Recover a Time Machine backup-- to a different computer?

If you try to manually restore files from a Time Machine disk, you’ll get your documents but you’ll silently lose login keychains, Mail tokens, app entitlements, and a lot of background state. Migration Assistant reads the backup at a low level, maps users to the new hardware, and rebinds credentials properly.

That’s why it feels hidden and badly named, but it’s intentional, Time Machine restores files, Migration Assistant restores Macs. If someone is switching machines, especially Intel to M-series or M-series to M-series, Migration Assistant is not just the easiest option, it’s the only one that doesn’t leave you chasing weird auth and permission bugs weeks later.

It isn’t a restore tool in the Finder sense, it’s a system state migration tool, which is why you never “find” it while browsing Help or menus. On silicon Macs especially, Apple expects you to move data either during Setup Assistant or via Migration Assistant later, because that’s the only path that correctly re-creates user accounts, keychains, Secure Enclave–backed passwords, and system permissions.

Choose Utilities from the Finder's Go menu, open the Migration Assistant, and use that.

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Question for any Help session writers: How come I didn't find this avenue/procedure while scrolling through the Finder: Help? -- I was not looking for the word "migration."

Can we expand the Fin d links to more words?

One of the first questions asked in the Setup Assistant is whether you want to transfer data from a Time Machine backup or another computer.

Searching for "Restore a Mac from Time Machine" gives this:

Restore your Mac from a backup - Apple Support

Searching for Time Machine help might have been more productive as the Finder is not all of macOS, nor does it have much of a part in restoring from a Time Machine backup. It is only the file manager.

Searching the Mac User Guide for "Time Machine" provides the above link among many others.

Apple's documentation has always been poor. That's why there is a whole industry geared around providing macOS Help publications. Apple's Guides have improved greatly over what has been provided in the past.

Just search the web for the topic you want prefaced with "macOS." That will provide both Apple Support links and other useful guides.

your suggestions here will only be seen by other Users like you.

to have some possible impact, use this link:

Product Feedback - Apple