Okay so my new 14" M3 MBP is set to arrive tomorrow. I want to start with a brand new slate and not just do a straight migrate from my old Mac to my new one. What is the best way to do that? I want all my stuff in my home folder (music, documents, photos, etc.). But I don't mind downloading fresh copies of apps. I know I will lose some stuff like my playlists in the Music app. But this is my first new Mac in ten years. I just think I'd feel better starting fresh. What is the best way to go about this?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Starting fresh on my new MacBook Pro
- Thread starter bigpoppamac31
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I'll use my own example to offer a possible insight.....
I currently have a MBP16, which I intend to keep and is my 'desktop' machine.
I have a M3 MacBook Air on the way that I want to use as my portable machine.
I intend to just use a TM backup of my MBP16 to restore on my new MBA, and plan to only migrate my user account and all settings (and change the MacBook name of course). This way I keep my email accounts, favorites, and all other settings intact - the way I want them, and can then install any apps and transfer my documents manually. Maybe this could be a possible option to explore in your case too?
I currently have a MBP16, which I intend to keep and is my 'desktop' machine.
I have a M3 MacBook Air on the way that I want to use as my portable machine.
I intend to just use a TM backup of my MBP16 to restore on my new MBA, and plan to only migrate my user account and all settings (and change the MacBook name of course). This way I keep my email accounts, favorites, and all other settings intact - the way I want them, and can then install any apps and transfer my documents manually. Maybe this could be a possible option to explore in your case too?
Time Machine works great when you no longer have the old machine. Otherwise, it is faster to migrate the old machine directly to the new machine over wifi or a cable.
And this will work fine even when keeping the old machine as it is?
I use TB drives mainly, so not sure it would make any difference with a direct connection - would certainly be slower over wifi
Yes. Migration leave the original machine untouched.
You're right that wifi is most likely slower than a high speed cable. Thunderbolt of course is fastest but you might not have a cable with the right connector on each end. Failing that, a high speed USB cable is probably next fastest. But wifi is also pretty fast. I think Time Machine is slowest because the machine has to traverse the backup structure.
That said, I've never done a Time Machine restore. I could see it being faster than wifi because the disk is directly attached. You won't go wrong no matter how you do it.
I'm not looking to keep my old Mac. I believe I have a USB-C to C cable but not a USB-A to A. I have an Apple USB-C to A adapter. I would need something like that cause my 2015 MBP does not have USB-C. But I want to know if it's just as simple as drag and drop files from the old Mac to the new Mac when they are connected together.
You could just copy them onto an external hard drive (or if all the files combined don't take up a lot of storage space, a flash drive) and just move them to the new Mac that way... it would be the simplest solution, at least to me. 🤔
(a nice bonus feature is that you'd now have a backup of all your files on the external drive)
I would still use Migration Assistant. There is no need to manually drag files.
Use an external drive of some kind.
Hard drive, or SSD, or even a USB flash drive.
Important info about copying from an old home folder to a new one (on another Mac).
You CANNOT COPY the "top level" folders in your home folder.
What that means is you CANNOT copy those folders named movies, music, pictures, documents, etc.
HOWEVER
You CAN COPY folders and files that are INSIDE OF these (top level) folders.
So, you could open the Music folder, then copy the iTunes music folder onto the drive, then take it to the new Mac, then "copy it in". I believe Music.app will be able to use the iTunes folder directly, or you can "import" from it if need be (I don't use Music.app).
The same thing with the Photos library (if you use Photos).
You would do best to keep paper and pencil to keep track of what you copy.
MORE IMPORTANT INFO:
You MUST take steps with the external drive to overcome permissions problems between the old Mac and the new one.
Here's how to do it.
- Once you have the "transfer drive" ready, connect it to the NEW Mac
- Let the drive icon mount on the desktop. DO NOT "open" it.
- Click on the drive icon ONE TIME to select it
- Bring up the "get info" box for the drive (you can type "command-i")
- At the bottom of get info, click the lock and enter the password you're using on the NEW Mac
- Put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume".
- Close get info
Now you can copy from the transfer drive to the NEW Mac, and whatever files/folders you copy will "come under the ownership" of your NEW account on the NEW Mac.
If you don't do this, you may end up in what's known as "permissions hell".
Follow my instructions above, and you'll make a successful "manual migration".
============
But actually, it would be nearly as easy to just use Setup Assistant when you first set up.
Just UNcheck the option to move applications, but let everything else "go over".
Hard drive, or SSD, or even a USB flash drive.
Important info about copying from an old home folder to a new one (on another Mac).
You CANNOT COPY the "top level" folders in your home folder.
What that means is you CANNOT copy those folders named movies, music, pictures, documents, etc.
HOWEVER
You CAN COPY folders and files that are INSIDE OF these (top level) folders.
So, you could open the Music folder, then copy the iTunes music folder onto the drive, then take it to the new Mac, then "copy it in". I believe Music.app will be able to use the iTunes folder directly, or you can "import" from it if need be (I don't use Music.app).
The same thing with the Photos library (if you use Photos).
