Transfer from PC to Mac with Migration Assistant

Migration Assistant transfers (copies) your contacts, calendars, email accounts and more from your Windows PC to the appropriate places on your Mac.

Set up your Mac and PC

Use Migration Assistant to connect your computers

Use Migration Assistant to transfer your information

What is transferred, and where

If the transfer isn’t successful

Set up your Mac and PC

  • On your Mac, install the latest macOS updates.

  • On your PC, install the latest Windows updates.

  • On both computers, if you’ve installed antivirus software, firewall software or VPN software, turn off that software until you’ve finished transferring your information.

  • On both computers, make sure Wi-Fi is turned on. If your Mac is running macOS Sonoma or later, that should be enough to allow Migration Assistant to transfer information wirelessly. If not, connect your computers to the same network, or connect them directly to each other using an Ethernet cable.

If your older PC doesn't support Bluetooth Low Energy, Migration Assistant might say that a Bluetooth Low Energy adapter is required to continue. Bluetooth adapters that connect to your PC's USB port are widely available.

Use Migration Assistant to connect your computers

Find out which macOS your Mac is running, then follow the appropriate steps.

If your Mac is running macOS Sonoma 14.4 or later

  1. On your PC, download and install Windows Migration Assistant 3. Only get this version if your Mac is running macOS Sonoma 14.4 or later. If it isn't, follow the steps for macOS Sonoma 14.3.1 or earlier, which requires an earlier version of Windows Migration Assistant.

  2. On your Mac, open Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. To open the Utilities folder directly, you can choose Go > Utilities from the menu bar in the Finder. Or use Spotlight to search for Migration Assistant.

  3. On your Mac, follow the onscreen instructions until you’re asked how you want to transfer your information. Select "From a Windows PC", then click Continue:

    Migration Assistant on Mac: Transfer "From a Windows PC"

  4. When your Mac shows a code and asks you to enter that code on your PC, open Windows Migration Assistant on your PC.

  5. On your PC, follow the onscreen instructions until you're asked to enter the code displayed on your Mac. Enter that code and click Continue:

    Migration Assistant on PC: Enter Code

  6. Migration Assistant will then begin trying to connect to your Mac:

    Migration Assistant on PC: Looking for Mac...

  7. After Migration Assistant makes the connection, follow the steps below to transfer your information.

If your Mac is running macOS Sonoma 14.3.1 or earlier

  1. On your PC, download and install the appropriate Windows Migration Assistant:

  2. On your PC, open Windows Migration Assistant, then follow the onscreen instructions until Migration Assistant begins trying to connect to your Mac:

    Migration Assistant on PC: Looking for Mac...

  3. On your Mac, open Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. To open the Utilities folder directly, you can choose Go > Utilities from the menu bar in the Finder. Or use Spotlight to search for Migration Assistant.

  4. On your Mac, follow the onscreen instructions until you’re asked how you want to transfer your information. Select “From a Windows PC”, then click Continue:

    Migration Assistant on Mac: from a Windows PC

  5. On your Mac, select the icon representing your PC, then click Continue:

    Migration Assistant on PC: Transfer information to this Mac

  6. Make sure that your PC and Mac show the same passcode, then click Continue on your PC:

    Migration Assistant on PC: Verify Passcode

  7. After Migration Assistant makes the connection, follow the steps below to transfer your information.

Use Migration Assistant to transfer your information

  1. After connecting your computers, Migration Assistant catalogues the information on your PC and calculates how much storage space is used by each category of files. This can take a few minutes. When ready, select the information to transfer. You may need to scroll down to see the complete list.

    Migration Assistant on Mac: Select information to transfer

  2. Click Continue to start the transfer. Large transfers may need hours to be completed, and may seem to pause occasionally. You may want to start in the evening and allow migration to complete overnight.

  3. When the transfer is complete, quit Migration Assistant on both computers, then log in to the migrated account on your Mac to see its files. The account uses the same name as the account on your PC.

  4. Authorise your Mac for purchases with your Apple Account. It’s important to do this before you sync or play content downloaded from Apple.

If you need to transfer information from another Windows user account, log in to that account on your PC, then repeat the steps in this article.

What is transferred, and where

  • Transferred to the Mail app: Email and email settings from Outlook and Windows Mail.

  • Transferred to the Contacts app: Contacts from People (Windows 10 or later), Outlook and the Contacts folder in your home directory.

  • Transferred to the Calendar app: Appointments from Calendar (Windows 10 or later) and Outlook.

  • Transferred to the Reminders app: Tasks from Outlook. Requires migrating to a Mac with macOS Ventura or later.

  • Transferred to the Music app, Podcasts app, Books app and TV app, respectively: Music, podcasts, audiobooks and films/TV shows.

  • Transferred to Safari: Homepage and bookmarks from Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari.

  • Transferred to System Settings or System Preferences: Custom desktop pictures, language settings and location settings. If the Mac is running macOS Ventura or later, known Wi-Fi networks are also moved.

  • Transferred to your home folder: Documents and other files from your home directory. And photos, which you can add to the Photos app manually, or let Photos search your Mac for photos to import.

  • Transferred to the Shared folder of your home folder: Non-system files and documents from the system disk (typically the C drive) and other available disks. Requires using Migration Assistant while logged in to your PC as an administrator.

If the transfer isn’t successful

Make sure that you've installed the latest macOS updates on your Mac and the latest Windows updates on your PC. Then make sure that you're using the correct version of Windows Migration Assistant on your PC.

If you installed antivirus software, firewall software or VPN software on either computer, turn off that software before using Migration Assistant.

Use the check disk (chkdsk) utility on your PC to check for issues that might prevent successful transfer of your information:

  1. Right-click the Start button, then click Run.

  2. Type cmd and press Enter. Command Prompt will open.

  3. At the prompt, type chkdsk and press Enter.

  4. If the utility finds problems, type chkdsk drive: /F, where drive is the letter representing your Windows startup disk, such as C.

  5. Press Enter.

  6. At the prompt, type Y, then restart your PC.

  7. Repeat this process until the check disk utility is not reporting any issues. If the utility can't fix every issue that it found, you may need to have your PC serviced.

If you can't resolve the issue, use an external storage device or file sharing to copy important files from your PC to your Mac.

Find out more

You can also transfer information from another Mac, from a Time Machine backup of a Mac, or from an iPhone.

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