Getting Started with a Mac

Converting to Macintosh
Just got a new Mac computer and you’re switching from a Windows PC? There are plenty of resources to get you comfortable on the new platform, and OWU Information Services is here to help.

 

Transferring Favorites from PC to Mac

Follow these steps on the computer that you’re exporting your favorites from:

  1. If you are using Firefox, open that program. (These instructions are for Firefox 3. The basic process is the same for older versions, but the options and buttons will be a little different.)
  2. Open the Bookmarks toolbar and select Organize Bookmarks.
  3. Pull down the Import and Backup menu and select the Export HTML.
  4. An ‘Export Bookmarks File’ browse window will appear. Firefox will save it’s bookmarks in a file called ‘bookmarks.html’. We recommend you save this on your Desktop so you can find it again later.

Now that you have your favorites backed up there are two simple ways of transferring them to your new Mac.

  • By email: You can add your saved bookmark file as an email attachment and then email it to yourself. Then open the email on your Mac and download the attachment to your Mac Desktop.
  • Save the bookmarks file to a jump drive/thumb drive and then use that drive to transfer the file to your Mac Desktop.

Now to import your bookmarks into Safari do the following:

  1. Open Safari 
  2. Open the File menu and select Import Bookmarks
  3. Select your saved ‘bookmark.htm’ or ‘bookmarks.html’ file from the Desktop.
  4. Click Import
  5. The bookmarks manager will open and a new folder will have been created containing your imported bookmarks. If you would like to reorganize this folder or add your imported bookmarks to your existing Safari bookmarks, simply select the bookmark you would like to move and drag it to it’s new destination:
    favorite.mov

If you prefer to use Firefox on the Mac do the following:

  1. Open Firefox 
  2. Open the Bookmarks toolbar and select Organize Bookmarks.
  3. Pull down the Import and Backup menu and select the Import HTML.
  4. Select ‘From an HTML File’ and click Next.
  5. Select your saved ‘bookmark.htm’ or ‘bookmarks.html’ file from the Desktop.
  6. Click Open.
  7. A new folder will have been created containing your imported bookmarks. If you would like to reorganize this folder or add your imported bookmarks to your existing Firefox bookmarks, simply select the bookmark you would like to move and drag it to it’s new destination, similar to the Safari video above.

Related Pages

Accessing OWU Network Drives on Macintosh

External Links

Apple’s Web Site
Mac FAQs – on Apple’s Web Site
My First Mac: Help Buying and Getting Started with Your New Mac