how do I read files on another mac?
read files from iMac Catalina to an iMac Sonoma
iMac 24″, macOS 14.0
Question marked as
Enable file sharing on the Catalina iMac. (System Preferences > Sharing). While there, click Options and enable "Share files and folders using SMB." There is no need to do anything in the Shared Folders & Users panes.
On the Sonoma iMac, go to Settings > Sharing and enable SMB. You do not need to enable file sharing on the Sonoma iMac unless you want to.
On the Sonoma iMac, go to Finder > Preferences > General and make sure that Connected Servers is checked.
(Note, both iMacs must be connected to your network.)
On the Sonoma iMac, open a Finder window, select your Catalina iMac in the left pane (under Locations), a sub window will open, click Connect As in the top right of the sub window. Log into your Catalina iMac as a Registered User with your Catalina iMac user name & password. Once you are logged in, the Finder window will display the drive(s) top level folders that are on your Catalina iMac. Go from there as you would with any Finder window. (From the Sonoma iMac you can basically consider the Catalina iMac as an external drive.)
When you are done, you can disconnect by either dragging the Catalina iMac icon (that will be on your Sonoma iMac desktop) to the Trash; or in a Finder window click the little eject triangle next to the name of the Catalina iMac.