Tip of the Week: 5 Easy Ways to Move Multiple Files

Storing critical physical files has been an important part of the office infrastructure for a long time. In the past, files were stuffed into folders and catalogued in a file cabinet for access; but when it came time to move files, it took a lot of work. Now, since many files are stored electronically, several shortcuts allow you to easily move your files.

Click and Drag
If the files you want to move are in one location, like on your desktop, you can click and drag your mouse to create a boxed area of effect. Any files within this box can be moved through a simple click- and-drag function. Select the files you want to move, then drag any one of them to the location to move all that are selected.

Select the Checkboxes
In Windows 10, individual files include little checkboxes you can click on to select. If you have several files that you need to move you can click the checkboxes for all of them, then move them all. This can save you considerable time and effort.

The Click-Shift
You can select files that are horizontal and adjacent to each other by using the Click-Shift method. Just select the file that you want to move, then hold down the Shift key while selecting the last one you want to move. Anything in between will be selected. All you have to do is click and drag the files to their new location.

Hold Ctrl
When you hold down the Ctrl key, you can click on any files you want to move. Once they’re selected, all you have to do is move them to the appropriate folder.

Select All Files
If you decide that your desktop is too cluttered, and you need to move everything to a new location, the Select All keyboard shortcut that works in most word processors can be used to select all of your files at once. Just hit Ctrl+A to select all files in your current window, or desktop. Just click and drag them, and you’re all set.

Some of these keyboard shortcuts also work with Mac OS X. Just substitute the Ctrl key for the Command key, and they should work generally the same way.

Fun Fact: Do you know why Windows decided long ago to include Solitaire with their OS? Microsoft viewed the game as a way to get users more accustomed to dragging and double clicking objects with a mouse.

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