Since that's something that's filed away and forgotten somewhere in the far reaches of the disk, I pull up the Spotlight menu and go to type "Ballmer", but before I even finish, coworker calls across and says "never mind, I don't need it". Then coworker from across the room shouts over "hey, can you pull up a copy of the Ballmer file". I have a long file open in TextEdit and I'm using Command-F or Command-G to search or re-search for the string "Jobs".Īnd I also have Safari open to a web page and I'm using Command-F to look for instances of "Wozniak". Note: I dont know if this works in previous OS X releases, I only tested it in 10.6. Next from the left list select Keyboard & Text Input, then from the right list check the option that says 'Select next source in Input menu.'Ĭlose the System Preferences window and now you can use Command+Option+Space in any application to switch between your input sources. From the left list select the Spotlight option, then from the right list uncheck the option that says 'Show Spotlight Window.' Go back to the main System Preferences window by clicking on the Show All button at the top of the window, then select Keyboard » Keyboard Shortcuts. At the bottom of the window check the 'Show Input menu in menu bar' option. You don't need to do this first part, but since I like to see a little flag of my input source in the menu bar, so first you go to System Preferences » Language & Text then select the Input Sources tab.
#MOVE VS COPY MAC HOTKEY MAC OS X#
Even though Mac OS X comes with a shortcut, which is Command+Space and Command+Option+Space, it is disabled by default because Spotlight shares these shortcuts.
#MOVE VS COPY MAC HOTKEY WINDOWS#
As you can see in our screenshots, Windows will change the action’s description from copy to move (and vice versa) as you press the corresponding Shift or Control keys on your keyboard.Īs a bonus, if you hold the Alt key while dragging and dropping files, Windows will create a shortcut to the files in the new location.If you type in more than one language, and you are constantly switching back and forth between these languages it can get a bit tedious to use the mouse. In the second screenshot, we’re still attempting to transfer the files to another drive, but because we’re holding the Shift key on the keyboard, Windows shows that it will move the files instead.īecause the Shift and Control keys play a role when you’re selecting files in File Explorer, the trick is to first select any files you wish to copy or move, click and start dragging them, and then press and hold the desired key on the keyboard before releasing your mouse button or trackpad. Because we’re moving the files to another drive, Windows shows that it will copy the files. To further illustrate this concept, the screenshot above shows files being dragged and dropped without touching any keys on the keyboard. Shift + Drag & Drop: this will always move the files when you drag and drop them, even when the default behavior is to copy them (i.e., when dragging files to a folder on a different drive). Thankfully, you can override the default drag and drop behavior by holding a key or two on your keyboard while moving the files:Ĭontrol + Drag & Drop: this will always copy the files when you drag and drop them, even when the default behavior is to move them (i.e., when dragging files between different folders on the same drive). This default behavior “plays it safe,” assuming that the user probably only wants one copy of their files on their primary storage drive, but may want to retain an extra copy if the files are transferred to an external drive, network drive, or even another drive or volume inside the same PC.īut this strategy isn’t always ideal, of course, and it can be annoying to have Windows move your files when you intended to create a second copy, or leave a copy you need to manually delete when you intended to actually move the files. If, however, a user drags and drops files from one location to another location on a different drive, Windows will copy the files, leaving the files in their original location and creating a second copy in the new location.
Here’s how.īy default, if a user drags and drops one or more files from one location to another location on the same drive, Windows will move the files.
Dragging and dropping files is probably the most common way that Windows users manage file locations on their PC, but many users don’t know that they can change the way drag and drop works in Windows by using some modifier keyboard shortcuts.