How can I clean my old iMac without losing my photos and music?

I recently bought a new iMac. My old iMac is turning into the family computer.


  1. Ideally, I would like to remove all of my content while leaving the photo library and music intact. Is that possible?
  2. If not, I can keep my profile on the old computer. In that case, will any changes I make on the old computer also be reflected on my new iMac? (I don’t want my email, Telegram, texts, etc on the old computer. I also want to remove all old files that I migrated to the new computer.)



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Profile on old iMac and new iMac

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 13.0

Posted on Jun 3, 2025 7:05 AM

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Jun 3, 2025 9:13 AM in response to Esther Yunkin

You have two options after migrating to the new iMac.


1) Wipe everything, setup and then manually add back what you want to the old iMac.

What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support


2) Disable iCloud and manually remove all personal information except for Photos and Music from the old iMac.

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Jun 7, 2025 11:37 AM in response to Esther Yunkin

Another method you can try is to copy your Photos library and Music libraries to an external drive formatted either APFS or OS X Extended (journaled). Next clean your Mac according to den.thed's recommendation and then copy the Photos library and Music library back to their respective folders.


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How can I clean my old iMac without losing my photos and music?

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