How to Move a File to Another Folder

Moving your files and folders can help you organize your work so that it's easy for you to access and use. These instructions should work for most operating systems.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mac OS 9.0
• Microsoft Windows

1. Locate the file or folder you want to move.

2. Open the destination folder or disk.

3. Drag the file or folder to the destination.

4. You can also cut and paste to move a file: select the file, and then choose Cut from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Command+C (Macintosh). Then select the destination and either choose Paste from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+V (Mac).

Tips & Warnings

• Windows users can also move a file by right-clicking it and choosing Send To from the menu, and then picking a destination from the list that appears.
• Files may be copied instead of moved. Copying will leave the file in its original location while putting a copy in the new destination folder. To copy, Windows users use the keyboard commands of Ctrl+C (copy) and Ctrl+V (paste). Mac users use Command+C to copy and Command+V to paste. You can also copy by dragging: for Windows users, hold down the right mouse button to drag (instead of the left one as usual), and then choose Copy from the menu that appears when you release the button at the destination. Mac users can just hold down the Option key while you drag.
• Moving or copying files that are found in your operating system's folder, or files that are found in your software applications' folders, will cause problems. Your operating system or the software program may run poorly or not at all.

[myles325]

on 1/16/2009 a clear distinction should be made between MOVING and COPYING files. In this guide, the terms appear to be used interchangeably. Sometimes I want to MOVE files and not have to go back and delete them from the original source. A word on this would be good.