Move your data from a Windows PC to your Mac

Use Windows Migration Assistant to transfer your pictures, documents, and other data from a Windows PC to your Mac.

Windows Migration Assistant transfers your contacts, calendars, email accounts, and more from a PC. It migrates this data to the appropriate places on your Mac. After migrating data to your Mac, authorize your computer for iTunes Store purchases. It’s important to authorize before you sync or play content that you download from the iTunes Store.

If you’re migrating from one Mac to another Mac, follow the steps to move your content to a new Mac.

Before you begin

To prepare for a smooth migration:

• Make sure that Windows is up to date. Migration Assistant works with Windows 7 and later.
• Make sure that you know the name and password of an administrator account on your PC.
• Connect your Mac and PC to the same network, such as your home Wi-Fi network. Or connect an Ethernet cable between the ports on your Mac and PC to create a direct network connection. Some Mac models require an Ethernet adapter, such as the Belkin USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter or Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.
• If you’re using Microsoft OneDrive on your PC, follow Microsoft’s instructions for uninstalling OneDrive before continuing. You can reinstall OneDrive after migration is complete.

Then use the check disk (chkdsk) utility on your PC to make sure that your Windows hard drive doesn’t have any issues:

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 reports that it found problems, type the following, where drive is the letter that represents your Windows startup disk, such as D:
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 finds, you might need to have your PC serviced. Then migrate your data to your Mac.

Move your data

This section guides you through migration, post-migration, and what to do if the steps don’t work for you.

How to move your information from a PC to your Mac

1. On your PC, download and install the appropriate Windows Migration Assistant, based on the version of macOS on your Mac:
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Big Sur
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Mojave and macOS Catalina
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Sierra and High Sierra
   • Windows Migration Assistant for OS X El Capitan or earlier
2. Quit any open Windows apps.
3. Open Windows Migration Assistant, then click Continue.
   
4. Start up your Mac. Setup Assistant automatically opens the first time you turn on your Mac. If you’ve already set up your Mac, open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
5. On your Mac, follow the onscreen prompts until you get to the migration pane of the assistant. Select the option to transfer your information “From a Windows PC,” then click Continue.
   
6. When prompted, enter an administrator name and password.
7. Click Continue to close any other open apps.
8. In the migration window on your Mac, select your PC from the list of available computers. Then wait for the PC to show the same passcode that your Mac shows.
9. When both computers display the same passcode, click Continue on your PC and Mac.
10. Your Mac scans the drives on your PC to build a list of information to migrate. When the scan completes, select the information that you want to migrate to your Mac and click Continue. Learn about some of the data that you can transfer.
    

You can watch the progress and estimated time remaining on both the PC and your Mac. They tell you when migration is complete.

After you move your data

When migration completes, close Windows Migration Assistant on your PC. Then log in to the new user account on your Mac. The first time you log in to a user account migrated from your PC, you’re asked to set a password. You can use the same password that you used on your PC, or create a new password.

After logging in to the user account that you migrated, authorize your computer for iTunes Store purchases. It’s important to authorize before you sync or play content downloaded from the iTunes Store.

If you have issues moving your data

• Quit all open apps on your PC, then try migrating your content again. For example, you can press Alt-Tab to choose an open application, then press Alt-F4 to quit it.
• If your PC doesn’t appear in the Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant window on your Mac, make sure the computers are connected to the same network. You can create a network by connecting a single Ethernet cable between your Mac and PC. If that doesn’t help, check for firewall software on your PC and turn it off. After migration completes, you can turn firewall software on again.
• If Migration Assistant doesn’t open on your PC, turn off any antivirus software on your PC. Then try to open Migration Assistant again. After migration completes. You can turn that software on again.
• If you still can’t migrate your information successfully, you can use an external drive or file sharing to manually copy important data to your Mac.

What data can I transfer?

Migration Assistant lets you choose the data to move to your Mac. Here’s what moves over for specific apps and data types:

Email, contacts, and calendar information
Email messages, email-account settings, contacts, and appointments move based on which version of Windows you’re using and which accounts you have.

Outlook 1
Data from 32-bit versions of Outlook in Windows 7 and later move as follows:

• People move to Contacts 2
• Appointments move to the Calendar app
• IMAP and Exchange settings and messages move to the Mail app
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2

Windows Live Mail
Data from Windows Live Mail in Windows 7 and later moves as follows:

• IMAP settings and messages move to Mail
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2

Windows Mail
Data from Windows Mail in Windows 7 and later (excluding Windows 8) move as follows:

• IMAP settings and messages move to Mail
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2
• People move to Contacts

Bookmarks
Bookmarks from Internet Explorer, Safari for Windows, and Firefox move to Safari.

System settings
Language and location settings, and custom desktop pictures move to System Preferences. Your web browser homepage moves to Safari preferences.

Pictures
Photos and other images move to your home folder. You can then add them to Photos, or open Photos and let it search your Mac for photos to import.

iTunes content
Migration Assistant transfers your iTunes media as follows: music to the Apple Music app, videos to the Apple TV app, podcasts to the Apple Podcasts app, and audiobooks to the Apple Books app.

