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No Merge Option in Mountain Lion

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Benway

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2010
25
0
If possible, I would love to see this thread reopened.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/274241/

Contrary to what the last poster / mod said in this thread before it was closed, this is not a dead issue.

I am using mountain lion,
[I never did use Lion where this issue was supposedly fixed]
and there is NO folder merge.

This is basic functionality which has been left-out is my single MOST hated thing in OSX, and has been for many years.
It drives me mad :mad:, and I'm sure a lot of other people too.
 
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benwiggy

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2012
2,382
201
If you COPY a folder into a location where there is another folder of the same name, you will get a dialog asking if you want to stop, overwrite or Keep Both.

Keep Both merges the folders.
 
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Benway

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2010
25
0
Thanks for trying to help,
but actually, I don't get this option at all! :( :confused:
I get "Don't Replace" / "Stop" / and "Replace"
That's it!

And even if there was a "keep both" option [if this is true, I'd love to know why I don't have it], it would need more functionality and options to be acceptable as a decent file-manager / dialog box,
instead of being what I would call just a "dumb merge".

That said, if you can tell me why I don't have this "Keep both" option,
that would help, as I would MUCH rather have an option for a "dumb" merge lacking options, than no merge at all. :)
 
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benwiggy

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2012
2,382
201
When you MOVE a folder, it's treated like a file, and will replace the other folder in the destination.
If you COPY (hold <alt>), then you get the option to Merge. (Which in ML is now "Merge". Lion had "Keep Both".:eek:)
 
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Benway

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2010
25
0
Thanks again benwiggy, please be sure : I understand :)
But what I am telling you is neither the option for "Keep both" or "merge" appears,
and after further research, I see that these options only appear for some ML users in certain regions!
I am in Australia.
I think I remember reading a lot of people in Germany were also having this issue that this option is not available to them, and people in other certain countries too.

I've yet to find out how to make this option available. Maybe it will happen in a future update for me.

Thanks again for the advice though. Appreciate it.
 
J

jon08

macrumors 68000
Nov 14, 2008
1,885
104
I'm experiencing the same issue as the OP. How the hell can we MERGE files on Mountain Lion?!

All I ever get is "Don't Replace, "Stop" and "Replace"..........
 
P

prowlmedia

Suspended
Jan 26, 2010
1,589
813
London
jon08 said:
I'm experiencing the same issue as the OP. How the hell can we MERGE files on Mountain Lion?!

All I ever get is "Don't Replace, "Stop" and "Replace"..........
Click to expand...

Hold down Alt/Option when you drag/drop the folder you will then get the option to merge.
 
A

airush

macrumors newbie
Jun 12, 2013
2
0
And like the posts Above mention; this option isn't working for some systems. potential due to area\location....??????:(
 
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lonesdav000

macrumors member
Jun 22, 2008
37
0
In my first attempt, I created a folder in "location B", filled it with other folders and content, then duplicated the folder to "location A" and added more content. The resulting options available when copying the folder from "location A" to "B" were:
Screen%20Shot%202013-07-06%20at%202.54.40%20PM.png


In the next attempts, all I did was changed up the contents of both folders a bit on both ends:
Screen%20Shot%202013-07-06%20at%202.30.42%20PM.png

Screen%20Shot%202013-07-06%20at%202.57.37%20PM.png


In this attempt, the folder was also included with several other folders and items:
Screen%20Shot%202013-07-06%20at%202.43.43%20PM.png


This was a real world attempt at the previous:
Screen%20Shot%202013-07-06%20at%203.02.56%20PM.png


I simply do not understand what OS X's logic is in this. It does try to be "smart", at least...
I'm in the Unites States, but I'm doubtful ones region has any effect. Seems more like its dependent on directory configuration and modification dates.
 
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Benway

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2010
25
0
I've noticed that too!
It is strange and stupid.

You know what my "solution" has been?
To run a copy of Windows 7 on my mac, using VMWare fusion, and also running Paragon drivers so that Windows and Mac OSX will play nicely together, and I can modify my mac files with windows....

