How to Sync MobileMe with a Second Mac
by Tony on March 28, 2010
Yes, you can sync 2 Mac computers and an iPhone to a single user MobileMe account? Yes, it’s possible and extremely simple – just follow this tutorial!
The trick is pulling all of the information (contacts, mail accounts, Safari bookmarks, etc.) from the MobileMe cloud and overwriting the data on your 2nd Mac. In fact, it’s the exact same syncing process for any Mac that’s never been synced to MobileMe – Which I already wrote a tutorial about. However, I’ll give you all the details here too.
To limit confusion, I’ll be talking about the 3 machines synced with my MobileMe account:
- iMac
- iPhone
- Hackintosh (a 9” Dell netbook running OSX 10.5.7)
I’ve already setup MobileMe on my iMac and iPhone and it’s been working great for over a year. For this example, I’m adding the Hackintosh (device #3) to my MobileMe account. The Hackintosh has never been synced to any MobileMe account… Here goes…
Start with the Mac you’re adding to MobileMe (the Mac that has NOT been synced with Mobile Me yet). In my case, it’s the Hackintosh. Now follow along:
System Preferences
1. In the Dock, click on System Preferences
2. then click the MobileMe icon
MobileMe SignIn
Enter your MobileMe member name and password & click Sign In
Mobile Me Account Information
You should see your MobileMe account information (date of renewal, free space, account type, etc). Click on Sync tab at the top
Advanced Settings
Click Advanced in the bottom right corner
New Mac
Click the new Mac you’d like to sync (the Hackintosh in my example)
Mobile Me Data
Click Reset Sync Data (don’t worry, it doesn’t sync yet)
Push MobileMe Data
Click the Left arrow (under the computer icon). Now the orange arrow should be moving from MobileMe to the computer. THIS IS CRITICAL because you want the data from MobileMe to be sent to your Mac. Make double sure it’s correct! (if the orange arrow is moving towards the MobileMe icon, you could risk losing your data on MobileMe – and that doesn’t sound like fun.
Replace Mac Data
If you’re sure the orange arrow is moving from right to left (MobileMe to the mac), then click Replace
Are You Sure?
You should see this warning “Are you sure you want to replace data on this computer with data from MobileMe?” Click OK if you’re sure.
Sync, Sync Baby
The sync should start immediately. You’ll see the animated dashes next to the data that MobileMe is downloading to your computer.
Finished Sync
When the sync has finished, open Address Book. Everyone who’s saved in your MobileMe account should now be saved on your Mac.
Mail Passwords
Now open up Mail. You’ll have to enter your email passwords.
Almost Done!
You’ve just synced a 2nd Mac to MobileMe! … Sorta…
Have a Heart Attack
Go back to Mac #1 (the iMac for me) and open Mail. You may notice all of your email accounts have disappeared! I had a heart attack too. No worries – the accounts are still there, but they’ve been set to “inactive”. Why? I don’t know. But here’s how to make them active again.
More Preferences
(Mac #1 – iMac) Go to Mail, then Preferences.
Enable Mail Accounts
(Mac #1 – iMac)
1. Click “Accounts” at the top.
2. Click on your email account on the left.
3. Click the check box next to “Enable this account”.
Save!
(Mac #1 – iMac) Close the preferences window. Click “save”.
Party Like it’s 1999
Do a backflip, pat yourself on the back, smoke a cigar or celebrate in your own way because you’ve just synced 2 Macs & an iPhone to your MobileMe account. Nice job.
You might be able to sync more than 2 computers. I don’t know if Apple allows more than 2 computers – if you can get 3 to sync, please let me know!
18 comments
Tony, you seem to be a mobileme expert
. In iCall I have several calendars synced (1 Entourage, and 3 Googlecalendars, for myself, my spouse and my daughter). In mobileme, only the entourage calendar appears, not the Google ones. Whereas I expected an exact copy of the iCall calendars. By consequence, the google calendars do not sync to my iPhone (I use the Google app now for this, not handy having two calendars on my iPhone). Do you know what to do?
by Frans on April 26, 2010 at 7:30 am. #
Hi mate, ta for the source and info … What if it won’t allow me to select “Reset Sync Data”?
by Yani Burmeister on April 27, 2010 at 8:36 pm. #
Hello Yani – Unfortunately, I don’t know what the problem is. But, I did find this: “If Reset Sync Data is dimmed, click the Sync tab and make sure categories to be synced are checked, then go back to Advanced.” You can read the Apple Support document here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1497
by Tony on April 29, 2010 at 5:39 pm. #
Hi Frans – You’ve got a lot going on there. Short answer: No, I don’t know how to merge multiple Google and Entourage Calendars into iCal. I don’t use Google (for anything) or Entourage. I can’t find anything helpful at the Apple Support site – other than how to sync Entourage. Sorry Frans, but I’m not much help.
by Tony on April 29, 2010 at 5:48 pm. #
Didn’t work for me the sync failed. I used to sync auto, but for some reason it is now never been synced
by Todd Carpenter on May 22, 2010 at 7:19 am. #
Hi Todd – Can you give any more details?
by Tony on May 22, 2010 at 7:37 am. #
Hello!