You would do best to keep paper and pencil to keep track of what you copy.
MORE IMPORTANT INFO:
You MUST take steps with the external drive to overcome permissions problems between the old Mac and the new one.
Here's how to do it.
- Once you have the "transfer drive" ready, connect it to the NEW Mac
- Let the drive icon mount on the desktop. DO NOT "open" it.
- Click on the drive icon ONE TIME to select it
- Bring up the "get info" box for the drive (you can type "command-i")
- At the bottom of get info, click the lock and enter the password you're using on the NEW Mac
- Put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume".
- Close get info
Now you can copy from the transfer drive to the NEW Mac, and whatever files/folders you copy will "come under the ownership" of your NEW account on the NEW Mac.
If you don't do this, you may end up in what's known as "permissions hell".
Follow my instructions above, and you'll make a successful "manual migration".
============
But actually, it would be nearly as easy to just use Setup Assistant when you first set up.
Just UNcheck the option to move applications, but let everything else "go over".
I do have a full backup of my Mac on an external drive. But can I not just connect both my Macs together via USB and drag and drop from one to the other?
Yes you can. But I would still recommend Migration Assistant. There is no need to manually drag files, and you might miss something. Also, MA will bring over your whole account, including the stuff in your user Library folder.
Having posted what I did above, I agree with chabig that you ought to just use Setup Assistant when you boot the new Mac FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.
If you resist doing it that way, then re-read my reply 10 to you above.
"Do it my way", and you'll enjoy success.
Any other way... all bets are off.
(yes, I'm that conceited regarding my opinion)
If you resist doing it that way, then re-read my reply 10 to you above.
"Do it my way", and you'll enjoy success.
Any other way... all bets are off.
(yes, I'm that conceited regarding my opinion)
I just want to avoid bringing over any crap from my old system. I don’t mean my home folder. I mean files and folders that are throughout the system that are not usually interacted with. Like when browsing the web or doing email things can download in the background you’re not aware of. Starting fresh would avoid all that.
So I did end up just using Migration Assistant to transfer everything. The main glitch was with AdGuard ad blocker. Somehow it wasn’t working with FireFox so I had to delete the app and redownload it. I paid for that app so hopefully I didn’t just download the free trial version. I tried Ghostery ad blocker and couldn’t get it to work properly. It’s this kind of thing that made me want to start fresh. Plus even if I delete an app are there not still fragments of it around the system? I was hoping to avoid unnecessary system files from transferring over.
If I wanted to factory reset my M3 Mac is it different compared with Intel Macs?
There will always be small glitches that have to be addressed when moving from an older Mac to a new one. It's just "the way things are".
If you want to COMPLETELY "wipe" the new Mac, and restore it to "the way it came out of the box", you can use the "erase all content and settings" option in system settings to do this.
But... WARNING!
It will do exactly that!
If you want to COMPLETELY "wipe" the new Mac, and restore it to "the way it came out of the box", you can use the "erase all content and settings" option in system settings to do this.
But... WARNING!
It will do exactly that!
Yes I realize that will be the case. I have not erased my old Mac so I can easily continue where I left off. I just don’t want any excess garbage on my new Mac.
Passwords, browsing shortcuts, email accounts; all of these things are super easy to get to a new Mac if you are using iCloud to sync this stuff.
I've never used Migration assistant or time machine ever in my entire life of using Macs. For documents and such, I usually have stuff backed up to an external SSD drive, so copying it directly from that backup is the easiest. And it is even easier if you are using any sort of cloud based storage like Dropbox or iCloud. I always install applications from scratch again on new Macs. For things that use library or database files, such as Lightroom. As long as you copy the old library over before opening the App again, things usually go pretty good; I have done that for iTunes as well.
Also the OP said they didn't care about losing playlists and such; which in that case you just import your media again to those type of apps.
I've never used Migration assistant or time machine ever in my entire life of using Macs. For documents and such, I usually have stuff backed up to an external SSD drive, so copying it directly from that backup is the easiest. And it is even easier if you are using any sort of cloud based storage like Dropbox or iCloud. I always install applications from scratch again on new Macs. For things that use library or database files, such as Lightroom. As long as you copy the old library over before opening the App again, things usually go pretty good; I have done that for iTunes as well.
Also the OP said they didn't care about losing playlists and such; which in that case you just import your media again to those type of apps.
So I think I have managed to get it all working. I wiped the M3 MBP and started over. I only migrated my home folder and everything seems to be there. Much of my settings seemed to come over as well. I just had to download some apps again. For the VLC media player I had to install Rosetta but that was fine. Apple seems very intent on "protecting" us from "malicious" apps. They enjoy being "big brother". 😒
VLC has an Apple Silicon binary. Go get that.
VLC has an Apple Silicon binary. Go get that.
Thanks. Beside the "download" button there is a drop down menu I didn't think to check. Shows the Apple Silicon version in there. I will say it amazes me how much smaller this 14" MBP is compared with my 15" 2015 MBP even though it's only one inch difference in screen size. Much lighter as well.