Since switching from Windows to the Mac in late 2007, I’d always wanted a way to cut and paste files from one folder (or directory, in Windows parlance) using keyboard shortcuts.

In Windows:

1. You first select one or more files.
2. Press Ctrl+X to “cut” those files.
3. Navigate to the destination directory.
4. Press Ctrl+V to “paste” the files there.

Prior to Mac OS X Lion, to perform the same on the Mac, I’ve had to open and arrange two Finder windows, one is the source folder where I want to copy the files from, and the other is the destination folder where I want to move the files to. Having selected the files, I’d then drag them from one folder across to the other.

With the just-released Mac Lion 10.7, you can now use keyboard shortcuts to “move the files” from one folder location to the other.

No, we don’t use the term “cut and paste files” over here in the Mac world.

Here’s how you move files on the Mac:

1. Select the file or files you want to move. I’ve selected two files in the example below.

   

2. Press command+c to copy the files.
3. Navigate to the destination folder.
4. Press option+command+v to move the files there. The screen capture below shows the two files already moved to the destination folder.

   

Windows habits die hard, and I personally find the system-wide “cut and paste” concept more consistent and easier to work with. On the Mac, you have command+x –> command+v for cutting and pasting document data, while having to remember to use a different set of key combinations – command+c –> option+command+v – to copy and move files.

I’m confident though, that it’s just a matter of time before muscle memory sets in and I should be able to deftly move files with my keyboard without having to think too hard about the whole process.

I chanced on this post on HongKiat.com about the humorous Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) icon that’s used to represent networked PC computers in Finder.

I had a bit of initial trouble calling up the Network folder as it doesn’t appear in the Finder’s sidebar (I’m running Mac OS X Leopard on a MacBook Pro), but here are the steps to see that icon for yourself.

First, ensure you have a connected PC computer on your network.

Click the photo below to view a larger version.

1. Launch Finder, and click on your computer’s name in the Devices section.
2. Click on the Cover Flow view option icon in the Toolbar.
3. Scroll to the Network Neighborhood icon in Cover Flow.
4. Double-click on the Network Neighborhood icon.

At this point, the icon representing your networked PC is probably a little to small to view, so just grab the handle of your Finder window with your mouse, and drag to make the icon larger.

Here’s a larger version of the icon that I grabbed from my screen.

As a user coming from the PC / Windows platform, I found this to be yet another another one of those obscure keyboard / mouse combinations on the Mac.

Sometimes, I want to copy files from one location to another and would like to know beforehand the total size of the files I’ve selected for copying.

In Windows, it’s just a matter of keeping your eye of the Explorer status bar as you select the files / folders.

Things are slightly more complicated on the Mac.

Your first instinct would be to select multiple files, right-click on them, and click on Get Info.

Don’t do this! Finder will show an Info window for each individual selected file. If you happen to have selected hundreds or thousands of files, you’ll … well, I haven’t tried it myself but my guess is your Mac would slow down to a crawl.

Instead, the correct way is to Show Inspector, which can be accessed in one of the following ways:

1. Hold down the option (alt) button, and then right-click on the selected files (or folders), then click on Show Inspector.
2. Press option (alt) + command + i
3. Press control + command + i
4. Hold down the option (alt) button, click on File in the menu, then select Show Inspector.

I prefer the second approach.

To dismiss the Show Inspector / Multiple Item Info window, simply click on the close window icon, or press the option (alt) + command + i again (if you had used option (alt) + command + i in the first place).

If you had used control + command + i to call up the Inpsector window, you can use command + w to close the window. Don’t ask me why Mac’s are so complicated in this regard.

This trick works for folders too, or a combination of files and folders.

Sometimes you might find yourself really deep down a folder hierarchy on your Mac in the Finder window and wonder where you are and what the parent folder is.

Here are three ways to know your exact location and go up the Mac OS X folder hierarchy in a jiffy.

These methods work well in Icon, List or Cover Flow view.

Method 1 – Go to the immediate parent, or enclosing folder

Simply press Command + up arrow and you’ll be taken to the immediate parent folder.

Method 2 – Reveal all folders up the folder hierarchy

You might want to see, at a glance, the immediate parent folder and all folders up the hierarchy, and then navigate to any one of them.

1. Simply hold down the Command key and click on the title or name of the current Finder window. You will see a list of folders above your current folder in the hierarchy.
2. Click the name of the parent folder you wish to navigate to.

Method 3 – Show the path bar

Showing the path bar clutters up your Finder window a bit, but is handy if you happen to need to navigate up and down the folder hierarchy a lot and need to see where you are at all times.

First, show the path bar in your Finder window by selecting from the Finder menu View > Show Path Bar.

Finally, you jump to the parent folder of your choice simply by double-clicking on the Folder name from the list that appears at the bottom of your Finder window.

In my move to the Mac platform, I wish there was a way to quickly move to the top or bottom of a list of items in a Finder window.

The way you’d do it in a PC / Windows environment is just to hit the Home or End key.

On the iMac, there are Home and End keys, but they only scroll to the first or last item without moving the cursor to focus on those items.

On the MacBook Pro, you don’t get to have those keys at all.

There’s a workaround I use, but it only works with the Finder in List view.

Next, use the Option key in conjunction with either the Up or Down arrow key.

Say your cursor is currently on the the first item in the Finder window.

To move the cursor to the last item, simply hit Option + Down Arrow.

To move the cursor to the top of the list again, just press Option + Up Arrow.