Migration Tool For Mac

Apple's Windows Migration Assistant for Mac lets users transfer network files from a PC to their Mac and offers all the ease of use and effectiveness you'd expect from a Mac tool. This tool can also help if you've subscribed to Microsoft 365 but previously had a one-time purchase of Office for Mac on your computer, and aren't seeing certain subscription features. This can be due to your copy of Office still using the license of your one-time purchase and not your subscription. Before you begin.

Windows Migration Assistant transfers your contacts, calendars, email accounts, and more from a PC. It migrates this data to the appropriate places on your Mac. After migrating data to your Mac, authorize your computer for iTunes Store purchases. It’s important to authorize before you sync or play content that you download from the iTunes Store.

If you're migrating from one Mac to another Mac, follow the steps to move your content to a new Mac.

Before you begin

To prepare for a smooth migration:

Make sure that Windows is up to date. Migration Assistant works with Windows 7 and later.
Make sure that you know the name and password of an administrator account on your PC.
Connect your Mac and PC to the same network, such as your home Wi-Fi network. Or connect an Ethernet cable between the ports on your Mac and PC to create a direct network connection. Some Mac models require an Ethernet adapter, such as the Belkin USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter or Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.
If you're using Microsoft OneDrive on your PC, follow Microsoft's instructions for uninstalling OneDrive before continuing. You can reinstall OneDrive after migration is complete.

Then use the check disk (chkdsk) utility on your PC to make sure that your Windows hard drive doesn’t have any issues:

Right-click the Start button, then click Run.
Type cmd and press Enter. Command Prompt opens.
At the prompt, type chkdsk and press Enter.
If the utility reports that it found problems, type the following, where drive is the letter that represents your Windows startup disk, such as D:
Press Enter.
At the prompt, type Y, then restart your PC.
Repeat this process until the check disk utility reports no issues. If the utility can't fix every issue that it finds, you might need to have your PC serviced. Then migrate your data to your Mac.

Move your data

This section guides you through migration, post-migration, and what to do if the steps don’t work for you.

How to move your information from a PC to your Mac

On your PC, download and install the appropriate Windows Migration Assistant, based on the version of macOS on your Mac:
- Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Big Sur
- Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Mojave and macOS Catalina
- Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Sierra and High Sierra
- Windows Migration Assistant for OS X El Capitan or earlier
Quit any open Windows apps.
Open Windows Migration Assistant, then click Continue.
Start up your Mac. Setup Assistant automatically opens the first time you turn on your Mac. If you’ve already set up your Mac, open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
On your Mac, follow the onscreen prompts until you get to the migration pane of the assistant. Select the option to transfer your information “From a Windows PC,” then click Continue.
When prompted, enter an administrator name and password.
Click Continue to close any other open apps.
In the migration window on your Mac, select your PC from the list of available computers. Then wait for the PC to show the same passcode that your Mac shows.
When both computers display the same passcode, click Continue on your PC and Mac.
Your Mac scans the drives on your PC to build a list of information to migrate. When the scan completes, select the information that you want to migrate to your Mac and click Continue. Learn about some of the data that you can transfer.

You can watch the progress and estimated time remaining on both the PC and your Mac. They tell you when migration is complete.

After you move your data

When migration completes, close Windows Migration Assistant on your PC. Then log in to the new user account on your Mac. The first time you log in to a user account migrated from your PC, you’re asked to set a password. You can use the same password that you used on your PC, or create a new password.

After logging in to the user account that you migrated, authorize your computer for iTunes Store purchases. It’s important to authorize before you sync or play content downloaded from the iTunes Store.

If you have issues moving your data

Quit all open apps on your PC, then try migrating your content again. For example, you can press Alt-Tab to choose an open application, then press Alt-F4 to quit it.
If your PC doesn't appear in the Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant window on your Mac, make sure the computers are connected to the same network. You can create a network by connecting a single Ethernet cable between your Mac and PC. If that doesn't help, check for firewall software on your PC and turn it off. After migration completes, you can turn firewall software on again.
If Migration Assistant doesn’t open on your PC, turn off any antivirus software on your PC. Then try to open Migration Assistant again. After migration completes. You can turn that software on again.
If you still can't migrate your information successfully, you can use an external drive or file sharing to manually copy important data to your Mac.

What data can I transfer?

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Migration Assistant lets you choose the data to move to your Mac. Here’s what moves over for specific apps and data types:

Email, contacts, and calendar information
Email messages, email-account settings, contacts, and appointments move based on which version of Windows you're using and which accounts you have.

