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The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.
You can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site.
We want to thank the community members who have contributed their time and expertise to help others with their Apple products.
How do I move files from one folder to another without copying them?
I've tried holding down Command but it just goes ahead and makes a copy. Grrr...
iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15
Command + C to COPY.
Command + Option + V to Cut/Paste the items.
[Edited by Moderator]
Command + C to COPY.
Command + Option + V to Cut/Paste the items.
[Edited by Moderator]
The easiest way I think…
Select the files you want to move, press "command C"
Navigate to where you want to move them, press "command option V"
Press and hold the cmd-key until after you release the mouse and have droppped the items into the target folder.
Moving files on the same drive (that is, Macintosh HD) should not make a copy. If you're putting them on another external drive, then the files will copy by default.
Where are the files stored currently, and where are you moving them?
VikingOSX wrote:
Press and hold the cmd-key until after you release the mouse and have droppped the items into the target folder.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the only time you use the command key is when dragging files to a different volume/partition/drive?
Thanks for replying. When I try that nothing happens. No copy, nothing. So I've been resorting to copying the files onto a folder on my desktop then copying back to where I want it, then deleting the folder on my desktop. Very long-winded!
Thanks everyone. I've got it now! :)
How do I move files from one folder to another without copying them
