Transferring user account data on Migration Assistant without deleting existing files

Rocketship01 wrote:

I have seen that guide before, but the problem is I messed that up, by opening the new MacBook in the store when the sales rep showed it to me, and already had set up the new MacBook before using Migration Assistant and creating a user profile with my name as before with my Apple account. I already have work on it, and I do not want to lose it by overwriting the new one, or having to go back and forth between the two to get anything old.

Is there any way, possibly, to transfer the files over to the new user profile from one created by copying the old computer? Then deleting that user profile created by MA because it's redundant? Otherwise I'll use the internal hard drives. I still really wish they'd allow simple Thunderbolt connection without MA.

I wouldn't say that you messed up -- Apple's guidance (including that sales rep, who should have explained to you the best way to proceed) could be clearer on this.

You do have several options, and I think all will work, some will be easier for you than others:

• Use Target Disk mode and manually copy files from the old computer to the new one. The main downside of this method is that it might take some time if you have many files. But you have Thunderbolt 3 on the old Mac which can be up to 40 Gbps; in practice you will get less than that, but let's say you get 20 Gbps, which is about 2 GB/s. Copying 1 TB would take 1000/2 =500 seconds, about 10 minutes. To be conservative, say 20 minutes, which is not bad at all.
• Make a "clone" type backup of your entire old computer to a fast SSD with Thunderbolt 3 or a fast USB-C interface. Then connect the SSD to the new computer and again, manually copy what you want from the old computer. It's a good thing to have such a backup anyway, so you get a bonus here. Examples of "cloning" utilities include SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner (there are others as well). Some of them may have a free version without all the advanced features.
• Run Migration Assistant, have it create a new user, do not overwrite the user you already created on the new Mac. Then you will need to modify user permissions so that new user containing the migrated files can be accessed by the user you have already created on the new Mac. This can be tricky, and given that either of the previous 2 options will work well, I would not go this route.
• I would recommend against wireless connections for these transfers. They could be 10 times slower or more and more prone to errors.
• I would recommend against using cloud storage to move the files because non-Apple cloud services (like Dropbox) don't always preserve the unique structure of specialized files like Photos libraries. As for Apple's iCloud, I think it will become confused between your "old" Documents folder and the "new" one, I don't think cloud services will accomplish what you want here. Also cloud storage transfers are limited by the speed of your internet connection.

If I were you, I would go with the external disk/clone method described above.

Migration doesn’t just move files. It moves the whole account. That’s what it does.

If you have a backup of the old Mac, you could restore individual files and folders from that.

Or, you could enable File Sharing on the old Mac, connect to it from the new Mac, and copy the desired files.

Or, you could use Target Disk Mode.

I didn’t read the article you linked, but you either misunderstood what they stated or they don’t know what they are talking about. Files are not “optimized” for either architecture. They are identical.

Rocketship01 wrote:

From what I can gather, file sharing via Air Drop or Target Disk Mode might be my best option, with a backup drive in case. I'm really wishing I'd remembered to use Migration Assistant first starting the with the setup. Thank you.

Based on what I have read in Apple Discussions, I would recommend against doing this migration wirelessly because, while Apple supports it, users here have reported problematic results perhaps due to slower WiFi transfer rates and/or interference that can impact the link. I don't think Target Disk mode would be the way to go; Apple provides instructions for how to directly connect the two Macs for the migration if you choose that approach. I have done maybe two dozen migrations over the years and ALWAYS did it with an external backup drive and it has always worked flawlessly for me. So that would be my recommendation.

The best way is to do a migration is on the very first boot up, before any users are created. All my dozens of migrations were done either on first boot up, or once later for a user that wasn't present on the new Mac. So all those migrations were easy as there was no conflict with an existing user.

If an account with the same name already exists on your new Mac, you’re asked to choose:

• Replace the account on your new Mac with the account from your old Mac. You might also have the option to keep a copy of the replaced account’s data by moving it to the Deleted Users folder, where you can access that data later.
• Or rename the old account before transferring it to your new Mac. This keeps both accounts, so that you can log in to them separately on your new Mac.

This is explained at:

Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant - Apple Support

Rocketship01 wrote:

I do not want to bring over the old account, I want to use my new user account and fill it with the files from the old, not replace it or rename it.

In that case, I suggest that you simply use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to make an exact copy of your old computer, and then manually copy what you want from that to the new computer into the folder you desire. You would need to set up email on the new computer but if your email is all IMAP or in the cloud it should all populate on the new computer. You can also bring over all your browser bookmarks and settings manually like that.