All this so I can use Windows file / folder explorer to do my file management!
An expensive fix, but worth every penny in the time I've saved.
I use windows anytime I have to do a lot of organization.
I should not have to do this due to the dinosaur finder, but oh well.

I think this simple fundamental area is one of those rare [yet essential!] places where Windoze absolutely kicks Apples ass up and down the street.

Another one : When are we going to get our "CUT and paste", apple? So dumb we don't have it yet. Such a basic and constantly helpful function.
Saves so much time!
 
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Benway

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2010
25
0
I don't think I'm blind.
I think I'm actually pretty good with keyboard shortcuts [for the average user].
Please describe to me how you are cutting-and-pasting.

The obvious shortcut if it existed for me would be comm+x and then comm+v
[like windows ctrl+x then ctrl+v ]

I'd love to hear about this new development.
 
allan.nyholm

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Nov 22, 2007
2,279
2,508
Aalborg, Denmark
Benway said:
I don't think I'm blind.
I think I'm actually pretty good with keyboard shortcuts [for the average user].
Please describe to me how you are cutting-and-pasting.

The obvious shortcut if it existed for me would be comm+x and then comm+v
[like windows ctrl+x then ctrl+v ]

I'd love to hear about this new development.
Click to expand...

Copy like you usually would with Command+c then use option-command+v for pasting files between folders on your system.
 
chown33

chown33

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2009
10,751
8,425
A sea of green
Benway said:
I don't think I'm blind.
I think I'm actually pretty good with keyboard shortcuts [for the average user].
Please describe to me how you are cutting-and-pasting.

The obvious shortcut if it existed for me would be comm+x and then comm+v
[like windows ctrl+x then ctrl+v ]

I'd love to hear about this new development.
Click to expand...
  1. Use cmd-C to get a copy of the files into the clipboard.
  2. Open a window to the destination folder.
  3. With that window frontmost, click the Edit menu.
  4. Press the OPTION/ALT key.
  5. Observe the "Paste" menu-item changes to "Move".
  6. Press the SHIFT key.
  7. Observe the word "Exactly" added to Move or Paste.
Find more info by googling:
os x finder paste items exactly

The general discovery strategy is to click a menu to drop it down, then look at the items, then press modifier keys to discover alternatives. I mention this as a discovery strategy because I haven't yet found an exhaustive list of every possible menu command or keyboard shortcut.
 
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lonesdav000

macrumors member
Jun 22, 2008
37
0
Benway said:
You know what my "solution" has been?
To run a copy of Windows 7 on my mac, using VMWare fusion, and also running Paragon drivers so that Windows and Mac OSX will play nicely together, and I can modify my mac files with windows....

All this so I can use Windows file / folder explorer to do my file management!
An expensive fix, but worth every penny in the time I've saved.
Click to expand...

Interesting... "solution".

Seems a bit more resource heavy than it is expensive, if its just left running all the time. If its not always running, I think having to essentially "boot into my file system" every time I want to manage anything would't exactly save any time... but if it works for you...
 
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Benway

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 20, 2010
25
0
Thanks for that chown33 !
I wonder if there is a way to make a keyboard shortcut for that. I'll do some googling. I should have done some googling in the first place, I apologize for putting you to the trouble. I appreciate it.

lonesdav000 :
I have 16gb of RAM.
My mac easily handles this task.
No, I don't have Windows constantly running.
That would be unnecessary and chew up more Ram than I need....
...But any time I have to organize large amounts of files and folders,
such as updating backup folders on backup drives that contain hundreds / thousands of files, with files from my mac, which may have changes in the original :
The windows method literally saves me DAYS AND DAYS of work.

I attached a picture of the Windows 7 copy dialog.
It asks you this question for every folder and all it's subfolders, no matter how deep.
It is a thing of beauty.....
for anyone who has to organize a lot of files and keep strict backups.

