Shortcuts for Moving, Copying, and Cleaning Up
When I first switched to the Mac, I remember really missing the Windows shortcuts for forcing a move or copy when dragging files from place to place. Well, purely by accident, I just had a “eureka!” moment. I don’t know why I didn’t try this sooner.
h3. The Default Behaviors
By default in both operating systems, when you drag a file or folder from one place to another place on the same disk (your hard drive, network share, etc.), the OS moves the file. If you’re source and destinations are on different disks, however, simply dragging a file or folder creates a copy of the source file on the destination disk. When you want to move something instead of copying it, that just sucks.
h3. Getting Your Way
If you want to force a move instead of a copy when dragging things around in OS X, hold down the Command key (the Apple key) while you drop the file, meaning: press and hold it in mid-drag. And Presto: forced move. No more copy and then delete the file at the source disk. In Windows, hold the Shift key while dropping. To force a copy when dragging between locations on the same disk in OS X, hold down the Alt (Option) key while you drop the files. On the Mac, you could also hit Command + D to duplicate whatever you’ve got selected in the same place as the original. In Windows, the Control key forces a copy.
h3. Cleaning Up
If you’re a neat freak (or if you just like to keep your icons in line), you may have Finder’s View Options (Command + J) set to have your icons “snap to grid.” Occasionally though, you may not want everything to be so orderly. You can do this by holding down the Command key when you drop the file. When the snap to grid option is off, holding the Command key while you drop a file causes the exact opposite: the file aligns to a grid.