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In the copy box of Lion's Finder, is there anyway to get the "Don't Replace" option back?

In the Lion Finder, I am trying to copy files from one folder to another. Some of the file already exist in the destination folder and I don't want to "Keep Both Files" or "Replace", since its a lot of data to copy over the network. Is there anyway to get the "Don't Replace" option back? Or am I stuck manually figuring out which files don't exist. I've used "Don't Replace" for years in my work flow and don't really want to lose that tool.

Finder-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 21, 2011 8:54 PM

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3 replies

Sep 12, 2011 10:44 AM in response to Doorstop

You don't have to do it manually, but you'll have to use the Terminal application for now. I am hopeful that they'll bring it back, but because of the higher bandwidth of the newer Thunderbolt devices it seems they are okay with wasting the amount of time and energy it takes for legacy users--and Thunderbolt users, in reality--to deal with this problem without resorting to archaic and unnecessary means. I am optimistic they are conscious of the problem from some articles I've read, but because it seems to be a larger problem than just whether to put a button back in the interface it probably won't be fixed before the next update. Just guessing, of course, I don't work for them (how 'bout a job, 'ole pal Apple my pal? lol).


The terminal command is:


cp -Rpn /originating file path/ /destination file path/


It's called recursive copying. I found a post somewhere here about it saying that the keep both files function made the do not replace function work intermittantly or not at all, which is why we don't have it in Lion. Which would be more frustrating, I don't know!


[edited to remove bold typeface on last paragraph]

Oct 12, 2011 6:22 PM in response to Sambarbadonat

Much easier than dropping into a shell to execute a copy operation is to hold the Option key when the warning of duplicate files appear. That will turn "Keep Both" into "Skip," letting you copy only the unique filenames.


If you hold the option key a bit too long when option-dragging files from one folder to another, "Skip" will be the default, and pressing option again will switch it to "Keep Both."

In the copy box of Lion's Finder, is there anyway to get the "Don't Replace" option back?

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