New Mac Manual Migration

May 22, 2019  We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Mastering Migration How to transfer your old Mac's data to your new Mac Thanks to Migration Assistant, moving your old Mac's data to your new Mac is as simple as can be. Mar 15, 2019  On your PC: Make sure you've downloaded and installed Migration Assistant on your PC.; Launch Migration Assistant on your PC. Launching Migration Assistant on the PC is a one-way trip: It's only designed to transfer data from your PC to a new Mac. After launching it, Migration Assistant for Windows will try to connect to its Mac counterpart.

  1. Mac Migration Assistant
  2. Mac Migration Stuck

Simply powerful.

Using a Mac has always inspired great work. Now macOS Mojave brings new features inspired by its most powerful users but designed for everyone. Stay better focused on your work in Dark Mode. Automatically organize files using Stacks. Take more kinds of screenshots with less effort. Try four handy new built-in apps, and discover even more in the redesigned Mac App Store. Now you can get more out of every click.

Dark Mode

Put your best work forward.

Dark Mode is a dramatic new look that helps you focus on your work. The subtle colors and fine points of your content take center screen as toolbars and menus recede into the background. Switch it on in the General pane in System Preferences to create a beautiful, distraction-free working environment that’s easy on the eyes — in every way. Dark Mode works with built-in apps that come with your Mac, and third-party apps can adopt it, too.

Choose what works best for you — the familiar light appearance or the new Dark Mode.

Dynamic Desktop

A desktop whose time has come.

Introducing two new time-shifting desktops that match the hour of the day wherever you are.

Slide to see how the Dynamic Desktop changes throughout the day.

Stacks

Apple migration pc to mac

A really neat way to manage files.

Stacks keeps your desktop free of clutter by automatically organizing your files into related groups. Arrange by kind to see images, documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, and more sort themselves. You can also group your work by date. And if you tag files with project-specific metadata, like client names, sorting by stacks becomes a powerful way to manage multiple jobs. To scrub through a stack, use two fingers on a trackpad or one finger on a Multi-Touch mouse. To access a file, click to expand the stack, then open what you need.

Finder

New ways to view.
More ways to do.

With macOS Mojave, the Finder becomes even more of a doer. Now you can quickly locate a file by how it looks. Instantly see all of a file’s metadata. And perform Quick Actions on files without ever opening an app.

Gallery View

With Gallery View, you can scroll through big previews of your files to visually identify the one you’re looking for. So finding that image of the smiling girl by the Ferris wheel or the PDF with a colorful pie chart has never been faster.

Quick Actions

With Quick Actions in the Preview pane, you can work on files right from the Finder. Rotate images, create PDFs, trim video, and more — without having to open an app or rename and save your file. You can even apply them to multiple files at once, or create a custom Quick Action based on an Automator workflow.

Quick Look

Work on a file without even opening it.

Now a tap of your space bar provides more than just a quick look at a file. It gives you the power to perform actions specific to the kind of file you’re viewing — without ever launching an app. So you can mark up a PDF, rotate and crop an image, even trim audio and video. And when you’re ready, you can share right from Quick Look, too.

    What is Migration Assistant and how do I get it?

    Migration Assistant is a utility Apple includes in the Utilities folder of every Mac. You'll see it when you first start up your Mac, when your Mac asks you if you want to transfer data over from another Mac, a Time Machine backup, or a PC. Apple makes the app freely available for download for transferring to your Mac. You'll need specific software, depending on what macOS or OS X operating system you're transferring to. You'll need to download the Migration Assistant software to your PC before you begin. Below are the following software links, depending on which Mac operating system you're migrating too.

    Migration Assistant will help you transfer files from a PC running Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 operating systems. The Mac and the PC both have to be running Migration Assistant.

    Both should be on the same network, in order to find each other. The data migration may take several hours depending on what's being transferred and what means are used: Wi-Fi is slower, a wired Ethernet connection is faster. But one way or the other, your patience will be rewarded.

    What actual data gets transferred will depend on which version of Windows you're using, and what programs created your data. Bookmarks from Internet Explorer and Firefox will be brought into Safari, for example. iTunes content and image files should make it over as well. System settings will get pulled over. You'll be able to specify what other files you'd like to bring over, too.

    Email, contacts, and calendar information are where it gets a bit tricky. The bottom line is that Migration Assistant will pull over your email account information, and if you're using Microsoft Outlook, it should pull over your email messages, your contacts, and your calendars. Other programs may vary. Apple has posted a detailed chart of what gets migrated over to help you understand.

    What you need before you start

    Before you get too excited and try to start transferring your PC's data to your new Mac, you'll need to have a couple of things at the ready.

    • You must have the administrative username and password associated with the PC.
    • Both computers must be on the same network, either through Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
    • You should perform a drive performance check before running Migration Assistant or you may not be able to properly use the software.
    1. Click on Start on your PC.
    2. Click on Run.
    3. type cmd into the Run window.
    4. Press Enter.
    5. type chkdsk into the Command window.
    6. Press Enter.

    If your drive performance check uncovers issues, you'll need to run a drive repair process.

    1. Type chkdsk drive: /F (Change the name 'drive' to whatever the name of your Windows startup disk is) into the Command window.
    2. Press Enter.
    3. Press Y when prompted.
    4. Restart your PC.

    You will need to repeat the steps above until the drive performance check returns without any issues. You can then use Migration Assistant to move your data to your Mac.

    Pc to mac migration software

    Mac Migration Assistant

    How to migrate your data from your PC to your Mac

    First, connect your Mac to your PC either through Ethernet or by making sure both computers are on the same local Wi-Fi network.

    Mac Migration Stuck

    On your new Mac:

    1. Launch a Finder window.
    2. Click on Applications in the sidebar.
    3. Double-click or control-click on the Utilities folder.
    4. Click on Migration Assistant.
    5. Click Continue.
    6. Click From a PC. when prompted to select how you want to transfer your information.

    7. Click Continue.

    On your PC:

    1. Make sure you've downloaded and installed Migration Assistant on your PC.

    2. Launch Migration Assistant on your PC.

      • Launching Migration Assistant on the PC is a one-way trip: It's only designed to transfer data from your PC to a new Mac. After launching it, Migration Assistant for Windows will try to connect to its Mac counterpart. A security code will display on the screen.

    3. Confirm that the code on your PC is the same on your Mac.

    4. Select the files, folders, and settings you want to transfer from your PC to your Mac.

    5. Click continue.

    Obviously, there are other ways to move files between Macs and PCs. Thumb drives will work on both machines, so you can manually transfer whatever files you want to use, for example. But Migration Assistant provides an elegant, convenient and absolutely free way of managing the transition to becoming a Mac user, as long as you have the time to use it.

    Have any questions?

    Put them in the comments and I'll help you out.

    Updated March 2019: Updaated for macOS Mojave.

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