Copying instead of moving from desktop to certain library's.

[Executable]

So right I have a number of library's with short cuts to to them on my desktop. When I hold click and drag files on the desktop into them, they copy there instead of moving. So it leaves an annoying copy on my desktop. This only happens with a couple of the library's so it has bewildered me. Any ideas on how to fix this?

 

[Orbital Shark]

Hi,

Can you explain which library's are affected and are they custom library's? I've just done a quick test moving a file to a 'Documents' shortcut and it behaved as it should (file gone from desktop).


OS

 

[Orbital Shark]

also, as a test for you to perform, try to right-click & drag to the shortcut and select 'Move here' from the context menu

 

[Executable]

The right click and drag works. They are all custom library's on the desktop. I don't have the pictures or music or any of them.

 

[Orbital Shark]

I've just created a 'test' library and had to 'include' a folder for it to function (I used the download folder). Once done I created a shortcut to it on the desktop and moved (left click) a file from desktop to library. The file moved as it should.

You could try resetting the folders...(in explorer) click 'Organize' -> 'Folder and search options' -> 'View' (tab) and click 'Reset Folders'

Hope this helps


OS

 

[gladson1976]

If the library points to a folder in the same drive as the as the file you are trying to move, it will be moved when you left click and drag & drop.
If the library points to a folder on another drive than the file you are trying to move, the file will not be moved, but only copied.

This is the default action even in XP (you don't have libraries in XP).

The screenshots are from XP. Left click and drag & drop
Drag & drop on Same Drive


Drag & drop on Other Drive


Try pressing shift when dragging and dropping to always move.

Keyboard Modifiers when dragging and dropping
[SHIFT] Move
[CTRL] Copy
[ALT] Create Shortcut

 

[patrick222]

i have the opposite problem
i want to drag and drop to a file and it only copies it
i want to move it in one click
for years when i left clicked and image or file on desktop and moved it to a folder it would then leave the original location
now it doubles it
very frustrating when trying to move a lot of content

 

[Barman58]

Windows default is to Move a file on the same drive or to copy a file on different drive, when you drag with the left button.

You can either use the Shift (Move) or Ctrl (copy) modifiers when dragging or use the right button when dragging, this will present a popup asking you what you want to do, as soon as you release the mouse key

 

[Alejandro85]

My preferred method to control that is to drag and drop with right-click instead of normal left button. There it will show a menu asking if you want to move or copy or (additionally) create a shortcut.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Windows default is to Move a file on the same drive or to copy a file on different drive, when you drag with the left button...

Is there a way to permanently change that default?

 

[Barman58]

No way that I know of, but there may be something somewhere that controls it

 

[HookDuke]

Changing drop drop defaults

Within Windows 10/8/7 at least, there are registry changes that you can make to change the default drag and drop selections.

Set the default drag and drop action in Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7
______________________________________________________________________________
If you prefer to change the desired action permanently without using any modifier keys, you need to apply a simple Registry tweak.

Open Registry Editor.
Go to the following Registry key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*
Tip: See how to jump to the desired Registry key with one click.

Create a new 32-bit DWORD value here named DefaultDropEffect. If you are running 64-bit Windows 10, you still need to create a 32-bit DWORD value. Set its value data as follows:
0 - no action will be performed,
1 - by default, the dragged file or folder will be copied,
2 - the dragged object will be moved,
4 - a shortcut will be created for the dragged file or folder.
In the following screenshot, I set the default action to "copy", i.e. DefaultDropEffect = 1:Windows 10 set default drag action

Repeat the same tweak under the key
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects
Now try to drag a file or folder to some other location. In my case, it will be copied.drag action copy
You are done. You can always revert this tweak by deleting the DefaultDropEffect value. And of course, you can still use modifier keys to change the action. Or you can simply use the right mouse button to drag and drop and Windows will show you a context menu asking you what you want to do.

To avoid Registry editing for this tweak, you can use Winaero Tweaker. It allows you to set the default drag-n-drop action with just one click! Check the appropriate option under Behavior\Default Drag-n-Drop action:

 

[RoWin7]

This thread is 10 years old.