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Friday, November 12

Will dragging a file result in a move or a copy?  


From: Will dragging a file result in a move or a copy?:
Some people are confused by the seemingly random behavior when you drag a file. Do you get a move or a copy?

And you're right to be confused because it's not obvious until you learn the secret. Mind you, this secret hasn't changed since 1989, but an old secret is still a secret just the same. (Worse: An old secret is a compatibility constraint.)

  • If Ctrl Shift are held down, then the operation creates a shortcut.
  • If Shift is held down, then the operation is a move.
  • If Ctrl is held down, then the operation is a copy.
  • If no modifiers are held down and the source and destination are on the same drive, then the operation is a move.
  • If no modifiers are held down and the source and destination are on different drives, then the operation is a copy.

This is one of the few places where the fact that there are things called "drives" makes itself known to the end user in a significant way.

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Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 11/12/2004 01:24:00 PM   Edit this entry 0 comments Links to this post

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Will dragging a file result in a move or a copy?
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