I have set up my 2021 iMac using Migration Assistant to transfer user data from my 2012 iMac. It ends up having two users on the new iMac. First user was on the new iMac and the second one was migrated from the old iMac. How can I transfer some data between the two users?
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Transfer data between two users on one Mac
- Thread starter mitstoshi
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You could do it via File Sharing.
Set up file sharing on Mac
Share the files and folders on your Mac with others on your network. Share your entire Mac or allow specific users access to certain folders.
support.apple.com
There should be a Shared folder you can use to share files between users. It’s at the root of the \Users folder
This is harder than you might expect because user spaces (most things in a user's home directory) are designed to be private. All the files have different permissions, so files are not easily sharable between users.
The easiest way was mentioned above:
The Shared folder, inside the Users folder. Files and folders that are stored there will be accessible by all users on the Mac. Another way would be to use each user's Public folder. Everything stored in the user's Public folder is accessible to all the other users on the computer.
There are other ways, but they can get much messier than one might think, as permissions are not easily changed on modern versions of MacOS.
Another way would be to pick one user, and move everything to that account. An external drive may be the easiest way.
The easiest way was mentioned above:
The Shared folder, inside the Users folder. Files and folders that are stored there will be accessible by all users on the Mac. Another way would be to use each user's Public folder. Everything stored in the user's Public folder is accessible to all the other users on the computer.
There are other ways, but they can get much messier than one might think, as permissions are not easily changed on modern versions of MacOS.
Another way would be to pick one user, and move everything to that account. An external drive may be the easiest way.
Last edited:
A good question could be:
Did you want 2 users? If you made a new user on the new Mac first, and then ran the migration assistant after that...then yes, you would have 2 different accounts. The preferred method is to not make a user, but do the migration first, to avoid this situation.
But nothing wrong with having 2 user accounts. Unless you have lots of new files and new data in the new account...the best thing for most people would be to simply use the "old" migrated account.
As long are both admin accounts, you can delete the newer account too. But only after you have saved or moved all unique files to the migrated account. But there is no need or benefit to deleting it. You can keep the account on the machine without using it.
Did you want 2 users? If you made a new user on the new Mac first, and then ran the migration assistant after that...then yes, you would have 2 different accounts. The preferred method is to not make a user, but do the migration first, to avoid this situation.
But nothing wrong with having 2 user accounts. Unless you have lots of new files and new data in the new account...the best thing for most people would be to simply use the "old" migrated account.
As long are both admin accounts, you can delete the newer account too. But only after you have saved or moved all unique files to the migrated account. But there is no need or benefit to deleting it. You can keep the account on the machine without using it.
Here's how you could fix things.
BE AWARE that this will ERASE all content that's on the current Mac.
YOU STILL HAVE YOUR BACKUP, right?
DON'T do this UNLESS you have the backup!
Open system preferences.
Go to the menu bar, and choose "Erase all content and settings" (under "system preferences")
This will invoke the "erase assistant".
Enter your password and start clicking through.
What will happen:
The erase assistant will ERASE EVERYTHING you installed since you first ran the initial setup program (which runs the first time you power on the Mac).
After erase assistant is done, I believe you will see the initial startup screen again (choose your language).
NOW... connect your backup drive and START OVER.
Do it right this time, and you'll end up with ONLY ONE user account -- the right one, which you wanted to "migrate over" from the old Mac in the first place.
BE AWARE that this will ERASE all content that's on the current Mac.
YOU STILL HAVE YOUR BACKUP, right?
DON'T do this UNLESS you have the backup!
Open system preferences.
Go to the menu bar, and choose "Erase all content and settings" (under "system preferences")
This will invoke the "erase assistant".
Enter your password and start clicking through.
What will happen:
The erase assistant will ERASE EVERYTHING you installed since you first ran the initial setup program (which runs the first time you power on the Mac).
After erase assistant is done, I believe you will see the initial startup screen again (choose your language).
NOW... connect your backup drive and START OVER.
Do it right this time, and you'll end up with ONLY ONE user account -- the right one, which you wanted to "migrate over" from the old Mac in the first place.
Before migration from the old iMac to the new iMac, there was only one administer : A1 (Admin) with no user. After migration, there were A1 (Admin) and one additional user : A2 (Standard). Now I can start the iMac with either A1 or A2. There are two data folders on both A1 and A2. I like to move the data folders on A2 to A1. I can not open both A1 and A2 at the same time to make switch. Looks like I need to have an external SSD to make switch.
Did you try putting the data from A2 into the shared folder?
This would typically be located at /Macintosh HD/Users/Shared. If you didn’t rename the boot volume. Otherwise replace Macintosh HD with whatever name you changed it to.
Have 2 shared folders :
(1) /Macintosh HD/Users A1/Shared/ when booting from A1 and
(2) /Macintosh HD/Users A2/Shared/ when booting from A2.
Therefore, can only move data folders to the same Shared folder i.e. A1 data folders to A1 Shared folder and A2 data folders to A1 Shared folder. Using external SSD is the only way to switch the folders. Does it make sense?
