Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra

  1. Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra Requirements
  2. Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra Vista
  3. Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra Download
  4. Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra Download

Migration Assistant copies all of your files to your new Mac so that you don't have to copy your files manually.

Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra Requirements

  • If your files are currently on a Windows PC, follow the PC migration steps instead.
  • If your new Mac is using OS X Mountain Lion v10.8 or earlier, follow the Mountain Lion migration steps instead.

Apple's native Photos application got an update with the release of macOS High Sierra, including new library. Photos App in macOS High Sierra. The new dedicated section in the Mac App Store.

2020-3-30  How to Move Your Older iPhoto Libraries Into the macOS Photos App. Hold Option while opening Photos. Select an iPhoto Library and click Choose. Apple’s new Photos application was released as part of a recent system update. By default, Photos creates its library in your Pictures folder, but it can be easily moved or newly created. There are any number of reasons you might want to create a new Photos library or move it to another location.

Check software, settings, and power

  • Install all available Apple software updates on both Mac computers. Install any updates for your third-party apps as well.
  • Make sure that your old Mac is using OS X Lion or later.
  • Make sure that your old Mac has a computer name: Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Sharing and check the Computer Name field.
  • Connect both computers to AC power.

Connect the computers to each other

  • If both computers are using macOS Sierra or later, just make sure that they're near each other and have Wi-Fi turned on. If either is using OS X El Capitan or earlier, connect them to the same network using Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
  • Or connect them using target disk mode and the appropriate cable or adapter. Then start up your old computer in target disk mode.
  • Or connect your new Mac to a Time Machine backup of your old Mac.

Use Migration Assistant

On your new Mac:

Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra Vista

  1. Open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  2. Click Continue.
  3. When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk.
  4. Click Continue.

On your old Mac:
If you started your old Mac in target disk mode or are migrating from a Time Machine backup, skip these four steps.

  1. Open Migration Assistant.
  2. Click Continue.
  3. When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer to another Mac.
  4. Click Continue.

On your new Mac:

  1. When asked to select a Mac, Time Machine backup, or other startup disk, click the appropriate icon.
  2. Click Continue. You might see a security code.

On your old Mac:
If you started your old Mac in target disk mode or are migrating from a Time Machine backup, skip these two steps.

Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra
  1. If you see a security code, make sure that it's the same code as on your new Mac.
  2. Click Continue.

On your new Mac:

  1. You should see a list of backups organized by date and time. Choose the backup that you want to use.
  2. Click Continue.

Continuing on your new Mac:

  1. Select the information to transfer.
  2. Click Continue to start the transfer. If you have a lot of content, the transfer might take several hours to finish.

Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra Download


In the example above, John Appleseed is a macOS user account. If you transfer an account that has the same name as an account on your new Mac, you're asked to rename the old account or replace the one on your new Mac. If you rename, the old account appears as a separate user on your new Mac, with a separate home folder and login. If you replace, the old account overwrites the account on your new Mac, including everything in its home folder.

After Migration Assistant is done, log in to the migrated account on your new Mac to see its files. If you're not keeping your old Mac, learn what to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your old Mac.

Transfer Mac Photos Library To New Mac High Sierra Download

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Photos User Guide

Even if you use iCloud Photos, it’s important that you always back up your library locally using one of the following methods:

  • Use Time Machine: After you set up Time Machine, it automatically backs up the files on your Mac. If you ever lose the files in your Photos library, you can restore them from the Time Machine backup. For more information about setting up Time Machine, see Back up your files with Time Machine.

    WARNING: If a Photos library is located on an external drive, don’t use Time Machine to store a backup on that external drive. The permissions for your Photos library may conflict with those for the Time Machine backup.

  • Manually copy your library to an external storage device: Drag the Photos library (by default in the Pictures folder on your Mac) to your storage device to create a copy.

If you have more than one photo library, be sure to back them all up.

Important: If any of your image files are stored outside your photo library, those files (known as referenced files) aren’t backed up when you back up your library. Be sure to back up those files separately. To make it easier to back up all your image files at once, you can consolidate referenced files into your library. See Change where Photos stores your files.

See alsoCreate additional photo libraries in Photos on MacRepair your library in Photos on Mac