What is the best way to move files to folders on your computer?

TuckerdogAVL

TuckerdogAVL

Registered
I've struggled with some basic housekeeping for many years and finally decided to ask, "how do you do it?" question.

Let's say you have a bunch of files on your desktop and you want to get rid of the clutter. So, let's say you have a home folder, which has a subfolder in it, and it has subfolders in it. For illustration, let's say it's something like this:

MyBusiness folder
>Clients
>>#1 Client
>>#2 Client
>>>#2 Client correspondence
>>>#2 Client invoices
>Samples of Work
>>Brochures
>>News Releases

Now, you've got this file on your desktop. And you want to put it in the MyBusiness Folder/Samples of Work/News Releases....

You click on it.
Drag it over the folder Samples of Work, it opens, you see News releases, and you then attempt to drag the file you clicked on over to that folder without making "a mess."

Or....
You click on it...
and because there are other categories and folders that take up half the page, you can't see the actual folder you want to drop it in....
I always - still holding the file = then try to make the page scroll down so I can get to the folder "category" but often it doesn't work.

And, if you accidentally "let go," you need to remember what you called that file, because who knows what folder it may pop into.

Is there another way to do this other than having to first find the folder you want to put something in, then either minimizing or moving the open window, then choosing the file, than dragging or copying the file into the folder?

I can't be the only person that struggles with this. Hopefully.
(I missed the File/Folder 101 class, I guess).

Thanks for any input.
 
with nested folders such as you describe, this is how I do it.
#1-First I locate and open the destination folder in Finder, it will now be frontmost.
#2= Drag and drop the file-folder from the desktop into the now open destination folder.

Repeat #1and #2 for any other files-folders you may need to move.
 
Sure, you can use spring-loaded folders in just the way you describe at first. Use your Exposé shortcut to show the desktop so you can pick up the file hidden by all the clutter of windows and again to return to the Finder window where you're dragging the file. Pick up more than one file if the share a destination. And if you accidentally let go, just Undo and the file(s) will return to their origin.
 
earthsaver, I will try that. I've also found that changing from "list" view to the "icon" view, does help a little (as it is a bigger target), but I still haven't found a good way. I like your idea about using the Expose shortcut...I'll try that.
UNDO is a useful thing to remember, too.
 
Or have two Finder windows open, both in the column view.
Pick items you want to move from window 1 and drag to the folder on window 2 - that is when it can't be all moved faster within 1 Finder window.
 
Another useful method (for Lion at least) is to use ⌘C and ⌥⌘V, which is essentially the same as copy and paste but if you hold down the option key whilst pasting, the original is deleted.
 
You can also use Exposé in mid-drag to select any open window. Very handy if you have overlapping Finder windows.

Scrolling windows while dragging files is a pain. Apple badly broke this in OS X, and for some reason they've neglected the Finder pretty badly for all these years. So the short answer is, find your destination folder and make sure it's scrolled on screen before dragging. Or open the folder in a new window and drag to that.
 
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