The BEST Way To Migrate Data to A NEW Mac

About to buy a NEW Mac? This video will teach you the BEST way to migrate your data from an OLD Mac to a NEW Mac.

There are several methods one can use to migrate data from an old Mac to a new Mac. Those methods include migration assistant, time machine, target disk mode, manually move the data, or you can use iCloud Drive. Ultimately, I think iCloud Drive is the best solution, but there are some exceptions to the rule. If you decide to use iCloud Drive, you need to know where to go to get the data that lives OUTSIDE of iCloud, and move it into the cloud. This video will teach you how to do that.

REFERENCED IN THIS VIDEO:
How to Reinstall The Operating System on Your Mac:

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:22 Reviewing Migration Methods
00:43 The Problem With Migration Assistant
01:34 Time Machine
02:01 Target Mode
02:48 The Argument For iCloud Drive
03:27 Preparing iCloud Drive for Data Migration
04:11 Migrating Your Music (Two Methods)
05:07 Migrating Your Downloads Folder (optional)
05:54 Migrating Messages Data
06:17 Migrating The Movies Folder
06:25 Migrating Applications
07:06 Get Microsoft Office Cheap (sponsored segment)
07:39 Migrating Your E-Mail
08:30 Migrating Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, and Notes

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[icnzozv]

I finally booked a 1-1 with David and had my session today. It was definitely some of the best money I have ever invested…..yes invested…..in my peace of mind, enhanced knowledge/skills, decision on a new laptop, and cleaning up the once very messy old laptop! I am booking another session to ensure my new laptop migration is done right. Thank you David!

[thDecember]

Thank you! My old Mac isn't really running slow, but the battery died and the keyboard has too many worn letters and it's just a 13" screen. So I'm using an external drive to transfer some folders to my new 15" MacBook Air M2. I need all the help I can get in getting up to speed. Great tutorial, right to the point and crystal clear.

[MrCabimero]

So glad I found this. I was worried about dragging over things from the old computer via MA, and thought iCloud was the better way to go . You verified my concerns. Thanks!!!

[bertv]

You advised to move the Music (and Movies) folder into iCloud…but you'd didn't say what to do then… Do you go to your new computer and copy the folder in iCloud to your new computer? Will it overwrite the current Music and Movies folders on my new computer? Does simply having those folders in iCloud make them available on your new computer when you open Music or Apple TV?

[tiffanydougherty]

Just got a new MacBook Air to replace my MacBook Pro from 2013. I always come here first when it comes to my apple products!!! Thank you and keep up the awesome work 🙌🏻😎

[daleantolik]

I bought an imac 27, 2019 build and I want to transfer my Macintosh HD from my old imac 2015 to the new one. All of my other files are on 4 different HD's. So can I just drag and drop the Macintosh HD folder to the iCloud folder on the side bar?

[alittlebitoffiddle]

I always enjoy your videos. This time I was looking for how to migrate an iMac with lots of memory and data to a Macbook that doesn't have enough memory for all the data. I can't be the only one but I'm not having much luck on those minor details.

[chich]

Hi… might be a silly question but I have a 2009 MacBookPro and looking to finally upgrade to the 14in MacBookPro. Will migration transfer word, excel and all the documents I have in excel and word. Hope you can help.

[LeeStewart]

I use Time Capsule and Migration Assistant. Time Capsule has saved my bum countless times.

[mrhobs]

Won't putting all music into iCloud eat way too much storage? Idk, I'm probably missing something.

[synergst]

How does reinstalling the OS fix the migration assistant issues, but migration assistant migrates everything BESIDES the OS? This doesn’t sound right to me. Why wouldn’t uninstalling and reinstalling the applications fix the issues?

Also, is this a problem with non-Apple apps or all apps?

And why does Apple not warn its users about migration assistant risks, especially going from Intel to Apple chips? Someone has to be wrong here.

[techaztech]

Things get a tad bit more complex if you’re migrating from an Intel Mac to an M1/M2 Mac though. Incompatible apps may be an issue, recommendation is to migrate only user data and reinstall apps separately in new M1/M2 Mac based on compatibility.

[DMZYY]

Thanks for the good info. I have a new Mac and have been hesitant about which method to use. Can I use the iCloud method and then, if all the data and apps don't transfer, can I also use the MIGRATION ASSISTANT, and also the TIME MACHINE backup hard drive.

[AustinEterno]

I've been trying to restore from a backup for days. Time machine was terrible (8-10 hours each restore plus about that much time to create a backup). Corruptions in the data, not allowing me to sign into iCloud etc. I then bought a thunderbolt 3 cable to connect from one computer to the other and used migration assistant: 30 minutes and everything transferred flawlessly (over 1TB of data!). I think this option (provided you have a 40GBPS cable) is very underrated. Worth noting: identical intel MBPs on the same OS - not sure what would happen in other circumstances.

[surfing.ever]

I tried the Migration Assistant but it would take 19 hours to complete at 15MB/s. It was using a peer-to-peer connection. I ended up just installing all apps one at a time and pulling docs from iCloud. Later I found out I could have used a Thunderbolt cable LOL

[ajahndallas]

How does one see similar Application info (where it was installed from) as you show at 06:35, on Sonoma? Thanks. Good video.

[michaelwunder]

I had water spilled on my MacBook. Just replaced it and I’m wondering how to go about it. Should I start fresh, or pull the backup from Time Machine. Seems like Time Machine is useless if you can’t use it like that.

[gregphillipsmusic]

I should know not to touch anything called America 😝 I will say however that I liked your iCloud solution and that you are one of the few Tech YouTubers who are conscious of OS Versions. Impressive.

[julienielsen]

Just got a new 24" iMac and want to move my files from my old to the new. Mostly picture files, photos, documents. What about music etc. from iTunes ? How about moving these files using an external hard drive? Would that be better? I was thinking of copying all my files to CDs and installing them using my external CD drive I got for my new Mac.

[olit]

Thank you for this. At 1:15 do you reinstall the OS on the new or old computer in order to resolve any glitches please? Thank you very much in advance.