In Mac OS X, there are two ways to move or copy icons from one place to another: by dragging them or by using the Copy and Paste commands.
You can drag icons from one folder to another, from one drive
to another, from a drive to a folder on another drive, and so on.
(When you’ve selected several icons, drag any
one of them; the others tag along.) While the
Mac is copying, you can tell that the process is still under way
even if the progress bar is hidden behind a window, because the icon
of the copied material shows up dimmed in its
new home, darkening only when the copying process is over. You can
cancel the process by pressing either 
-period or the Esc key.
Understanding when the Mac copies a dragged icon and when it moves it bewilders many a beginner. However, the scheme is fairly simple when you consider the following:
Dragging from one folder to another on the same disk moves the icon.
Dragging from one disk (or disk partition) to another copies the folder or file. (You can drag icons either into an open window or directly onto a disk or folder icon.)
If you press the Option key as you release an icon you’ve dragged, you copy the icon instead of moving it. Doing so within a single folder produces a duplicate of the file called “[Whatever its name was] copy.”
If you press the
key as you release an icon you’ve dragged
from one disk to another, you move the file
or folder, in the process deleting it from the original
disk.
Tip
This business of pressing Option or
after you begin
dragging is a tad awkward, but it has its charms. For example, it
means you can change your mind about the purpose of your drag in
mid-movement, without having to drag back and start over.
And if it turns out you just dragged something into the wrong
window or folder, a quick -Z (the shortcut for Edit→Undo) puts it right
back where it came from.
Dragging icons to copy or move them probably feels good because it’s so direct: You actually see your arrow cursor pushing the icons into the new location.
But you pay a price for this satisfying illusion. You may have to spend a moment or two fiddling with your windows to create a clear “line of drag” between the icon to be moved and the destination folder.
There’s a better way. Use the Copy and Paste commands to move icons from one window into another, just as you can in Windows. You can even move files this way, not just copy them, although the steps are slightly different on the Mac. Anyway, here’s the routine:
Gem in the Rough: Two Lion Goodies: Smart Handling of Identically Named Icons
What if you’re dragging a file or folder into some window—and there’s already a file or folder there with the same name?
In operating systems in days of yore, a warning message appeared. It let you Stop (the whole operation) or Replace (the existing items with the ones you were moving).
Lion is just a little bit smarter. It offers a third option: Keep Both.
For example, if you drag or paste files of the same name, you’re offered a button called Keep Both Files. If you click it, Lion adds the number 2 (or 3, or 4...) to the end of the incoming file’s name, so you can tell it apart from the existing one in the destination.
Tip: If you’re dragging several files whose names match existing files in the destination folder, then Mac OS X asks you individually about each one (Stop, Replace, Keep Both Files?). If you intend to answer the same way for every single file, save yourself the insanity by turning on the “Apply to all” checkbox before answering the question.
There’s another, related feature that comes into play when you paste a folder into a spot where there’s another folder with the same name. In this case, Lion offers to merge the contents of the two folders.
It might say, for example: “An item named ‘Notes’ already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the one you’re moving? Each folder has unique items such as ‘Salary Projections’ and ‘Stealth Projects.doc.’” And your choices are Stop, Keep Both, or Replace All. (These options appear only when you’re pasting a folder into a new window—not dragging it. They also appear when you Option-drag a folder into a new window to copy it there, or when you drag it to a different disk.)
If you click Keep Both, the Finder combines the contents of the two folders. The folder you’re pasting disappears, but its contents join the contents of the other folder (the one in the destination window) in blissful harmony.
Highlight the icon or icons you want to move.
Use any of the techniques described in Selecting Icons.
Choose Edit→Copy.
Open the window where you want to put the icons. Choose Edit→Paste.
