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For a new MacBook, is the option to ‘restore from a previous backup’ available only during the first setup or can it be done later on?
- Thread starter jordysak
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You can run migration assistant at anytime:
support.apple.com
Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant - Apple Support
Use Migration Assistant to copy your files from another computer.
I think what you are asking about is Setup Assistant which is what runs when you first boot a new new Mac. The migration part looks and is exactly like the Migration Assistant app in the Utilities folder.
The difference is that you can only get to the Utilities folder after you have already created a user in the initial Setup Assistant. If you use Migration Assistant from Utilities having already created a user of the same name it will ask if you want to overwrite the user with the same name. If you used a different name in Setup Assistant then you will have two users. You can delete the SA one later.
There are two possible reasons why it might matter which you use:
1. Setup Assistant on first run has been more reliable than Migration Assistant later for me. But the trend has been more reliable recently. Millions of people use MA without problem.
2. The first user created has a UID of 501, and the second user 502 etc. This can cause permissions problems on externals previously created by a different UID. This may have changed recently because I have been told, but not verified for myself, that if you delete the UID 501 user the 502 user moves up to be 501.
Setup Assistant doesn't just run on first boot of brand new machines. It appears anytime you install onto an erased destination. So you can boot from Recovery, erase with Disk Utility and reinstall macOS and you will get Setup Assistant again.
On a Silicon Mac be careful only to erase MacIntosh HD, not the whole drive, or you not be able to boot and need to use the Configurator tool. This happened a few times in the early days on M1 Mac.
The difference is that you can only get to the Utilities folder after you have already created a user in the initial Setup Assistant. If you use Migration Assistant from Utilities having already created a user of the same name it will ask if you want to overwrite the user with the same name. If you used a different name in Setup Assistant then you will have two users. You can delete the SA one later.
There are two possible reasons why it might matter which you use:
1. Setup Assistant on first run has been more reliable than Migration Assistant later for me. But the trend has been more reliable recently. Millions of people use MA without problem.
2. The first user created has a UID of 501, and the second user 502 etc. This can cause permissions problems on externals previously created by a different UID. This may have changed recently because I have been told, but not verified for myself, that if you delete the UID 501 user the 502 user moves up to be 501.
Setup Assistant doesn't just run on first boot of brand new machines. It appears anytime you install onto an erased destination. So you can boot from Recovery, erase with Disk Utility and reinstall macOS and you will get Setup Assistant again.
On a Silicon Mac be careful only to erase MacIntosh HD, not the whole drive, or you not be able to boot and need to use the Configurator tool. This happened a few times in the early days on M1 Mac.
It will log out and run outside the user account. so should be able to delete the existing account and create a new. I can't recall for sure, if that is an option. Fortunately is not something I do very often.
Yes it does (if you have used the same name), and will therefore definitely be UID501. This is what I meant by asking if you want to overwrite user of same name. It is one of the steps that caused problems for me in the past but I think it is better nowadays so I don't want to be creating FUD. I always plan to use Setup Assistant if possible, but Migration Assistant later should be OK.