New Macbook Air 15” Data Migration from windows problem

[dmt43]

Hi. I am new to Macrumors forum. New to Macbook! I am a lifelong computer Windows user, moving off Windows. I just setup my new Macbook Air. That went well. I have an Ipad and Iphone, so everything is the same as on Icloud. I downloaded the Migration Assistant to move my windows data - all I want is My Documents and Pictures. I did not want to duplicate/copy all the Windows data/files to the Mac.

When I selected what I wanted to move on the assistant, the next screen brought up a panel with my Windows account name and asked me to create a password for that account to set up on the Mac. I don’t want to do that, I already have a Mac account. Is there any way move only my documents and photos? I ordered a USB-C SSD for Time Machine backup and can format that has ExFat to move the data manually, will that work? (of course, it will be reformatted APFS for Time Machine). I thought of using Icloud or OneDrive (MS365 is loaded it on the Mac). But my documents is 35gb!!! I would not leave my data stored in the cloud either, only while moving it. That didn’t seem too appealing to me. I am just trying to find a way to move my data, can someone help me? I don’t understand the implications of what the Migration assistant is asking me to do in creating a new account and I don’t want to do that, unless I know what will happen. thank you!! Donna

 

[hg.wells]

Migration assistant is used for setting up a new Mac from scratch, straight out the box. It can’t move data into an existing account that’s already been set up.

If you are pretty tech savvy, and you know where all your data is stored on your pc. I’d strongly recommend using the external drive you’ve purchased for Time Machine exactly how you have said.

I used to do PC to Mac data transfers, whilst migration assistant is good, it can also bring a lot of windows files across that are unnecessary and then will need to be cleaned up on the Mac.

 

[davidlv]

Migration assistant is used for setting up a new Mac from scratch, straight out the box. It can’t move data into an existing account that’s already been set up.

If you are pretty tech savvy, and you know where all your data is stored on your pc. I’d strongly recommend using the external drive you’ve purchased for Time Machine exactly how you have said.

I used to do PC to Mac data transfers, whilst migration assistant is good, it can also bring a lot of windows files across that are unnecessary and then will need to be cleaned up on the Mac.

You should be good just using the external exfat drive to transfer your documents and photos. Make folders in your Users/yourshortname/ to store the data.
Time Machine has its limits and can often not work as expected. For a better backup method, download Carbon Copy Cloner (free to use for a month, and IMO well worth the cost) and reformat that external disk to APFS for your backups. Read the blog at the CCC HP about backups and restoring data. It will help you understand how to use your Mac well.
Mac Backup Software | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

 

[dmt43]

Thanks david & hg for your help. I think the directions here confused me https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-pro/set-up-your-mac-for-new-mac-users-apd8072a27e6/2023/mac/13.4 because it says to use Setup and then the migration asst to move data from another computer. I will try the manual route with ssd.

 

[davidlv]

Thanks david & hg for your help. I think the directions here confused me https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-pro/set-up-your-mac-for-new-mac-users-apd8072a27e6/2023/mac/13.4 because it says to use Setup and then the migration asst to move data from another computer. I will try the manual route with ssd.

That's a good decision. If you have a good CCC backup, Migration Assistant is very good indeed when you are reinstalling the OS, as that process will prompt the user asking if you want to transfer your data to the new installation.
The actual OS install can take a while - maybe a little over a half hour or so, and the migration can take another 20 minutes or so. In the end, you wind up with a "clone" per se of your former setup but with a new OS. I have done this several times working on my older iMac using OCLP to run Ventura. Works very well indeed.
Bootable backups are another story, especially recently. I have found that they can get borked or the internal system gets finiky. The recent Apple systems do not like having a bootable system disk attached.
Read the blog at the Carbon Copy Cloner HP for more info.

Mac Backup Software | Carbon Copy Cloner | Bombich Software

bombich.com