Rocketship01 wrote:

Okay so, another stupid question, do those put the copies offline?

No, those backup programs put the copies (backed up files) on an external drive. The original is left unchanged.

I seriously do not get why Apple has to make this more complicated. Why make all these hoops, why not just have it be like plugging a flash drive in and being able to copy it over? (ditto with the steps for target disk mode). I don't know, maybe I should just use a Seagate drive and copy it all over that way.

Barney and HWTech may have already addressed most of your questions.

Apple makes it simple. On first boot up of the new computer, connect an external backup drive that has a backup (Time Machine or clone type of backup) of the old computer. Tell Migration Assistant to migrate over all user accounts and files, uncheck the Applications box so Applications are not migrated over. Then install fresh copies of your Applications. This is basically doing what you allude to: copying files to the new Mac from an SSD or Seagate drive that has a copy of your files from the old computer.

... was Googling around and found this article saying that transferring from Intel to Apple Silicon is not recommended as many files are not optimized. https://www.makeuseof.com/migration-assistant-upgrading-to-apple-silicon-mac/

That article, like many on the internet, is incorrect. I have run Migration Assistant to go from an older Intel Mac to a newer Silicon Mac. Did that for my wife's computer (also did it for my work computer some years ago), so you can be assured that it worked seamlessly or I would be facing severe consequences. What she demands is that the new Mac looks basically the same to her as her old one. Which is what Migration Assistant did do. Her old Mac was a 2015 iMac; new Mac was a 2022 iMac Silicon. After the Migration finished, all I had to do was install Microsoft 365 and reinstall Printer/Scanner devices (with latest drivers downloaded from manufacturer web sites).

Migration Assistant basically copies files form the backup disk to the new computer. But it makes things convenient because it preserves preference files and the like that are difficult for ordinary users to find and copy over, and it adjusts things for the change in MacOS versions, so they still work as before.

Rocketship01 wrote:

Okay so, another stupid question, do those put the copies offline?

None of the suggestions here regarding Migration Assistant, CCC, or SuperDuper delete any files at the source location. They may delete files at the destination depending on your choices made with each app.

I seriously do not get why Apple has to make this more complicated. Why make all these hoops, why not just have it be like plugging a flash drive in and being able to copy it over? (ditto with the steps for target disk mode).

You need to understand how each tool or utility works in order to understand its purpose & behavior. @Barney-15E has summarized Migration Assistant/Setup Assistant quite well.

Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant - Apple Support

FYI, when you first powered on your brand new Mac, you were greeted with Setup Assistant which helps users to configure their new Mac. Setup Assistant gives you the option to migrate from your old computer (Mac or Windows), or from a Time Machine backup.

I don't know, maybe I should just use a Seagate drive and copy it all over that way.

That is always an option, but things do get complicated for certain things such as various libraries and apps which have lots of stuff scattered across the home user folder. For items within your Desktop, Documents, Downloads, then they are usually just stuff you placed there manually so it makes the manual copy process simple.

Edit, also I'm not sure fi this is relevant but was Googling around and found this article saying that transferring from Intel to Apple Silicon is not recommended as many files are not optimized. I'm including it here since I'm not sure if it is accurate or not. https://www.makeuseof.com/migration-assistant-upgrading-to-apple-silicon-mac/

That article is non-sense as @Barney-15E intuited since it only talked about people's documents.

If they had instead mentioned applications, then yes, migrating older Intel applications to an M-series Mac can sometimes be a problem especially if you are upgrading from a very old system. If the applications on your old Mac are Universal apps, then there is no issue because a Universal app is made to run on both Intel & M-series CPUs/systems. An Intel only app, even if recent, requires Rosetta 2 to run in order to translate the Intel CPU instructions into something the M-series Mac's CPU can understand. The downside is a newer version of the app may be a Universal one or now it may have an M-series specific build of the app (the latter is preferred since it takes up less space).

When migrating from one platform to another such as from an Intel Mac to an M-series Mac, many people decide it is a great time to "clean" their system by only migrating their data in order to get rid of a decade of clutter within the system. This involves downloading & installing the most recent versions of the apps needed and setting them up fresh by configuring their settings (and the macOS settings). Many others just perform a full direct migration from Intel to M-series. It is all up to the user....a lot of it depends on your individual system and how you've managed it previously.

