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Key command to cut, copy & paste "files" and "folders"?

kirkbross

kirkbross

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 6, 2007
666
22
Los Angeles
Is there a key command to copy, cut and paste FILES and FOLDERS in Leopard?

On my PC I can select files in a folder and move them around with the standard cut n paste key commands.
 
r.j.s said:
No, there isn't. It is a major shortfall of OS X, IMO.
Click to expand...
WOW... remarkable! There are a couple things like this in Mac OS that appear to remain unfixed because of ego and not wanting to learn / borrow anything from Windows. I also like being able to cut, paste and rename files inside the "Open File" dialogue of a given application which also seems "intentionally overlooked" in Mac OS.
 
Command-C, Command-V?

Seriously, in Finder:
  • Select the folder to copy
  • Hit Command-C
  • Move to the location you want to copy the folder to
  • Hit Command-V

You can also Drag-and-Drop holding the Option key.
 
John.B said:
Command-C, Command-V?

Seriously, in Finder:
  • Select the folder to copy
  • Hit Command-C
  • Move to the location you want to copy the folder to
  • Hit Command-V

You can also Drag-and-Drop holding the Option key.
Click to expand...
I'm talkin' Command-X to "cut" it entirely from the original location and move it.
 
kirkbross said:
Yeah... but if it happens to be dragged to a different drive, it copies it and you have the additional step of deleting it from the source drive.

C'mon Apple, get it together!
Click to expand...

In that situation, just hold Command while dragging, the green + will disappear and the file will move.
 
John.B said:
To cut, use Command-X.

You can use Drag-and-Drop (in this case, without the Option key).

Seriously, did you even try this? Or don't you have a Mac yet?
Click to expand...

Have you tried it? In Finder, you CANNOT cut files/folders using Cmd-X.
 
r.j.s said:
In that situation, just hold Command while dragging, the green + will disappear and the file will move.
Click to expand...
K... that's marginally better, but like Apple's refusal to have standard issue TWO BUTTON mice... this feels like a case of "we're not gonna borrow ANYTHING from Windows, even if it's obviously more intuitive."
 
kirkbross said:
K... that's marginally better, but like Apple's refusal to have standard issue TWO BUTTON mice... this feels like a case of "we're not gonna borrow ANYTHING from Windows, even if it's obviously more intuitive."
Click to expand...
The Mighty Mouse is a two button mouse (it works as a two button mouse depending on which side you click on).

:apple: -> System Preferences... Keyboard & Mouse -> Mouse -> Set the Right Button to "Secondary Button". You'll have to not leave your left finger on the left side of the "button" or you'll find the right "button" might not be recognized. Or you can Control-Click, which works just like a Right-Click. (Actually, its more accurate to say Right-Click works just like Control-Click if you've been around Macs for a long time, which you haven't. :p)
 
kirkbross said:
K... that's marginally better, but like Apple's refusal to have standard issue TWO BUTTON mice... this feels like a case of "we're not gonna borrow ANYTHING from Windows, even if it's obviously more intuitive."
Click to expand...

I actually like the single button on the notebooks. Right click is two fingers on the trackpad, then click - as opposed to contorting your thumb under your hand to the right button on other manufacturer's machines.
 
John.B said:
The Mighty Mouse is a two button mouse (it works as a two button mouse depending on which side you click on).
Click to expand...
I know... but it's they're hiding behind design and truthfully, it doesn't work as efficiently as a regular two button mouse (I use a Logitech MX Revolution)... and most average users who use Macs don't even know there is a right-click button because of the "sleek" design.
 
kirkbross said:
I know... but it's they're hiding behind design and truthfully, it doesn't work as efficiently as a regular two button mouse (I use a Logitech MX Revolution)... and most average users who use Macs don't even know there is a right-click button because of the "sleek" design.
Click to expand...
So buy a friggin' Logitech mouse! LOL! It works the same, but you won't get Exposé by "pinching" the sides of the mouse (which I wouldn't give up for anything).
 
John.B said:
So buy a friggin' Logitech mouse! LOL! It works the same, but you won't get Exposé by "pinching" the sides of the mouse (which I wouldn't give up for anything).
Click to expand...

I did buy a Logitech mouse. I get Exposé with my thumb wheel, which IMO is easier than squeezing the mouse. Plus I can both show AND hide windows. And I can press the wheel in to get the application switcher. I also get forward and back buttons for web browsing. Then there's also the button under the scroll wheel which I have set to launch Spaces.

The Mighty Mouse isn't really all that mighty...

kirkbross said:
I use a Logitech MX Revolution
Click to expand...