I tried this but it didn’t work. My iPhone has the most up-to-date information and most of the time this seems to sync well with MobileMe. However recently I have begun to get multiple entries on both iPhone and iCal. I have 2 macs , iPhone and a PC laptop!
by Eliza Jones on June 8, 2010 at 3:47 am. #
Hi Eliza – A couple of things to try. First, make sure your Mac is syncing everything correctly. Go to Preferences, MobileMe then Sync. Make sure you check the box next to “Synchronize with MobileMe”. Then select “Automatically” from the drop down. The second idea check the settings in iTunes. Plug your iPhone into your Mac and open iTunes. In iTunes, click on your iPhone, then go to the “Info” tab. Scroll down to the heading “Sync iCal Calendars.” Do NOT check box next to “Sync iCal Calendars.” Hopefully, you’ll see the message (in small type) “Your calendars are being synced with MobileMe over the air. You can also choose to sync calendars with this computer.” Try this and let us know what happens!
by Tony on June 8, 2010 at 7:14 pm. #
Hi Tony, spent 3 hours with Apple and AT&T over mobileme not syncing calenders…
Everytime I delete my old computer from the drop down menu in moblileme, it is back
there the next time I realize it is not syncing……………I am giving up hope?
by linda on June 20, 2010 at 2:23 pm. #
Hi Linda – sounds like you want to stop a computer from syncing. That’s easy. You need to change a setting on that computer: Open System Preferences and click MobileMe. Click the Sync tab. Now uncheck the box next to “synchronize with MobileMe”. That will stop the computer from syncing. Now you can create calendar events or add new contacts to test if it’s working correctly. If you still have issues, stop the sync on your iPhone, iPad, etc to see which device is causing the problem. Let me know what happens!
by Tony on June 21, 2010 at 12:07 am. #
Hi Tony,
thanks for this! I have a somewhat roundabout question
I have mobileme synced with my mac and my iphone. I would like to have the calendar synced with my partner’s iphone (who doesn’t have mobileme) as well, so that we can see each others calendars and stop doublebooking 
I think this should be really easy, but my brain does not want to cooperate – can you help?
cheers
k
by kat on July 6, 2010 at 7:12 am. #
Hi Kat,
You can share the account and the setup is easy. All you have to do is login to MobileMe on your partner’s iPhone. (Settings, Mail…). However, your partner will have access to your email, contacts, iDisk, photo gallery, etc – basically, everything. I’ll let you decide if that’s a good or bad idea. I don’t think there’s a way to share ONLY the calendar with another person.
by Tony on July 6, 2010 at 9:39 pm. #
I have a Macbook, my husband has a mac min and we have two iphones. We just recently changed over one of our email accounts to Exchange 2007. Don’t know if that has anything to do with the problem. When I receive emails on my computer for my husband I delete them from my computer, he’s finding they are deleting from him Mac mini. When he pulls them out of the trash on his Mini and puts them in his inbox, they reappear in my inbox on my computer. All of this same chaos is happening with the iphone mail when deleting emails, it affects emails on our computers. How do we stop this? It’s not just happening on the Exchange email, it’s also happening on our basic me.com email account as well.
by Bridgette on September 1, 2010 at 4:55 am. #
Hi Bridgette – I believe Exchange and MobileMe email accounts are setup to work just like you said. It’s a way to stop duplicate emails from showing up on all of your devices. It sounds like you and your husband are sharing a MobileMe account. My suggestion is to get separate accounts – that way you won’t see each other’s email at all.
by Tony on September 2, 2010 at 12:08 am. #
Hi Tony,
Thanks for this. Just one problem. I’ve already synched my second mac as if it was the imac and it keeps mucking up my ical and contacts. So, when I tried to follow your turorial here, it won’t let me reset synch data. can you help? hope this makes sense.
by Matt on September 3, 2010 at 11:50 am. #
Hi Matt – When you get to the the Reset Sync Data step (see image), make sure you click one of the Macs in the list… Then see if you can click Reset Sync Data.
by Tony on September 4, 2010 at 12:21 am. #
When I do that, there’s a box on the same line of the image where it says never synched which says “stop synching this computer”. The reset button won’t work and when you click on “stop synching this computer” a box comes up offering to unregister. Any ideas?
by Matt on September 4, 2010 at 10:26 am. #
Matt – I don’t know what the problem is. You could unregister the Mac, but only if all of your contacts & calendars are correct on MobileMe. That way you *could* setup MobileMe again on your Mac to see if that fixes the problem. However, you may want to call Apple or take your mac to a local Apple Store. Also, I searched the Apple Support website, but couldn’t find anything on this problem. Sorry Matt!
by Tony on September 4, 2010 at 12:24 pm. #