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Forum Discussion
Malbone
6 years agoNew member | Level 2
Dragging file -- copy vs. move
I use Dropbox to move files between Mac computers (OS 10.11 and 10.13) and Windows computers (Win7). When I drag a file from the Dropbox folder to a Windows local folder, it COPIES the file. When I...
- 6 years ago
Malbone wrote:
Why the inconsistent treatment of the same action?
Whether a file is moved or copied when dragged is controlled by your operating system. Dropbox has nothing to do with it.
I can't speak to a Mac ( Mark can comment on that ), but on Windows, a drag and drop between locations on the same drive is considered a move, and a drag and drop between locations on different drives is considered a copy. There are modifier keys that you can hold on both operating systems to change what happens when dragging files. On Windows, holding CTRL will force a copy, holding SHIFT will force a move, and holding CTRL-SHIFT will create a shortcut.
Obviously there is a way in each system to reverse the default action, but why make the user remember to do that?
Ask Microsoft and Apple. It's entirely on them.
cweckerle
5 years agoExplorer | Level 4
I had an issue with dragging and dropping always copying on a Windows 10 machine. I initially assumed it had to do with Dropbox but found it was resolved by changing a setting in Windows. I followed these steps and it was successful: https://mywindowshub.com/how-to-set-the-default-drag-and-drop-action-in-windows-10/
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