How to restore macOS settings and startup items on a new Mac

Apple has improved macOS’s upgrade process tremendously over the years. With recent releases, it’s rare something goes pear-shaped and prevents an upgrade from completing. However, you can sometimes wind up in an in-between state, as one reader found. Your accounts migrated with all their data, but on each restart, macOS loses changes to startup items, System Preferences settings, and even app registrations. The startup volume passes all tests with flying colors: safe mode, Fir