`"I have discovered the hard way that Apple's "Migration Assistant" doesn't always preserve file timestamps"` <sup>*comment*: It seems that has become Apple's [MO](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/modus%20operandi) - you must discover all things the hard way.</sup> *Caveats:* I'm not entirely sure this will resolve your issue or answer your question, but I hope it will help. I don't actually know what Migration Assistant does because in 12 years and 5 different Macs, I have never used it. So this answer may be a partial answer, or it may be incompatible with Migration Assistant. As a *guess*, I'd say use `rsync` ***after*** Migration Assistant - to clean up the mess it has left. In other words, `rsync` can likely ***restore*** not only the timestamps lost by `MA`, it can also restore all file metadata that may have been lost. Others here may have better ideas; my answer will be limited to `rsync`. I used `rsync` version 3.2.4 for this answer, installed from [MacPorts](https://www.macports.org). I do not know if the `rsync` version included with your version of macOS includes the required options shown here - you may wish to investigate that instead of installing a current version of `rsync`. *Background:* I've begun using `rsync` as my primary backup tool for macOS recently, and had to address some of the same issues as you: mangled and missing [*metadata*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system#Metadata). In my case the issue was caused by crossing a file system boundary - from `APFS` on my local drive to `btrfs` via SMB on a Synology NAS. In your case - Migration Assistant - I cannot even imagine how it could not even get the timestamp metadata correct, but you're certainly not the only one who's reported such issues. I made some notes while working to resolve my issue, and they morphed into a *"recipe"* on my macOS [GitHub repo](https://github.com/seamusdemora/seamusdemora.github.io/blob/master/RsyncWithNoMetaDataLoss.md). I'll try to keep this answer rather brief since most of the details are covered in that document. ### rsync with metadata preservation `rsync` effectively copies data from a **source** (the *"from"* location) to a **destination** (the *"to"* location). If you are using a fileserver (NAS) as an intermediary between your two Macs, these commands should do what you need. I don't see any need to involve an intermediate NAS, but it may be *convenient* or desirable if you want a backup. You should be able to accomplish the `rsync` operations over an SSH connection; the following commands illustrate the syntax & options needed regardless of whether you use the intermediary NAS or not: #### from "old Mac" to NAS: Assuming the source & destination folders are: SOURCE: `/Users/MyHome/MyData/` DESTINATION: `/System/Volumes/Data/mnt/MyNAS/` **From a terminal on your "old Mac":** ```zsh % SRC-FLDR="/Users/MyHome/MyData/" % DST-FLDR="/System/Volumes/Data/mnt/MyNAS/" % rsync -rlAXtgoDivv --dry-run --fake-super $SRC-FLDR $DST-FLDR > rsync.log 2>&1 ``` Explanation: This `rsync` command uses the `--dry-run` option, and therefore **will not actually move or modify any files**. It will give you a detailed log (the `ivv` options) of what files *would have been moved or modified*. Once you are happy with the results, simply remove the `--dry-run` option, and run again for effect. Review the `rsync.log` file using the ["Decoding Table"](https://github.com/seamusdemora/seamusdemora.github.io/blob/master/RsyncWithNoMetaDataLoss.md#references) #### from NAS to "new Mac": SOURCE: `/System/Volumes/Data/mnt/MyNAS/` DESTINATION: `/Users/MyNewMacHome/MyData/` **From a terminal on your "new Mac":** ```zsh % SRC-FLDR="/System/Volumes/Data/mnt/MyNAS/" % DST-FLDR="/Users/MyNewMacHome/MyData/" % rsync -rlAXtgoDivv --dry-run --fake-super $SRC-FLDR $DST-FLDR > rsync.log 2>&1 ``` #### from "old Mac" to "new Mac" If you can make an SSH connection between your "old Mac" & "new Mac", it's not necessary to involve an intermediate NAS. The same `rsync` options may be used; I'll leave it to you to formulate the SOURCE and DESTINATION folders. ### Verifying Results: The GitHub recipe includes a short `zsh` [script that will `stat` all of the files, folders, links, etc between the SOURCE and DESTINATION folders](https://github.com/seamusdemora/seamusdemora.github.io/blob/master/src/get-stats.sh). It may be run following `rsync` operations to verify that at least the chosen `stat` attributes are the same. The `rsync` options presented here will do more than preserve the metadata containing the date-time stamps; they will also preserve all **extended attributes**. The GitHub recipe also includes simple [script to compare the output of `xattr -lrsvx` for all files (that have `xattrs`) in the SOURCE and DESTINATION directories](https://github.com/seamusdemora/seamusdemora.github.io/blob/master/src/get-xattrs.sh). The `stat` utility that I use here is the *GNU coreutils version 9.1*. The `find` version I use is the *GNU findutils version 4.9.0*. Both are readily available through [MacPorts](https://www.macports.org/), and available for virtually every version of macOS. The `xattr` command is a macOS utility.