It depends what is wrong with the old computer and the exact model of the computer. Many people confuse the computer not booting or powering on with a drive not working. With some older Macs it is possible to remove the drive to use an adapter or enclosure to connect the drive to another Mac, but newer Macs have the SSD integrated into the Logic Board and there is usually no way to retrieve the data if the Mac doesn't work properly. How do you know the drive is bad?

It is always useful and best to tell us the exact model of your Mac when asking for assistance. If the Mac is unable to boot, then you can get this information by entering the system serial number here:

Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support

If the drive is indeed physically bad, then you will want to contact a professional data recovery service such as Drive Savers or Ontrack. Both vendors provide free estimates and both are recommended by Apple and other OEMs. If the drive is bad, then you don't want to mess with it since you are likely to make the failure worse where even a professional data recovery service will be unable to recover any data. You usually only get one chance at recovering data from a failing drive so choose wisely.