transfer data from 2010 Macmini to 2024 Macbook Air
I have an old macmini. I would like to transfer the files on it to my Macbook Air. The macmini is too old to use Migration Assistant, I tried it. Any suggestions?
MacBook Air 13″
Question marked as
What type of backup do you have? Use the backup to migrate your files to the new Mac.
If you don't have a backup, then you better start backing up the new Mac or you risk losing your data.
FYI, there are a lot more new ways to permanently lose access to the data stored on the internal SSD of the recent Macs due to all of the hardware, software, and security changes. It is not a matter of if you will lose data.....it is a matter of when.
If you don't have any backups, then start by creating a Time Machine backup of your old Mac. Then use that TM backup to migrate you macOS user account(s) to the new Mac during the initial setup of your new Mac. Do not migrate any apps, or Settings outside of the macOS user account(s). Any apps you have are too old to be used with macOS 26.x Tahoe....and so are the System-wide Settings (even the "settings" inside the macOS user account(s) may not all be compatible). Once you log into the new Mac, then you can download & install your third party software with their most recent versions.
Once you have everything working, then you can erase the TM backup drive for the 2010 Mac and use it as your TM backup drive for your new Mac.
Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support