Moving Files

You might often need to move files from one location to another. One way to do this, which we discussed earlier, is to CUT files from one location, and the PASTE them into a new location.

A different way to do the same thing is with drag-and-drop. If you remember, drag-and-drop is when you click-and-drag an icon from one location, and then let go of it (release the mouse button) when it appears above another location. Let's look at that move in more detail.

First, you click on the item you want to move. As you can see in step 1 below, the file ("kurosawa.gif") becomes darker when you click on it. You then drag the icon over the folder where you want to put it (step 2). Notice that when the item you're dragging is over the folder, the folder also turns dark. That means it's ready for you to drop it. Just let go of the mouse button (step 3) and the icon will disappear. It is now inside the folder.

1

2

3

By the way, notice in step 2 there appear to be two "kurosawa.gif" files. When you drag an icon, the original image of the icon will usually remain where it was until you drop the moving image of the same icon.

You can also drag and drop an icon from the Desktop into a folder window, from one folder window into another window, or from a folder window to the Desktop. Just make sure that the folders you want to use are all visible at the same time.

Selecting More Than One Item

If you want to move more than one item at a time, you can select several at once. There are different ways of doing this.

The first way is to simply "draw" a rectangle around the icons you want, by clicking and dragging the cursor. Make sure than you begin the click-and-drag in an empty spot, where there are no icons. Then click, and drag the cursor until the rectangle is made, then let go of the mouse button. The icons that were in the rectangle will be selected (dark).