Rocketship01 wrote:

I have a 2020 MacBook Pro with an Intel processor that I'm going to start using less, and recently got a new MacBook Pro with an M3 chip. I want to use Migration Assistant to transfer the files off my old one onto the new one, but maybe I am not great at reading the instructions, because on the Apple page it says to transfer user account data, to either rename the account on the new computer so that a separate one is formed from the old, or to override and delete the one on my new MacBook. Is there a way to transfer this user info without destroying what's already on the new MacBook? In addition, does it overwrite other files that were in the folders previously on the new one? I've been Googling but getting contradictory answers on it, and I do feel pretty stupid not being bale to figure this out. If need be I can use a backup hard drive.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: How to transfer user account data on Migration Assistant without deleting or getting two accounts on new computer?

seems clear to me...

"Apple page it says to transfer user account data, rename the

account on the new computer so that a separate one is formed from the

old"..."without destroying what's already on the new MacBook"

then you can use file share between account to move data around according to your needs before closing out the transfered old account

Set up file sharing on Mac - Apple Support

3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.

More than one device, more than one backup methodology.

—Back up your Mac Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

The most trouble free way to move to a new machine, is using the Setup Assistant on the initial boot of a brand new machine— you have one shot here. Set up your MacBook Pro - Apple Support

The second best way is use the Migration Assistant.

How to move your content to a new Mac Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant - Apple Support

On a new Mac you have Your 90 days of complimentary telephone support begins on the date of purchase.

Call Customer Support (800) MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)

steve626 wrote:

I don't think Target Disk mode would be the way to go;

FYI, I was unable to do a migration from an M1 to an M2 Mac a few years ago after putting my M1 Mac into Target Disk Mode. The way Target Disk Mode works on an M-series Mac is different than on Intel Macs....it is now a network based connection over Thunderbolt, but Setup Assistant on the new Mac is unable to access such a location (or at least did not recognize the source location). I'm not sure Target Disk Mode is even in the Apple documentation anymore for migrations when occurring during initial setup (I think it is when actually using the Migration Assistant app since the full OS is available for that network based connection over Target Disk Mode).

It wasn't the only major issue I encountered with migration, but that is irrelevant here....things are not always easy or straight forward even when a person has a good understanding of the processes.....took me all day before I was migrated, even then it was days configuring things that did not transfer with Setup/Migration Assistant.

HWTech wrote:

I don't think Target Disk mode would be the way to go;

FYI, I was unable to do a migration from an M1 to an M2 Mac a few years ago after putting my M1 Mac into Target Disk Mode. The way Target Disk Mode works on an M-series Mac is different than on Intel Macs....it is now a network based connection over Thunderbolt, but Setup Assistant on the new Mac is unable to access such a location (or at least did not recognize the source location). I'm not sure Target Disk Mode is even in the Apple documentation anymore for migrations when occurring during initial setup (I think it is when actually using the Migration Assistant app since the full OS is available for that network based connection over Target Disk Mode).

It wasn't the only major issue I encountered with migration, but that is irrelevant here....things are not always easy or straight forward even when a person has a good understanding of the processes.....took me all day before I was migrated, even then it was days configuring things that did not transfer with Setup/Migration Assistant.

The suggestion for Target Disk mode was for the case where the OP wants to MANUALLY COPY files from the old to the new computer, INSTEAD of using Migration Assistant. Recall I had previously advised against Target Disk mode if they were going to do a migration with Migration Assistant, but maybe I should have reiterated that point in my last message.

I have only used Time Machine and "clone" type backups on connected external drives for migrations (using Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant) and those have always worked smoothly for me, more than two dozen times. I never migrate over applications, I always reinstall those; for me that was relatively fast, maybe an hour altogether for Microsoft-365, Adobe apps, a few other things. Your setup may well be different and hence a different experience.

This OP is saying they now want to manually copy files from the old Mac, not use Migration Assistant. So I recommended using a "clone" type backup as the source for such a manual copy of selected files from the old computer.

Rocketship01 wrote:

Since it seems I'm an idiot,

You're not. We all encounter events which throw us at first and in retrospect we may feel that way, but that is how we all learn.

I had already started working on the new MacBook before I found out about this part of Setup Assistant. I ** worried about having to lose that new account with the work and files on it or having to swap between user accounts to get to them.

I've seen this a lot on this forum with people setting up a new Mac so you are far from alone. Sometimes Apple's documentation & messages are not always clear. I know I have issues with a lot of Apple's documentation & messages myself.