As opposed to the Mac one, which only asks you once; and only does ONE action for all the folders and subfolders, and it doesn't even have a consistent option to "merge" every time, as somebody wrote above!
Only sometimes! Strange.
....ooohh, and for the poor people I have read about who have accidentally hit the "replace" on a mac, when they didn't mean to, and replaced an entire backup folder [or their only copy of a folder] with something they didn't mean to on a mac....
.....that's a terrible thing.
 

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  • windows 7 copy transfer dialog.png
    windows 7 copy transfer dialog.png
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Last edited:
allan.nyholm

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Nov 22, 2007
2,279
2,508
Aalborg, Denmark
Benway said:
Thanks for that chown33 !
I wonder if there is a way to make a keyboard shortcut for that. I'll do some googling. I should have done some googling in the first place, I apologize for putting you to the trouble. I appreciate it.
Click to expand...

There is a shortcut for it - it's Command-Option+V
 
D

DGPMaluco

macrumors regular
Nov 16, 2012
178
0
I have total finder and perian maybe it's from that? I thought it was native.. But then again I got those 2 tools as soon as I got my cmbp
 
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lonesdav000

macrumors member
Jun 22, 2008
37
0
Benway said:
The windows method literally saves me DAYS AND DAYS of work.
Click to expand...

Like I said, if it works for you...
For me, the extra time needed to "baby" the finder is more of an annoyance than anything else.

cmd + x
Click to expand...

While we're also on this subject, "cmd + x" works for text, but not finder items... Anyone else notice that???
 
msandersen

msandersen

macrumors regular
Jan 7, 2003
217
31
Sydney, Australia
Benway said:
...But any time I have to organize large amounts of files and folders,
such as updating backup folders on backup drives that contain hundreds / thousands of files, with files from my mac, which may have changes in the original :
The windows method literally saves me DAYS AND DAYS of work.

I attached a picture of the Windows 7 copy dialog.
It asks you this question for every folder and all it's subfolders, no matter how deep.
It is a thing of beauty.....
for anyone who has to organize a lot of files and keep strict backups.

As opposed to the Mac one, which only asks you once; and only does ONE action for all the folders and subfolders, and it doesn't even have a consistent option to "merge" every time, as somebody wrote above!
Only sometimes! Strange.
....ooohh, and for the poor people I have read about who have accidentally hit the "replace" on a mac, when they didn't mean to, and replaced an entire backup folder [or their only copy of a folder] with something they didn't mean to on a mac....
.....that's a terrible thing.
Click to expand...
I agree that the Finder could learn a few things from Explorer, I had hoped for more on that in Mavericks, it is obviously a deliberate strategy, but it seems your real problem is you backup strategy if you rely on cutting-and-pasting that many files and folders and relying on clicking the right options to not ruin your day. I assume you have your reasons for such a seemingly awkward backup strategy rather than using a backup program like Carbon Copy Cloner to make good managed backups of particular folder structures. Your method sounds like a nightmare and an accident waiting to happen whichever file manager you use!
 
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JazzRico

macrumors newbie
Dec 23, 2014
1
0
I agree that not having a proper merge function is the most annoying thing ever. It is really absurd for an operating system that is otherwise excellent. Because of this very issue, I am using less and less my Mac. The very best solution for me is to download Ubuntu to a memory stick and run the Mac from that. You don't have to install Ubuntu if you don't want to--just run it from the USB stick. You'll be amazed at how quickly it boots and runs. On the Ubuntu site everything is explained very clearly. Doing so, you can access the files and folders that are stored on your Mac, and merge them in very classy style, in no time. I like the Mac, but Ubuntu is in many ways better and its file manager is phenomenal.
I actually use an old laptop with Ubuntu installed on it when I need to manage large folders (photo archives, etc) on external hard drives. It works flawlessly and really it is a shame to have a brand new--and ten times more expensive--Mac sitting next to it on the same desk, turned off because it can't do this very simple task.
Disclaimer: I do not endorse Ubuntu, and I like Macs. Just letting you know what works, and very well, for me.
 
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