Once again, you may prefer to use the keyboard equivalent:
-V. And once again, you can also
Control-click (right-click) inside the window and then choose
Paste from the shortcut menu that appears, or you can use the
menu.If you add the Option key—press Option-
-V—you move the icons
to the new window instead of copying them. That is, the
originals disappear after they appear in the new location. (This
might make more sense if you use the menu way: If you open the
Edit menu and press Option, you’ll see the Paste Items command
change to say Move Items Here.)
A progress bar may appear as Mac OS X copies the files or
folders; press Esc or -period to interrupt the process. When the
progress bar goes away, it means you’ve successfully transferred the
icons, which now appear in the new window.
Tip
If you paste a folder into a spot where there’s another folder with the same name, Lion does something awfully thoughtful: It offers to merge the contents of the two folders. For details, see the box in Gem in the Rough: Two Lion Goodies: Smart Handling of Identically Named Icons.
Here’s a common dilemma: You want to drag an icon not just into a folder, but into a folder nested inside that folder. This awkward challenge would ordinarily require you to open the folder, open the inner folder, drag the icon in, and then close both the windows you opened. As you can imagine, the process is even messier if you want to drag an icon into a sub-subfolder or even a sub-sub-subfolder.
Fortunately, there’s a better way: Use the spring-loaded folders feature (Figure 3-3).
With a single drag, drag the icon onto the first folder—but keep your mouse button pressed. After a second, the window opens automatically, centered on your cursor.
Still keeping the button down, drag onto the inner folder; its window opens, too. Now drag onto the inner inner folder—and so on. (If the inner folder you intend to open isn’t visible in the window, you can scroll by dragging your cursor close to any edge of the window.)
Tip
You can even drag icons onto disks or folders whose icons appear in the Sidebar (Chapter 1). When you do so, the main part of the window flashes to reveal the contents of the disk or folder you’ve dragged onto. When you let go of the mouse, the main window changes back to reveal the contents of the disk or folder where you started dragging.
In short, Sidebar combined with spring-loaded folders make a terrific drag-and-drop way to file a desktop icon from anywhere to anywhere—without having to open or close any windows at all.
When you finally release the mouse, you’re left facing the final window. All the previous windows closed on the way. You’ve neatly placed the icon into the core of the nested folders.
That spring-loaded folder technique sounds good in theory, but it can be disconcerting in practice. For most people, the long wait before the first folder opens is almost enough wasted time to negate the value of the feature altogether. Furthermore, when the first window finally does open, you’re often caught by surprise. Suddenly your cursor—mouse button still down—is inside a window, sometimes directly on top of another folder you never intended to open. But before you can react, its window, too, has opened, and you find yourself out of control.
Fortunately, you can regain control of spring-loaded folders using these tricks:
Choose Finder→Preferences. On the General pane, adjust the “Spring-loaded folders and windows” delay slider to a setting that drives you less crazy. For example, if you find yourself waiting too long before the first folder opens, drag the slider toward the Short setting.
Figure 3-3. Top: To make spring-loaded folders work, start by dragging an icon onto a folder or disk icon. Don’t release the mouse button. Wait for the window to open automatically around your cursor. Bottom: Now you can either let go of the mouse button to release the file in its new window or drag it onto yet another, inner folder. It, too, will open. As long as you don’t release the mouse button, you can continue until you’ve reached your folder-within-a-folder destination.
You can turn off this feature entirely by choosing Finder→Preferences and turning off the “Spring-loaded folders and windows” checkbox.
Tap the space bar to make the folder spring open at your command. That is, even with the Finder→Preferences slider set to the Long delay setting, you can force each folder to spring open when you are ready by tapping the space bar as you hold down the mouse button. True, you need two hands to master this one, but the control you regain is immeasurable.
Whenever a folder springs open into a window, twitch your mouse up to the newly opened window’s title bar or down to its information strip. Doing so ensures that your cursor won’t wind up hovering on, and accidentally opening up, an inner folder. With the cursor parked on the gradient gray, you can take your time to survey the newly opened window’s contents, and plunge into an inner folder only after gaining your bearings.
