The graphics card on my old MacBook Pro broke. How do I transfer my files if I cannot see anything?

I have a 2017 MacBook Pro and the graphics card broke leaving me unable to see anything. Everything else still works. I hadn’t backed anything up because I’m an idiot and now I don’t know how or if it’s possible to transfer my files over to the new MacBook. Any help is greatly appreciated:)

Solution 1:

Your best option is to boot the old mac into Target Disk Mode, which turns the whole thing into an external drive for the new Mac.

Connect the two together using a Thunderbolt 3 cable (it may need to be a "Thunderbolt 3 cable", rather than just a USB C one).

Then boot the old Mac while holding down T.

You can then run Migration Assistant, which will copy everything over for you.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mchlp1443/mac

Without wishing to be too schoolmastery, once you've retrieved all your files, I hope this will encourage you to backup your files in future!