Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Mac

  1. Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Macs
  2. Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Macbook Pro
  3. Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Mac Os
  4. Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Macbook

This article gives an ordered checklist of things to do (or think about) if you’re manually migrating to a new Mac. When I say “manually”, I mean not using Migration Assistant, or restoring from a clone or other backup. This is the first in a series of ‘Guide’ articles, giving advice for common and/or interesting situations you might encounter when using your Mac. Apple has a tool that’s built inside every Mac to help Windows users migrate much of their most important data over to the new platform when they decide to upgrade to a far more secure and more robust macOS system. What is Windows Migration Assistant? Windows Migration Assistant is software that’s built inside every Mac.


Migration Assistant copies all of your files from your old Mac to your new Mac so that you don't have to copy them manually.

  • Next, your iPhone will download all apps, music, etc. It will take time, depending on your internet speed and size of your library. That’s all, mate! Signing off This is how you can transfer data from old iPhone to new iPhone. You can also use these methods to set up your existing iPhone after a full restore.
  • When it comes to data transfer on Mac, most users will mention Migration Assistant. Yes, at most times, it is the best choice to copy all of your documents, apps, user accounts, and settings to a new Mac from another computer.
  • On your new Mac: Choose the backup to transfer information from. Continuing on your new Mac: Select the information to transfer from the backup. Click Continue to start the transfer. If you have a lot of content, the transfer might take several hours to finish. In the example above, John Appleseed is a macOS user account.
  • Hold down the Command key as you click each Office app. Make sure you select all of the Office apps, which all begin with the word 'Microsoft.' Hold down the Control button as you click any of the selected apps. A menu will expand. Click Move to Trash to uninstall OfficeYou can then empty the trash to free up hard drive space.
  • But it’s not Windows and the tools you would use to migrate a Windows workstation do not apply here. What you need to know is that when an Active Directory user logs onto a Mac, a local profile is created and associated with the network user via a UID. The local profile and settings are stored in the /Users/sourceUsername directory.
  • If your files are currently on a PC, follow the PC migration steps instead.
  • If you're moving content from a Time Machine backup, follow the steps to restore your Mac from a backup instead.

Get ready

  1. Install all available software updates on both computers. If your old Mac isn't using OS X Lion or later, and your new Mac isn't using OS X Mavericks or later, follow the Mountain Lion migration steps instead.
  2. If both computers are using macOS Sierra or later, place them near each other with Wi-Fi turned on. If either one is using OS X El Capitan or earlier, make sure that both are on the same network.
  3. On your old Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Sharing. Make sure that a name appears in the Computer Name field.

Use Migration Assistant

You're now ready to use Migration Assistant to move your files from the old Mac to the new one.

On your new Mac

  1. Open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Then click Continue.
  2. When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk. Then click Continue.

On your old Mac

  1. Open Migration Assistant, then click Continue.
  2. When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer to another Mac. Then click Continue.

On your new Mac

When asked to select a Mac, Time Machine backup, or other startup disk, select the other Mac. Then click Continue.

On your old Mac

If you see a security code, make sure that it's the same code shown on your new Mac. Then click Continue.

Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Macs

On your new Mac

  1. Select the information to transfer.
    In this example, John Appleseed is a macOS user account. If it has the same name as an account already on your new Mac, you're prompted to either rename the old account or replace the one on your new Mac. If you rename, the old account will appear as a separate user on your new Mac, with a separate home folder and login. If you replace, the old account will delete and then replace the account on your new Mac, including everything in its home folder.
  2. Click Continue to start the transfer. Large transfers might need several hours to complete.
  3. After Migration Assistant is done, log in to the migrated account on your new Mac to see its files.

If you're not keeping your old Mac, learn what to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your old Mac.

For iPhone users, one of the most convenient aspects of owning one is the ability to use iCloud backups. These allow you to literally back up your device to the cloud, reset it, get a new one and then use your iCloud account to have all your apps and settings just like you left them on your previous iPhone. Of course, the Mac achieves this to some degree thanks to Migration Assistant, but that gives you no control over your backups and it will always restore all applications.

So, what to do if you have a new Mac and all you want to transfer to it from your old one are a couple of important applications and their settings? Apple doesn’t provide a solution for this problem, but thankfully there is a method to solve it.

The Problem With Preferences Files

Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Macbook Pro

Perhaps the hardest thing to figure out when trying to move an app and its settings to another Mac is to find the application’s preferences, which are usually located in the Preferences folder within your user’s Library. The problem here is that the Preferences folder is full of files, all of them named differently, making it really hard to find just the one you need.

Repair photos app mac. Making things even worse, several apps on your Mac store information in other folders, making it virtually impossible to hunt for all of their related files.

Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Mac Os

An Unusual Solution

Oddly enough, the solution for this problem comes no less than from an app made to uninstall other apps: AppCleaner. And we have shown you how to use its uninstall feature in the past.

The basic premise behind AppCleaner and similar apps is that they are designed to perform exhaustive, system-wide searches to find out an application’s preference files and delete them along with the app itself. And guess what? The files AppCleaner finds are exactly the ones you need.

Can I Decide What Apps To Migrate Macbook

Important Note: Other uninstall apps should work as well, as long as they work the same way AppCleaner does.

So, in order to find the preferences files and folder, just drag the app which preferences you want to migrate into AppCleaner. There, all the app’s associated preference files will show up with their paths listed in detail. Make sure to take note of them or to take a screenshot of the window. After you do, hit the Delete button.

Getting Your App Back

The application in question and all its associated preference files will go to the Trash. Once there, simply pick them up and copy them somewhere safe. Knowing these files’ locations, you could always hunt for them in their corresponding folders of course, but picking them up from the trash is just faster.

Then, place those files into a flash drive or anywhere where you can pull them out from on your new Mac.

Once done, head to your new Mac and drag the application from your flash drive to the Applications folder. Then, drag the preference files to the exact paths shown on the screenshot you took earlier on.

Start the app and all your preferences should be right there as if you had never changed Macs. Enjoy!


The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#migration #How-to/Guides

Did You Know

The first animated Google Doodle was made in honor of Sir Isaac Newton.

More in Mac

Top 5 Fixes for iMessages Not Syncing on Your Mac