Some questions still seem to be present about how to provide a full transfer of an RM database and its media as generated on WinOS to someone who wants to work on macOS (and perhaps vice-versa). The sharable drive option that is provided in RM does not work to transfer between the two OS’s (as discussed elsewhere).
Based on some initial insights, and as a macOS user, I suggest one approach below that I think should work. The approach below excludes any database content that is shared with/linked to/obtained from Ancestry.
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The first step to make a fully sharable transfer of an entire RM database from WinOS to macOS (and vice-versa) is to have all files that are associated with the RM database in one central repository folder on your local drive. The easiest approach to meet this objective is when you have used the Settings→Folder tab to point your Data folder, Backup folder, Media folder, GEDCOM folder, and Report folder all within one main directory folder. In the next steps, the presumed Settings are as follows (where … indicates a higher level folder such as My Documents):
- Data folder: …/Genealogy/Roots Magic/data
- Backup folder: …/Genealogy/Roots Magic/backups
- Media folder: …/Genealogy/Roots Magic/media
- GEDCOM folder: …/Genealogy/Roots Magic/GEDCOM
- Report folder: …/Genealogy/Roots Magic/reports
You can collapse the sub-folder structure by one level and/or name the sub-folders as you want. For example, the main locations can instead be at …/My Roots Magic Files/(data, backups, …).
In order for the macOS version to work fully when you share it, your RM database has to work fully based on a structure such as above. I make no claims as to whether the transfer process will work if you have pointed all your folder locations (data, backup, media …) into one main level folder without associated sub-folders. Also, to emphasize especially with regards to media, if you have any RM files that are stored outside of the above five folders and your WindowsOS version of RM still works seamlessly to access those files, you will have to research how to set up links to those outside files to work within the macOS version of RM.
Finally, the Data folder that you set up as above should contain only the RM database .rmtree file that you want to share. One change might be to put the main .rmtree file at the root of the sub-folders, (e.g. put it in …/Genealogy/Roots Magic directly). Keep this in mind for what follows as instructions to the macOS user.
To be readable by both WinOS and macOS, whatever physical medium you use to transfer the files must be formatted as exFAT. Alternatively, you can upload the file to a cloud service and have the other person download it.
To start the transfer process, make a ZIP archive of the main folder containing the sub-folders. In the above example, the ZIP archive would be of the Roots Magic folder. Making a ZIP archive does two things. First, it collapses some storage space requirements. Secondly, it preserves the integrity of the source files from possible corruption in copying over to the exFAT and in copying over to the other OS system. Rename the ZIP archive to a well-structured convention (e.g. RootsMagicTransfer_2026-04-13.zip), if for nothing else than the sake of everyone’s sanity in later administration of whether it worked or not.
Copy the ZIP archive to the exFAT formatted physical drive. Or, upload the ZIP archive to the cloud share folder.
For the macOS user who should receive the files, they must download and install the RM application before anything else. Then, they must open the RM application before they do anything else. They must set up the Settings→Folders using exactly the same naming structure that you created for your database. Here is a picture.
Two things are critical here. One: This step must be done before any data files are copied over. It establishes the folder paths before any content is added. Two: The naming conventions must adhere exactly to the conventions that you used. Note above that point to the main folder Roots Magic/ is important. The user on macOS can put this Roots Magic folder anywhere. But the name and the sub-folder layouts must be the same as what you used.
Once the macOS user has set up this folder structure, quit the RM application. Now, copy over the ZIP archive from WindowsOS exFAT or cloud folder to an easy-to-find location (on macOS, this might be on the Desktop). Open and extract the ZIP archive folder. COPY all content that is found in each of the above five folders from the ZIP archived folder into the same-named folders for the Roots Magic/ tree.
As the final step, the macOS user can now open the RM app, choose Open File, and find+open the .rmtree file (i.e. in the …/data folder) that should manage it all.
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I hope these instruction steps are useful. Please comment with any corrections as appropriate.
Caveat: I have tested by creating a test database on macOS, ZIPping the test database, cleaning out the folder structure, recreating the folder structure, and re-initiating using the above steps. If RM does its magic with relative file paths, things should work coming from Windows. If RM stores absolute file paths even after the five folders are set, then possibly all bets are off.
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JJW