I'm having a frustrating experience with Migration Assistant. I'm trying to move my data from an old Intel MacBook Pro running El Capitan to my brand new MacBook Air with Sequoia. It took over eight hours using Wi-Fi, and although it showed that the process was complete, there are zero files on the new laptop. I attempted the migration again but got the same results. I'm really at a loss here and would love to hear any suggestions or insights that might help me out.
5 Answers
Honestly, I think Migration Assistant isn't the best. I always prefer using Time Machine restores—it’s way smoother.
Have you tried using a Thunderbolt cable? That can really speed up the migration process compared to Wi-Fi.
Using Wi-Fi can really slow things down, so that's not surprising. I suggest making a Time Machine backup first and then using that backup with Migration Assistant. That's how I set up my mom's iMac from her old one, and it worked perfectly!
Did you already set up a user account on the MacBook Air? Migration Assistant doesn't merge accounts, so make sure you log out and select the migrated user to view any files that might've been transferred.
Double-check if you're logged into the right user account. You can go to System Settings and look under Users and Groups to see if there are other accounts listed that you might not be aware of.
Thanks! I actually ran into some error messages with Time Machine too, but I ended up doing a fresh install and transferred everything from an external SSD.