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Move your content to your new MacBook

Posted in Apple Portable Computers

USB

If you have a Time Machine backup of your original Mac, you can migrate your content by connecting the external USB drive with the Time Machine backup. This can be a faster way to move your content. If you don't have a Time Machine backup of your original Mac, you can create one

To connect your external USB drive to your new MacBook, you need a USB-C adapter. If you're using a USB-C to USB Adapter to connect your backup drive, make sure your MacBook battery is fully charged before you begin the migration.

These adapters are ideal because they can charge your MacBook and connect your drive at the same time:

Use these steps to migrate content from an existing Time Machine backup stored on a USB drive.

  1. Connect your USB adapter to your new MacBook. Then connect the drive with your Time Machine backup to the USB adapter.
  2. If you just turned on your new MacBook for the first time, follow the onscreen instructions in the Setup Assistant. If you already set up your new MacBook, open Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder.
  3. At the migration screen, select "From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk," then click Continue. If you're prompted, enter an admin name and password then click OK.
  4. Select the Time Machine backup you want to migrate from, then click Continue. The Continue button is unavailable (dimmed) until you select a source.
  5. Select the specific Time Machine backup you want to migrate from, then click Continue.
  6. If you want to transfer only a portion of an account, deselect anything you don't want migrated. If there's more than one user on your original Mac, click the triangle next to a user's icon and deselect anything you don't want to migrate for specific users.
  7. Click Continue, and Migration Assistant begins transferring files to your new Mac. The amount of time it takes for migration to complete depends on the amount of data being copied and the speed of your backup drive.

After the migration is complete, sign in to a migrated account on your new Mac to see its files.

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