Outlook¹
Data from 32-bit versions of Outlook in Windows 7 and later move as follows:

People move to Contacts²
Appointments move to the Calendar app
IMAP and Exchange settings and messages move to the Mail app
POP settings and messages move to Mail²

Windows Live Mail
Data from Windows Live Mail in Windows 7 and later moves as follows:

IMAP settings and messages move to Mail
POP settings and messages move to Mail²

Windows Mail
Data from Windows Mail in Windows 7 and later (excluding Windows 8) move as follows:

IMAP settings and messages move to Mail
POP settings and messages move to Mail²
People move to Contacts

Bookmarks
Bookmarks from Internet Explorer, Safari for Windows, and Firefox move to Safari.

System settings
Language and location settings, and custom desktop pictures move to System Preferences. Your web browser homepage moves to Safari preferences.

Pictures
Photos and other images move to your home folder. You can then add them to Photos, or open Photos and let it search your Mac for photos to import.

iTunes content
Migration Assistant transfers your iTunes media as follows: music to the Apple Music app, videos to the Apple TV app, podcasts to the Apple Podcasts app, and audiobooks to the Apple Books app.

Other files
Migration Assistant also moves these files:

Files from the top-level folder of the currently logged-in user’s home directory
Non-system files located in the Windows or Program Files folders
Top-level folders located on the Windows system disk and other attached disks

1. Migration Assistant doesn’t support 64-bit versions of Outlook. You can manually migrate Mail, Contacts, or Calendars from Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016 by signing in and entering the content on your Mac manually.

2. Migration Assistant transfers only the Mail or Contacts data that belongs to the logged-in Windows user. To transfer data from another user account, use Migration Assistant again while you’re logged in to another Windows account. Each time you migrate, your Mac creates a new user account.

Summary: In this blog, we shall discuss about using Migration Assistant; an inbuilt utility to transfer files between different Mac systems. We will also share the methods to use Migration Assistant tool efficiently.
However, we advise backing up the data before using Migration Assistant to avoid potential data loss in the process.
But again, don’t worry, if in case you have already lost the data while using Migration Assistant. Try Stellar Data Recovery tool for Mac – the best software for restoring lost or deleted data from Mac devices. Take a free trial to know more.

Migration Assistant is a utility in Mac that allows you to transfer data, apps, settings, user accounts, and documents from Mac to other computer or an external drive connected to the Mac. Currently, the application transfers only limited data; however, the Migration Assistant in the new macOS Mojave will transfer third-party data such as Outlook files. Even though the Migration Assistant is a highly useful application for file-transfer, there are instances of migration errors that result in loss of important data.

How to Use Migration Assistant Optimally?

As mentioned earlier, the Migration Assistant is a useful application; however, if used incorrectly, it can cost your precious photos, videos, and documents. Therefore, we have listed the steps for the optimal use of the application.

Perform Some Checks Prior to Proceeding

Ensure that all the Apple and third-party software are up-to-date on both the Macs.
Make sure that you are using OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.8 or later.
Name your old Mac if it does not have one.
Connect both the Macs to power.

Step 1: Connect the Computers to One Another using one of the Following.

Wi-Fi or Ethernet
Cable or Adapter
Connect the Time Machine backup of the old Mac

Step 2: On the New Mac

Open Utilities > Applications Folder > Migration Assistant and click Continue
Select ‘From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk’ and click Continue

Step 3: On the Old Mac

Open Migration Assistant and click Continue
Select ‘To another Mac’ and click Continue

Step 4: On New Mac

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Select the appropriate device to transfer files when asked to ‘select a Mac, Time Machine backup, or other startup disks’
Click Continue and a security code will appear that has to be entered on the other Mac

Step 5: On Old Mac

Ensure the security code matches with the one on the new Mac and click Continue

Step 6: On New Mac

Select the old Mac and click Continue
Select the data to transfer and click Continue

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Caution: If the migration process is not executed in a proper fashion then it may lead to data loss situation.

What to Do If I Lose Files during Data Transfer Process:

If you visit any of the troubleshooting websites, you will realize that losing data while using Migration Assistant is common; however, this should not have you worried, as an alternative solution such as Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac will recover any data lost during the migration process. The software is compatible with macOS Big Sur 11, Catalina 10.15, and Mojave 10.14 . The software can recover data from all the known logical data loss scenarios including your deleted Time Machine backup.

Downlaod the Software for Free

Recovering Data from Mac after Migration Assistant Collapsed

Step 1: Install the software on your Mac; the one from which you have lost your data.

Step 2: Launch the software and select the hard drive from which you want to recover.

Step 3: Launch scan on the disk drive and wait for the successful completion.

Step 4: Preview the recoverable data including documents, videos, photos, emails, and audio

Step 5: Register the Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac software to save the recoverable data.

This completes the process of recovering data lost during migration.

Conclusion

Migration Assistant application is highly useful when transferring important data from your old Mac to the new; however, even with the release of the stable version a few years ago, users are facing problems that are leading to data loss. The loss of data is the most common problem associated with the use of the Migration Assistant. Nevertheless, this should not stop you from trying this highly useful utility as you can rely on Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac to recover your data if such a mishap takes place.