OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies

Shuffling Around Files and Folders

Sometimes, keeping files and folders organized means moving them from one place to another. At other times, you want to copy them, rename them, or compress them to send to a friend. These sections explain all those things and more.

All the techniques that I discuss in the following sections work at least as well for windows that use list, column, or Cover Flow view as they do for windows that use icon view. I use icon view in the figures in this section only because it’s the best view for pictures to show you what’s going on. For what it’s worth, I find moving and copying files much easier in windows that use list or column view.

Comprehending the Clipboard

Before you start moving your files around, let me introduce you to the Clipboard. The Clipboard is a holding area for the last thing that you cut or copied. That copied item can be text, a picture, a portion of a picture, an object in a drawing program, a column of numbers in a spreadsheet, any icon (except a disk), or just about anything else that can be selected. In other words, the Clipboard is the Mac’s temporary storage area.

Most of the time, the Clipboard works quietly in the background, but you can ask the Clipboard to reveal itself by choosing Edit⇒Show Clipboard. This command summons the Clipboard window, which lists the type of item (such as text, picture, or sound) on the Clipboard ...