You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Migrate some utilities & files to a new Mac

I only want to migrate my email, contacts, & messages apps and the associated files and resources (Accounts, Chats, mail boxes, etc.) My other general apps are 32 bit and I don't want to bring them to the new Mac at this time.

I prefer to simply copy my documents, photos, and movies and organize them in a new way on the new Mac rather than have the new Mac mirror the old one.

Best advice?


iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 10.14

Posted on May 4, 2022 3:07 PM

Reply
9 replies

May 4, 2022 5:10 PM in response to Ron Zellner

Q - " Migrate some utilities & files to a new Mac "


Move your content to a new Mac


A- If the new computer is going to be the Apple Silicon M1 Equipped Computer - would suggest Only Migrating the User Account and nothing more.


Some have had success and other have been left with a mess when Migrating everything.


Above is from observations of some users experiences appearing on these Forums


1 - Apple Silicon with either Big Sur macOS 11 or Monterey macOS 12 Only Support everything 64 bit and there is no workaround.


2 - Issues that may exist on the older computer will be migrated to the New Computer. This would badly pollute the new Original and Pristine installation of the new OS.


3 -  Applications, extensions and Software Drivers may or may not even work on the new computer.


4 - IMHO - it would be best to only install new application etc Directly from the Developer or the Apple Apps Store.


5 - Due Diligence on New Applications and make sure they are Monterey / Big Sur compatible and factor in the ARMs CPU of the Apple Silicon Computer  


May 4, 2022 4:30 PM in response to Ron Zellner

I believe during migration you can select from a list of what you want to bring over to your new computer and you can uncheck (or not check) 'apps'. Other than that you could also mirror your machines and then simply remove the apps you don't want on the new machine, removing apps is a simple process of dragging them to the trash. Either way, to organize them in a different way you would have to do that part manually.

May 5, 2022 8:19 AM in response to Ron Zellner

When you migrate your account back, it will include all your mail, music, photos, etc.

All of these are completely separate from the respective applications.


As P. Phillips said: migrate ONLY the users.

System applications like Mail, Music, Photos, Safari, Preview etc will not be migrated, anyway; the new system includes newer versions of those, and the old ones might not even work.


Third party applications that you do need should be installed fresh, either from the App Store, or their respective websites.

Migrate some utilities & files to a new Mac

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.