(1) /Macintosh HD/Users A1/Shared/ when booting from A1 and
(2) /Macintosh HD/Users A2/Shared/ when booting from A2.
Therefore, can only move data folders to the same Shared folder i.e. A1 data folders to A1 Shared folder and A2 data folders to A1 Shared folder. Using external SSD is the only way to switch the folders. Does it make sense?
Share files with others who use your Mac
Share files with others who use your Mac using the Shared folder, Public folders and Drop Box.
support.apple.com
Hi mitstoshi,
If I understand you correctly, you wish to move files from User2 to User1, adding to and/or overwriting some folders/files on User1. In this case, a simple Terminal command should suffice:
This command will synchronize the folder /Users/<User2>/<Folder> to /Users/<User1>/<Folder> where <User1>, <User2>, and <Folder> are the actual names of the users and folder to be synchronized. One command synchronizes the folders and takes care of the ownerships and groups. You can run the command from either user account.
If the users are not in the same group, or if you run into write permission errors, then you can perform this command using the network under "sudo":
If you don't have "sudo" permission, then try logging into the <User1> account and sync-ing from <User2> to <User1>:
One of these should work for you, including getting around different user names, group names, and write permissions. Good luck.
Solouki
If I understand you correctly, you wish to move files from User2 to User1, adding to and/or overwriting some folders/files on User1. In this case, a simple Terminal command should suffice:
Code:
login <User2>
rsync -avz /Users/<User2>/<Folder> /Users/<User1>This command will synchronize the folder /Users/<User2>/<Folder> to /Users/<User1>/<Folder> where <User1>, <User2>, and <Folder> are the actual names of the users and folder to be synchronized. One command synchronizes the folders and takes care of the ownerships and groups. You can run the command from either user account.
If the users are not in the same group, or if you run into write permission errors, then you can perform this command using the network under "sudo":
Code:
sudo rsync --rsh='ssh -p22' -avz /Users/<User2>/<Folder> /Users/<User1>If you don't have "sudo" permission, then try logging into the <User1> account and sync-ing from <User2> to <User1>:
Code:
login <User1>
rsync --rsh='ssh -p22' -avz /Users/<User2>/<Folder> /Users/<User1>One of these should work for you, including getting around different user names, group names, and write permissions. Good luck.
Solouki
The Shared folder we were talking about is not inside any user folder....it lives inside the Users folder:
I got a related question:
Using Migration Assistant, I have tried to transfer Music (on old Intel iMac intel with Catalina) to Music (on new M1 iMac with Monterey). The problem is : old iTunes media data could not be transferred completely. Any other ways to do the transfer?
Thanks again!
Using Migration Assistant, I have tried to transfer Music (on old Intel iMac intel with Catalina) to Music (on new M1 iMac with Monterey). The problem is : old iTunes media data could not be transferred completely. Any other ways to do the transfer?
Thanks again!
Using external SSD with CCC copy of old iMac and transfer Music folder to replace the Music folder on the new iMac, it works.
Hi mitstoshi,
...just so you know, i believe CCC uses the OS's rsync utilities to perform its copying.
As hobowankenobi says above, rsync is the engine behind a number of cloning and backup applications. Rsync is very secure and robust, and has many options. For instance, you don't need a GUI to use it, so you can SSH login over the network to a machine, and then use "rsync" to transfer files to or from that machine without requiring a Screen-sharing with the machine. Rsync compresses the files and if you use an SSH tunnel it also encrypts them (see my above Post #12 for detailed commands); it also checks hash codes at both ends to ensure an error-free transmission. Because the data is compressed, rsync minimizes the bandwidth required for the transmission. Rsync also doesn't care that the two Macs are on different versions of the OS, and, in fact, they can be entirely different OSes, say macOS and Ubuntu or even Windows. And rsync will handle ownerships and permissions appropriately. In addition, if rsync is interrupted, then it will pick up where it left off when restarted. Rsync also does a "differential" or "incremental" backup, so if you routinely backup a large directory tree, say 60GB with 50000 files, then rsync will only transfer the files that have been modified and not all 60GB of 50000 files again, i.e., a differential backup. (Basically, in my opinion, rsync satisfies all of the requirements for a good, secure, and robust file transfer/backup system -- probably why it is used by CCC.)
Personally, I find the Terminal commands must faster to employ than having to interact with a GUI.
Solouki
...And here is an example of rsync on a Synology NAS (Linux OS).
Synology, like many others, has built a user-friendly interface, so one does not have to use all the commands manually.
It's funny to think that we are all paying for a free backup engine in many commercial products, but the interface that we use is pretty important for occasional users...to remove the steep learning curve of rsync via command line...making the interface valuable.
But as noted, some find the commands easy. For those folks, no need for paid tools.
Synology, like many others, has built a user-friendly interface, so one does not have to use all the commands manually.
It's funny to think that we are all paying for a free backup engine in many commercial products, but the interface that we use is pretty important for occasional users...to remove the steep learning curve of rsync via command line...making the interface valuable.
But as noted, some find the commands easy. For those folks, no need for paid tools.