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myke323

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 17, 2006
163
16
Doing a clean install of Sierra momentarily. Going to re-install applications from scratch but assuming I can't is migration assistant a good option for moving stuff over? Or should I avoid that?
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,434
9,300
Migration Assistant is fantastic and trouble free. But if you use it, you won't have a clean install. So pick your desired outcome, clean install or easy install. Think about what you hope to accomplish with a clean install.

For what it's worth, I haven't done a clean install since 2001. I always upgrade in place on existing machines, and migrate over to new machines. This is an emotional topic, by the way, so stand by for alternative facts to emerge.
 
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myke323

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 17, 2006
163
16
Ok. I thought with migration assistant I could move over say, for example, one application. So I know that app wouldn't have a clean install, but the OS wouldn't have the bulk of moving over everything.
 

chabig

macrumors G4
Sep 6, 2002
11,434
9,300
For Applications, it's all or none. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350

macos-sierra-migration-select-items.jpg

[doublepost=1489244974][/doublepost]Unless you are trying to solve a specific problem, I recommend migrating.
 
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myke323

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 17, 2006
163
16
^^ Ah, ok, I did not know that. Thought you could perhaps just do one app.

Thanks!
 

dianeoforegon

macrumors 6502a
Apr 26, 2011
907
137
Oregon
Put me in the camp that does not prefer Migration.

I have seen reports from many users over the years on the forums that used Migration that apps like Adobe and Microsoft Office that install many files do not do will with Migration. Installing these from an installer is often necessary when Migration was used.

All the apps purchased from the App Store can easily be downloaded again. Many apps like Google Chrome, Firefox etc are drag and drop. However your old copies might not be the latest version so why not download the newest version.

Turn on sync in iCloud for everything. Sync your browsers so they transfer all the history, bookmarks by signing in on the new install. You can always turn off after you get your data over.

The files you want in your User's Library are mainly in the Application Support folder. Be careful what you bring over.

Depending on how many OSXs you are jumping, you might find some files difficult to upgrade. Notes, iPhoto Library are two that come to mind. As long as you can boot back into the old install, you have options to recover the data.
 

Rok73

macrumors 65816
Apr 21, 2015
1,161
518
Planet Earth
Migration Assistant isn't trouble free. When I changed my MacBook a lot of stuff wasn't properly installed or copied. Opted for a clean install and do it manually.
 

CoastalOR

macrumors 68040
Jan 19, 2015
3,029
1,150
Oregon, USA
I guess I have been lucky because I have used Migration Assistant numerous times for new internal drives or new computers since OS 10.7. I have had no unexpected problems. I expected to have issues with Microsoft and Adobe since they scatter things all over. Adobe went well, but Microsoft needed a fresh install since the hardware had changed (expected behavior for Microsoft).
 
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