:cool:
 
kirkbross said:
WOW... remarkable! There are a couple things like this in Mac OS that appear to remain unfixed because of ego and not wanting to learn / borrow anything from Windows. I also like being able to cut, paste and rename files inside the "Open File" dialogue of a given application which also seems "intentionally overlooked" in Mac OS.
Click to expand...

Give the attitude a rest. If you dislike what Apple chooses to do so much, go back to Microsoft.

Unfixed? Just because Apple does not think certain features are required, important, or necessary does not mean something is broken. I have used Macs since 1983 and I have never found the lack of cut and paste for files and folders to be an issue. Apple has a UI philosophy that is different than Microsoft's, thank God, and that means some things will always be different. Apple's goal is not to have Mac OS X be different than Windows just to be different.

I have used some form of Windows since 1985 and can't even tell you when this feature was introduced. I have always been content to move files and folders around using by dragging and dropping in both OSes.

The simple fact is that you will have to get used to doing some things differently in Mac OS X than you did/do in Windows.

Would I like it if they added this feature? I don't see how it could hurt anything. But no one's life is irreparably damaged if they don't either.

S-
 
I'm working on a Cut/Paste solution for the Finder. If you're up to manually installing it, which isn't hard at all, I'll post it. I'm having some problems with PackageMaker, so until I get that solved, It'll be manual install only.
 
I'm probably wrong but I thought this was supposed to be a safety feature. If you were able to cut, then get distracted, forgot what you were doing and eventually shut the computer down, what would happen to the files? If, during pasting after cutting, a fault developed on the drive you were pasting to or there was a power outage, wouldn't you lose all the files? In Windows, I always used the copy command, never cut for moving files and folders and then delete the original.
 
Alican said:
I'm probably wrong but I thought this was supposed to be a safety feature. If you were able to cut, then get distracted, forgot what you were doing and eventually shut the computer down, what would happen to the files? If, during pasting after cutting, a fault developed on the drive you were pasting to or there was a power outage, wouldn't you lose all the files? In Windows, I always used the copy command, never cut for moving files and folders and then delete the original.
Click to expand...
In both Windows and OS X, the cut command *flags* the files to be moved. If you don't complete the command, the files are never deleted/moved.

BTW, all the cut/paste commands do is move the files. When moving files on the same volume, you aren't moving the actual files; you are just changing some internal pointers that govern where the files appear on your operating system. So its a very fast operation.

OTOH, copy/paste/delete-the-originals method is probably more error prone when it comes to cleaning up the files. Its certainly a lot slower.

My advice is to open two finder windows to move files. If you accidentally move the wrong files, that's what the undo command is for.
 
people actually move files and folders using cut and paste?

i have always dragged and dropped things, even when using windows. I guess i was just a mac person from the start, even though i have never owned a mac...yet
 
But I do see the option cut in Edit menu

John.B said:
To cut, use Command-X.

You can move using Drag-and-Drop (in this case, without the Option key).

Seriously, did you even try this? Or don't you have a Mac yet?
Click to expand...

I read through few post and found that Mac does not have option to cut and paste file. But why do I see Cut option in the Edit menu? It does not make sense. Are we really missing here something?

Ken
 
I sort of disagree here...

sidewinder said:
Give the attitude a rest. If you dislike what Apple chooses to do so much, go back to Microsoft.

Unfixed? Just because Apple does not think certain features are required, important, or necessary does not mean something is broken. I have used Macs since 1983 and I have never found the lack of cut and paste for files and folders to be an issue. Apple has a UI philosophy that is different than Microsoft's, thank God, and that means some things will always be different. Apple's goal is not to have Mac OS X be different than Windows just to be different.

I have used some form of Windows since 1985 and can't even tell you when this feature was introduced. I have always been content to move files and folders around using by dragging and dropping in both OSes.

The simple fact is that you will have to get used to doing some things differently in Mac OS X than you did/do in Windows.

Would I like it if they added this feature? I don't see how it could hurt anything. But no one's life is irreparably damaged if they don't either.

S-
Click to expand...

I sort of disagree here. being different or having diff philosophy and all that is ok. but what is wrong with having a feature which is so much useful. drag and drop works fine with files.. and people who like mouse and trackpads. but people who have grown up to use computers without mouse, cmd-x would be very easy to use. i m programer myself and have to write code all over.. without cut and paste moving text with mouse (drag and drop) will be so much time consuming...

i mean I think there is ego or better explanation for not having cut & paste in Mac.
 
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