Dummy question: How to move folders in OS X?

[OldCorpse]

OK, I'm a moron. Can somebody explain to me how to move folders about? Despite being on my iBook for almost a year, I still have no idea how to do it.

I have an external HDD to which I regularly move folders from my iBook. Here's how I do it:

1) Open iBook finder and locate the "folder X" I want to move
2) Open external HDD and open the window with the folders where I want to move "folder X" to
3) Click and hold folder X with my mouse and move it over to the open HDD window
4) Release the left click button on my mouse and drop folder X into the open window.

OK, 9 out of 10 times it doesn't work. Here's why: even though I DO NOT release the mouse button, the folder will spontaneously drop into another folder I'm just passing over as I move my mouse to the folder I actually want to drop folder X into. Most of the time, I then spend several minutes trying to locate where the stupid folder X dropped into (using Spotlight, with it's sucky way of showing the entire path to where any given file actually is). Horrible.

In windows XP you can right click and move a file by finding the destination through the browse function, and then click on "move" (or in the left hand function panel). I can't find that functionality in OS X. Instead, OS X seems to rely on manual dexterity and split second timing of moving a mouse - I HATE IT. Total time waster. Plus, it doesn't actually work, since the behavior of the mouse is not predictable. I don't release the mouse click, and yet my stupid folder drops into some random place. Hate it.

What is the solution? I know there must be one, but the supposedly "intuitive" OS X doesn't allow me to intuit what the solution is. Help! TIA.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Hold down the Apple (command) key as you move the folder. And learn how spring-loaded folders work.

 

[clevin]

oh. my. such a pain
go download xfolders at http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/13176 easy to use

 

[OldCorpse]

Thanks, I'm gonna give X-folders a try, and also the apple command thing... btw. I know how spring-loaded folders work, I just hate it, cause it moves way too fast and not when I want it to (I can't seem to be able to guide it well enough, it's stupid to rely on manual dexterity and speed).

 

[jsw]

Thanks, I'm gonna give X-folders a try, and also the apple command thing... btw. I know how spring-loaded folders work, I just hate it, cause it moves way too fast and not when I want it to (I can't seem to be able to guide it well enough, it's stupid to rely on manual dexterity and speed).

Finder->Preferences...->General.

You can turn off spring-loading or alter how quickly it happens.

 

[gnasher729]

OK, I'm a moron. Can somebody explain to me how to move folders about?

1. No, you are not. Morons don't post sensible questions here.
2. The easiest is copy + paste. Click on the folder, Command-C, open the folder where you want it to go, Command-V.

However, this doesn't "move" the folder, it makes a duplicate of it. The difference is that after "moving" a folder from place A to B, it is now at B and not at A anymore; with copy + paste you have now two folders. They way you described things, that was actually what you wanted.

 

[mkrishnan]

Finder->Preferences...->General.

You can turn off spring-loading or alter how quickly it happens.

I'd recommend that too (changing the time). I found that, after the first little bits of getting used to it, spring loading is one of my favorite little things in OS X.

But even still... the way spring loading works, it doesn't leave your files anywhere unless you let go of the button. So that part I'm still confused about.

 

[Hoopman]

Here’s what you do:

In Finder preferences:
Set the time for spring loading folders to long, but dont turn it off completely.

Then use the space bar to manually open folders. It's much nicer to have this happen on your own command rather than a set time. With the time set to long there will be no more accidentally opened folders.

Helper keys for moving and copying files/folders:

1. Hold the Command key down to MOVE a file/folder to another disk (equals cut + paste)

2. Hold the Alt key down to move a COPY to another folder

3. Hold the Command and Alt keys down to draw an ALIAS (shortcut in windows)

4. Dragging with no extra keys activated will move the file if it's within the same harddrive but make a copy if it's dropped on another harddrive.

 

[Howard Brazee]

How do we use the GUI to *merge* folders? As a Windows user, I lost some data by copying a folder - which replaced the old folder instead of merging the two together.

 

[dogbone]

Use spring loaded folders set to slow, and then use the Spacebar when you are over a folder to open it instantly.

 

[Howard Brazee]

I don't know what that means.

 

[dogbone]

Sorry that was not an answer to you HB, but a general answer the OP.

Don't know what you mean by merging other than having all the contents in one folder in which case you can drag the entire contents of one folder and drop it on the other.

 

[Howard Brazee]

With windows, if one folder has A, B, C, & D, and it is dragged to folder with C, D, E, & F, the result will have A, B, C, D, E, & F.

This can be useful.