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Transfer Photos from old iMac to Mac mini M2 Pro

Hello! I am migrating from a 2013 iMac to a new Mini M2 Pro and am having a ton of problems. Migration Assistant totally failed (4 times) so I did a file transfer from my backup service (CrashPlan). (Sadly, my Time Machine also failed. It's all been a bit of a train wreck.) Most of what I need did transfer from CrashPlan. The most critical thing that has not come over is Photos. I have a gazillion photos, a huge file, so most are not on iCloud, either. Like I said, train wreck. Luckily, my old computer is still working. What is the best way to get the entire Photos library from my old iMac to my new Mini?


(Explain it like, well, like your are talking to someone in a train wreck. ;-) ) Thank you!!

Mac mini (2023 with M2 Pro)

Posted on Feb 16, 2023 12:27 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 16, 2023 2:53 PM

Copy the Photos Library from the Pictures Folder on the old machine to a hard disk or flash drive.


Connet that to the new machine. Drag the Photos Library to the Pictures folder there. When it's done copying, double click on it.


Crash Plan and similar online back up services are not good for baking up complex databases like Photos.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 16, 2023 2:53 PM in response to borderheeler

Copy the Photos Library from the Pictures Folder on the old machine to a hard disk or flash drive.


Connet that to the new machine. Drag the Photos Library to the Pictures folder there. When it's done copying, double click on it.


Crash Plan and similar online back up services are not good for baking up complex databases like Photos.

Transfer Photos from old iMac to Mac mini M2 Pro

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