How to Quickly Set Up Your New Mac

Maybe you've treated yourself to a brand new MacBook Air, or maybe you want to factory reset your iMac—either to sell it on or wipe all the digital detritus off the system. Whatever the reason you're setting up a new Mac, these are the steps you'll need to follow.

Apple has continually streamlined this process over the years, and with the rollout of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4 Sequoia, it's now easier than ever: If you've got an iPhone or iPad available, it can take care of some of the setup process for you.

First, you'll see a hello message, in a cycling selection of languages: Click Get Started, then choose the language you want macOS to use, and your country or region. With that done, you can then customize the accessibility settings built into macOS, if you need them, to complete the rest of the setup process.

This is the biggest choice you have to make in the setup process. Credit: Apple

The all-important step of connecting to wifi is next, and once you've chosen a network and entered the password for it, you'll get the opportunity to download any software updates available for macOS—which is recommended, to make sure you have the latest bug fixes and security patches installed.

You can choose whether or not you want to transfer data to your new Mac as part of the setup process. The top option, From a Mac, Time Machine or startup disk, is the one to go for if you want your new Mac to look as much like your old Mac as possible: If you're upgrading Macs and the old one is still available to you, you'll be prompted to launch the Migration Assistant on both computers to copy your user account over.

Then there's From a Windows PC, which sticks to data like contacts, calendars, email accounts—if you're switching from Windows to macOS, this can help the process run more smoothly. Again, you'll be taken step by step through the procedure, which includes getting Migration Assistant set up on Windows as well as macOS.

Bring your iPhone close to your Mac to see a prompt to connect. Credit: Apple

The third option here is Set up with iPhone or iPad, which is the new feature that's just been added. It transfers data such as wifi logins, and your appearance and accessibility customizations, as well as access to your iCloud account. Pick this option, bring your iPhone or iPad close to your Mac, and you should see a prompt on the mobile device. Tap Continue to confirm.

A glowing blue orb shows up on your Mac screen, which you then need to fit inside the camera viewfinder on your iPhone or iPad, and then the link is established. You still need to go through a few more setup steps after this, but it does save you a few minutes.

The fourth and final option on the transfer data dialog is Set up as new, which I actually prefer: It gives you a clean and fresh installation of macOS, and it means you can slowly move over your data and accounts bit by bit, as needed. With this option, you'll avoid moving any clutter from your old Mac or other Apple devices over to your new computer.

You'll need to set up a new user account for macOS. Credit: Apple

With your data transfer option chosen, you're then required to enter a username and password to use on your Mac, which is separate from your Apple account. Click the box underneath your password hint to make sure you can always get into this Mac with your Apple account credentials, should you ever forget your Mac credentials.

Next, you're prompted to sign into your Apple account to get all your iCloud data synced and in place—unless you've used the iPhone or iPad shortcut, in which case the Mac already knows who you are. After that, you need to set the various permissions for macOS, including location services, device analytics, and Siri access.

Almost there—but there are still a few more dialogs to work through. When it comes to these features, you can opt to set them up straight away or later on. First, there's Apple Intelligence, such as it is—right now on macOS, you're looking at features such as Writing Tools, the Image Playground app, and the ChatGPT extension to Siri.

If you've used an iPhone or iPad, you'll be logged into iCloud automatically. Credit: Apple

Next up, you've got FileVault Disk Encryption and Touch ID (your Mac is much more secure if you turn both of these on), followed by Apple Pay, if you want to use new or previously registered payment cards to make purchases on your Mac. After that, you're just about done: Click Continue on the Welcome to Mac screen, and you're good to go.

The process is straightforward enough that you can consider resetting your Mac every so often to keep unnecessary junk data down to a minimum, and ensure everything stays running as quickly as possible. If you ever want to reset your Mac and go through the setup process again (making sure your data is safely backed up first), open System Settings from the main Apple menu, then choose General > Transfer or Reset.

Once you get into macOS proper, you can start making it your own again. For me, that means removing almost everything from the dock and hiding it from view, and changing the trackpad scrolling direction so it's the right way up—but your mileage will vary.

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