How to access everything on my iMac from a MacBook Air

[JeffL]

I have a 2012 iMac 21.5" and I'm considering buying a MBA 13" with the M1 chip to replace my very old iPad with 16GB memory. I don't currently have files from the iMac on the iPad due to it only having the 16GB memory but with the MBA's 256GB I would like it to mirror the iMac files. My iPhone is linked to my iMac and all emails and messages are mirrored so my question is: Can I set-up the MBA to mirror my iMac so that I can log into either one from my user account, and find my files the way I last edited them on either Mac? By files I mean Pages, Numbers, Photos, Music, Calendar, Email, Messages, Safari (Favorites, Bookmarks etc), Passords in Keychain, you get the idea. So I would then have the iMac, MBA and iPhone all synced. (The iMac will get replaced with a new one when M1/M2 chip version available). The iMac and MBA would be at home on the same Wi-Fi most of the time, but the MBA would be used when away from home and using other Wi-Fi. You'll notice I'm a novice with all this stuff by the way I have phrased this question(s). If you can point me in the right direction to instructions plus any comments you have I'd be most grateful. Thanks.

 

[pm-r]

If you can point me in the right direction to instructions plus any comments you have I'd be most grateful. Thanks.

Maybe start by googling "mac file sharing" and maybe search on some specific areas like using iCloud ad syncing etc. :

You could start here:

mac file sharing - Google Search

- Patrick
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[Lifeisabeach]

The simplest way to handle this is to use a cloud service and store all your documents there. If you are all-in on the Apple ecosystem, then iCloud would seem like a no-brainer. I've had issues with it though and they actually corrupted some of my files. I don't know why it happened, and Apple couldn't figure it out either. My experience apparently is NOT the norm, so take that for what it is. I do still use it to store and access some documents between devices, but I certainly recommend having regular backups done. One issue I have with how iCloud works is that it doesn't always keep a copy of files on your local devices. You'll see a placeholder in iCloud Drive, but the file may not be synced to that device unless you deliberately click the cloud icon to download it, or access it.

Alternatively to iCloud, consider DropBox or Box where they do keep local copies of all files synced on each device. You could also set up a shared folder on the iMac and simply access that from your MacBook, This is something I do here also.

 

[JeffL]

The simplest way to handle this is to use a cloud service and store all your documents there. If you are all-in on the Apple ecosystem, then iCloud would seem like a no-brainer. I've had issues with it though and they actually corrupted some of my files. I don't know why it happened, and Apple couldn't figure it out either. My experience apparently is NOT the norm, so take that for what it is. I do still use it to store and access some documents between devices, but I certainly recommend having regular backups done. One issue I have with how iCloud works is that it doesn't always keep a copy of files on your local devices. You'll see a placeholder in iCloud Drive, but the file may not be synced to that device unless you deliberately click the cloud icon to download it, or access it.

Alternatively to iCloud, consider DropBox or Box where they do keep local copies of all files synced on each device. You could also set up a shared folder on the iMac and simply access that from your MacBook, This is something I do here also.

Further to this, I've just looked at Migration Assistant, but am I right in thinking that this is only to be used if you are transferring everything from an existing mac to a new mac with the intention of destroying/selling the original/existing mac? The following link appears to be saying that if using Migration Assistant with the intention of keeping and using both macs that a new Apple ID would be required for the new mac. If I am reading that correctly, is that likely to cause problems? I don't understand why there could be a need to have a new Apple ID as my iMac, iPad and iPhone all work on the same Apple ID.

Transfer to a new Mac with Migration Assistant - Apple Support

Use Migration Assistant to copy your files from another computer.

support.apple.com

Otherwise, if I use iCloud, DropBox or Box as you suggested, will I be able to set-up the new MBA with my existing Apple ID. Admittedly, I don't have all my files from the iMac on my iPad and iPhone but as I will be replacing the iPad with the new MBA I'd like to be able to access the files on the iMac but not necessarily hold them all on the MBA, so accessing via iCloud, DropBox or Box would be okay. Another thought, could I transfer certain files from the iMac to the MBA using AirDrop? I'd probably then have to airdrop back to the iMac if I altered a document to keep both in sync. Thanks for you patience. Hope you can help a bit more.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

No, Migration Assistant doesn't destroy anything on the original source, nor is a new Apple ID required.