Upgraded from a 2017 MBP to a 2026 MBA M5. Need Help with 2 issues.

[mikeyiphone]

Just upgraded from a 2017 MBP to a 2026 MBA M5. I wanted to do a fresh setup and avoid the migration assistant but had two issues.

1. Photos. I airdropped the entire photos library and now I have to switch between that library and the default library. I can’t merge them. I tried renaming the photo library I transfered to match the default library name but no go. Still have two files that forces me to switch between them when opening the photos app.

2. iMessage. I have over 15 years of conversations that I want to transfer to the new MBA. I found the old message folder in Library and transferred it to the MBA. Issue is nothing is coming up in iMessages, no conversations.

I went into my old MacBook to see if I can store the iMessages into the icloud but strangely theres no option to do that. So that options out. I think I read that you can no longer do this. It worked when I went from my MBP 2009 to the MBP 2017.


Should I just wipe out the new MBA and use migration assistant from the start?

 

[Honza1]

I message should be storing everything in iCloud, if you switch that on. It is in iMessage.app preferences, second tab at the top. That then syncs among devices when you log in. I do now know about any other way to "transfer" messages. On my devices, every time I change them, my iMessages just sync. It takes bit of time. This is how Apple keeps iMessages in sync across my 3+ devices.

Photos.
You can change System Photo library in the Photos Settings, General tab, at the top. Switch to library you want and push the button there. That should be all, I have few Photos libraries and do not think this was issue when I was changing them.
If I understand correctly, to transfer the image files into new library, you have to manually drop the photos (I prefer originals) onto the new Photos library. You can either export them to a folder from Photos (right click, bit annoyance) or you can right click the Photos library in Finder, select "Show package contents", and browse through the folders. Photos library is just glorified folder structure which shows as one package, not as folders. Finder can browse it if you know how.