PC to Mac (and Back): Easy Migration Tips

Switching operating systems is less like moving into a new house and more like trying to write with your non-dominant hand while someone shouts instructions at you in a language you only half-understand. I’ve done this migration for dozens of clients and myself more times than I care to count. Whether you are fleeing the Apple ecosystem because you want a GPU that can actually run games, or you are leaving Windows because you’re tired of the Start Menu searching Bing instead of your files, the friction is real. The muscle memory you’ve built over ten years is your enemy now. The standard “Migration Assistant” tools promise magic, but they usually deliver a broken user profile filled with five years of cached junk files. Here is how I actually move a workstation without losing my mind or my data.

Why “Migration Assistants” Are Garbage

Apple has “Migration Assistant” and Microsoft has various third-party equivalents. I hate them. Why? Because they operate on a “black box” principle. They try to move everything, including weird application support files, broken registry keys (or plist files), and caches that were optimized for your old hardware. The last time I used Apple’s wireless migration tool to move a client’s 1TB user profile, it estimated “2 hours remaining” for three days straight and then crashed at 99%. When I rebooted, half the applications wouldn’t launch because of permission errors. The “dirty” but correct fix is a manual migration. It forces you to declutter and ensures that only the data you actually need makes the jump. A clean OS install is a blessing; don’t ruin it by importing a corrupted library folder from 2018.

Phase 1: The Data Transfer (The “Sneakernet” Method)

Do not try to transfer terabytes of data over your local Wi-Fi. It is slow, unstable, and prone to packet loss. I always use a physical intermediary. However, the file system is the trap.

1. Get an External SSD (Not HDD): HDDs are too slow for the thousands of tiny text files in your project folders. Use an NVMe drive in a USB-C enclosure.
2. The File System War:
   • Windows uses NTFS. Mac can read it but cannot write to it natively.
   • Mac uses APFS. Windows cannot read or write it without paid software.
   • The Solution: Format your transfer drive as ExFAT. Both OSes can read and write to it natively.
3. The Robocopy/Rsync Method: Don’t just drag and drop 500GB at once in Finder or Explorer. If it fails on one file, the whole operation aborts. I use the terminal.
   • On Windows (Source): robocopy C:\Users\Me\Documents D:\Transfer /E /Z /R:5 /W:5. This is robust and resumes if interrupted.
   • On Mac (Source): rsync -avP ~/Documents/ /Volumes/Transfer/Documents/. This shows progress and preserves timestamps.

Phase 2: Surviving Windows to Mac (The “Command” Key Shock)

If you are moving to Mac, the first thing you will hate is the window management. Windows 10/11 has excellent window snapping. macOS has… chaos. You drag a window to the edge, and nothing happens.

Essential “Dirty” Fixes for Mac Newcomers:

• Install Rectangle: macOS window management is primitive. Install an app called Rectangle (it’s free/open source). It gives you the Windows-style “snap to edge” functionality. I cannot use a Mac without it.
• Fix the Scroll Wheel: Mac scrolls “naturally” (like a phone touchscreen), which means pushing the wheel up moves the page down. If you hate this, go to System Settings > Mouse and turn off “Natural scrolling.” Note: This unfortunately reverses your trackpad scrolling too. To separate them, you need a utility called UnnaturalScrollWheels.
• The “Enter” Key: On Windows, “Enter” opens a file. On Mac, “Enter” renames the file. This will drive you insane for two weeks. Use Cmd + O or Cmd + Down Arrow to open files. There is no easy way to remap this without breaking other things; just learn it.
• Homebrew is Mandatory: Windows has winget or Chocolatey. Mac has the App Store, which is useless for dev tools. Open your terminal and install Homebrew immediately. It allows you to install software with brew install chrome or brew install vlc. It keeps everything updated and in the right place.

Phase 3: Surviving Mac to Windows (The Terminal Withdrawal)

Moving to Windows? You are going to miss the Unix-based terminal and the consistent “Spotlight” search.

Essential “Dirty” Fixes for Windows Newcomers:

• Install PowerToys: This is non-negotiable. Download Microsoft PowerToys from GitHub.
  • PowerToys Run: Maps Alt + Space to a search bar that acts exactly like Mac Spotlight. It’s faster than the default Windows Start Menu search.
  • Keyboard Manager: You can remap the Alt key to behave like the Command key so your thumb muscle memory doesn’t cramp up copying and pasting.
• WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux): If you are a dev, do not use PowerShell for everything. Install WSL2 (Ubuntu). It gives you a real Linux kernel inside Windows. I map my terminal to open Ubuntu by default so I can still use grep, sed, and ssh exactly like I did on macOS.
• Quick Look Replacement: On Mac, hitting Spacebar previews a file. Windows doesn’t do this. Inside PowerToys, enable “Peek”. Now Ctrl + Space gives you a preview.

Common Pitfalls

The “Hidden” Library Trap

Both OSes love to hide the important stuff. On Windows, your config files are in AppData. It’s a hidden folder. You have to check “Hidden Items” in the View tab of File Explorer to see it. I once lost a client’s entire Thunderbird email archive because I forgot to grab the AppData folder. On Mac, it’s ~/Library. Apple hides this by default. To see it, open Finder, click the “Go” menu, and hold down the Option key. The “Library” option will magically appear. This is where your Chrome profiles and application states live.

The NTFS Read-Only Surprise

I mentioned using ExFAT for transfer, but eventually, you will plug in an old backup drive formatted in NTFS into your new Mac. You will be able to see your files, open them, and copy them. But the second you try to edit a file and save it, it will fail. macOS creates a “Read-Only” mount for NTFS. Do not try to hack terminal commands to force write access; it’s unstable and can corrupt data. If you need to write to NTFS drives on a Mac regularly, buy the Paragon NTFS driver. It’s the only one that works reliably. For the reverse (APFS on Windows), don’t bother. Just transfer the data via network or ExFAT.

The “Close” Button Lie

On Windows, clicking the red “X” kills the app. On Mac, clicking the red “X” just closes the window; the app keeps running in the dock eating RAM. I constantly see new Mac users with 40 apps open, wondering why their system is slow. Use Cmd + Q to actually quit apps on Mac. It’s a hard habit to break, but your RAM depends on it.

Embrace the friction for the first two weeks, force yourself to learn the new shortcuts instead of fighting them, and never trust a default file system with your life’s work.