Other files
Migration Assistant also moves these files:

• Files from the top-level folder of the currently logged-in user’s home directory
• Non-system files located in the Windows or Program Files folders
• Top-level folders located on the Windows system disk and other attached disks

1. Migration Assistant doesn’t support 64-bit versions of Outlook. You can manually migrate Mail, Contacts, or Calendars from Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016 by signing in and entering the content on your Mac manually.

2. Migration Assistant transfers only the Mail or Contacts data that belongs to the logged-in Windows user. To transfer data from another user account, use Migration Assistant again while you’re logged in to another Windows account. Each time you migrate, your Mac creates a new user account.

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How to find your MAC Address in Windows 10

Are you trying to find the MAC address of your PC? We can help.

There are a few reasons why you’d like to know how to find your MAC address.

Perhaps you’re setting up your router and you’d like to filter out some devices out of your network for extra security. Maybe your router lists connected devices by their MAC address and you’d like to figure out which device is which. Or there’s a chance you’ll need to know your PC’s MAC address to diagnose or resolve some computer network errors.

Either way, we can help you find your PC’s MAC address on Windows 10 by using a few different methods.

What is a MAC address?

A MAC address is a unique, alphanumeric hardware identifier for a device that connects to the internet. Every network device or interface, such as your laptop’s Wi-Fi adapter, has a MAC (or «media access control») address.

A MAC address is assigned by manufacturers and embedded into the device’s network interface card — it’s permanently tied to the device, which means that a MAC address cannot be changed.

The MAC address is listed as series of 12 digits across six pairs (00:1A:C2:7B:00:47, for example).

A MAC address is essential in order for your device to interact with other local network devices. When your device detects a router, its sends out its MAC address to initiate a connection. This is where the IP address comes in — your router will assign you an IP address so that you can connect to the internet.

So what’s the difference between a MAC address and an IP address? In part, MAC addresses are permanently burned into your device while IP addresses can change depending on your location. MAC addresses are used in the local network while IP addresses can be used to identify network devices all around the world.

Method 1: How to Find Your MAC Address in Windows 10 with Command Prompt

The quickest way to find the MAC address is through the command prompt.

1. Open the command prompt. Search «Command Prompt» in the taskbar, or if you have an older version of Windows, you can right-click on the Start button and select Command Prompt from the menu.

2. Type in ipconfig /all and press Enter. This will display your network configuration.

3. Find your adapter’s physical address. Scroll down to your network adapter and look for the values next to «Physical Address,» which is your MAC address.

How to find your MAC Address in Windows 10 without using Command Prompt

Perhaps you don’t want to mess around with command prompt for some reason or another. Here are some ways you can snag a MAC address without accessing command prompt.

Method 2: How to Find Your MAC Address in Windows 10 in the Network Connection Settings

You can also find the MAC address by looking at the details of your network adapter in Windows.

1. Search «View network status and tasks» in the taskbar and click on it. (Or navigate to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center)

2. Click on your network connection.

3. Click the «Details» button.

4. Locate the Physical Address. The value for the physical address in the Network Connection Details window is your MAC address.

Method 3: How to get your MAC address by accessing your taskbar

Another avenue that you can use to find your device’s MAC address is by clicking on an icon on your taskbar to quickly navigate to your PC’s hardware identifier.

1. Click on the network icon on your Windows 10 taskbar. It should be next to the clock.

2. Click on «Properties» on your connection. This will open your network’s settings window.

3. Scroll down to the Properties section. Your MAC address should be right next to the words «Physical address.»

Find your computer’s name and network address on Mac

If other people want to locate your Mac on the network, they need to know your computer’s name or network address. Your Mac has several identifiers that people may look for on the network: computer name, local hostname (or local network name) and network address.

Find your computer’s name

If you’re sharing your computer’s screen or files, other users on your network can find your Mac by looking for its computer name.

On your Mac, choose Apple menu

> System Preferences, then click Sharing.

The computer name for your Mac appears at the top of Sharing preferences.

Find your computer’s local hostname

Your computer’s local hostname, or local network name, is displayed on your local network so others on the network can connect to your Mac. It also identifies your Mac to Bonjour-compatible services.

On your Mac, choose Apple menu

> System Preferences, then click Sharing.

Your computer’s local hostname is displayed beneath the computer’s name at the top of Sharing preferences.

The local network name is your computer’s name with .local added, and any spaces are replaced with hyphens (-). For example, if your computer’s name is My Computer, your local network name is My-Computer.local. Local network names aren’t case sensitive, so my-computer.local is the same as My-Computer.local.

Find your computer’s network address

If you’re sharing your computer’s screen, allowing remote logins or management, or sharing files, other users may need to know your computer’s network address instead of its name to access these services.

On your Mac, choose Apple menu

> System Preferences, then click Sharing.

In the list on the left, select a service that is On.

The network address for the service is displayed on the right. For example:

If you select Screen Sharing, the network address looks similar to vnc://10.212.167.33 or vnc://name.example.com.

if you select File Sharing, the network address looks similar to smb://10.212.167.33 or smb://name.example.com.

If you select Remote Login, the network address looks similar to username@10.212.167.33 or username@name.example.com.

If you select Remote Management, the network address looks similar to 10.212.167.33 or name.example.com.

Your computer’s network address is provided by the Domain Name System (DNS) server your computer uses. If you don’t use a DNS service, the network address is derived from your computer name.