I moved all my data from one mac laptop to another. I’ve done this many times with Time Machine, and it always works. But I often forget a few steps. This is my attempt at jotting down the things I forget to do, so I don’t forget the next time.
Quick Checklist
These are all things I do on the old laptop, after I have copied the content to the new one. These things are a little annoying to do if you forget. Obviously, if you’re migrating from a dead laptop (e.g., using Time Machine backups), you don’t really have the choice of doing this. But if your old system is live, doing these steps on the old system saves you some time.
- Deauthorise all my iTunes accounts. (iTunes -> Store -> Deauthorise This Computer")
- Deauthorise my kindle account. (Kindle app -> Preferences -> General -> Deregister)
- Unlink Dropbox (Dropbox -> Preferences -> Account -> Unlink This Computer")
- Logout of iCloud and delete all my content. (System Preferences -> iCloud -> Sign Out). Answer ‘yes’ to deleting all the content.
Optional Extras
If I know I’m going to reformat the hard drive, I don’t worry much about these things. But if I were going to give the laptop to someone else to use, and not reformat it, I’d do these things.
- Delete all caches and cookies in all the web browsers.
- Remove all passwords, certificates, and keys from my keychain.
- Have a look through the system keychain to see if there are any personal things in there that I don’t want someone else to have.
- Remove my account on the system and/or change the password.
I’m probably forgetting a few things here. I am just trying to jot this stuff down.