Transfer from PC to Mac with Migration Assistant

Migration Assistant copies contacts, calendars, email accounts, and more from your Windows PC to the appropriate places on your Mac. It doesn’t delete information from your PC or replace the operating system (macOS) on your Mac.

• Get ready

• Use Migration Assistant

• What is transferred, and where

• If migration failed

Get ready

1. Make sure that Microsoft Windows is up to date for your PC, and macOS is up to date for your Mac.

2. Quit all apps and turn off any settings that could cause your PC to perform other tasks. If you installed antivirus software, firewall software, or VPN software on either computer, turn those off as well.

3. Make sure that your Mac and PC are near each other and have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on. If your older PC doesn't support Bluetooth Low Energy, Migration Assistant might say that a Bluetooth adapter is required. Bluetooth adapters that connect to your PC's USB port are widely available.

4. If your Mac is using macOS Ventura 13 or earlier, or you’re not sure, connect both computers to the same network, or connect them directly to each other using an Ethernet cable.

5. Depending on which macOS your Mac is using, download the appropriate Windows Migration Assistant on your PC:

Use Migration Assistant

These steps refer to Windows Migration Assistant 3, but most steps are similar for earlier versions.

On your Mac

1. Determine whether to open Migration Assistant:

   • If your Mac starts up to a setup assistant, the option to transfer your information is part of that setup, and you don’t need to open Migration Assistant.

   • If you already completed setup of your Mac, open Migration Assistant. You can use Spotlight to find and open it, or find it in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.

2. If asked for permission to make changes, enter your administrator password.

3. When Migration Assistant (or the Mac setup assistant) asks how you want to transfer your information, select "From a Windows PC." Click Continue.

   

On your PC

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

2. Follow the onscreen instructions until you're asked to enter the code shown on your Mac. Enter the code and click Continue. Your PC then looks for and connects to your Mac.

   

On your Mac

1. Your Mac calculates how much storage space is used by your information. You might need to scroll down to see the complete list. Wait for the calculation to complete.

2. Select the checkbox next to each category of files that you want to transfer. Or click the disclosure arrow next to a category and select specific items within it. Click Continue when done.

   

3. In the example pictured, Joe Lipscomb is a user account. It could be an administrator account or standard account.

   • If transferring an administrator account, you’re asked to click Set Password and enter a secure password. Remember this password. You will need it to log in to the account on your new Mac.

   • If transferring a standard account, a temporary password is assigned and appears onscreen. Write down this password. When the user first logs in to this account on the Mac, they must enter this password, then enter their own new password when prompted.

4. If asked for the password of an existing user who is already authorized on your new Mac, click Authorize, then enter that account's password.

5. Large transfers might need hours to complete, and might seem to pause occasionally. When done, quit Migration Assistant.

6. When your Mac restarts, use the password that you set in Migration Assistant to log in to the migrated account on your Mac.

7. 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.

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

What is transferred, and where

If migration failed

Make sure that you’ve set up your computers correctly, including that you are using the correct version of Windows Migration Assistant on your PC.

The check disk (chkdsk) utility on your PC can check for other issues that might cause migration to fail:

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

2. Type cmd and press Enter. Command Prompt opens.

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 reports no issues. If the utility can't fix every issue that it found, you might 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.