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When I drag a file from "Downloads" to my USB stick window, it copies. I want it moved. What do I have to config, or which key to press to achieve this? (Yes, I googled, but came up empty).

And cut/copy... not an option, since cut doesn't.

System is Ubuntu 9.10, if it's an Ubuntu thing.

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it's probably just like windows: {ctrl, shift, or ctrl+shift} + drag-n-drop. not sure which one offhand, and i'm away from my ubuntu machine so i can't test it. but those are pretty standard and i'd be surprised if one of them didn't work. –  quack quixote Mar 19 '10 at 9:52
humm, I think there's Ctrl + X (cut) in Ubuntu (projects.gnome.org/gnumeric/doc/sect-movecopy-cutandpaste.shtml) –  Ye Lin Aung Mar 19 '10 at 9:53
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2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

According to http://library.gnome.org/devel/hig-book/stable/input-mouse.html.en, you should use Shift + Drag-and-Drop.

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The default behavior of a drag'n'drop action depends on the location of source vs destination. If the source and destination are in the same mounted device's directory tree, the default action should be to move. In order to force a COPY, hold CTRL as you drag'n'drop. If they are on different mounted volumes, such as USB memory sticks, the default behavior is to copy. in order to MOVE, as Dominik said, hold on SHIFT and drag'n'drop.

For myself, I sometime want to only move. If anything happens during the move, some files may be lost. I would rather force a COPY, and then delete the source. This is true for important documents, or when doing a clean up, moving files to archive directories.

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I suspected the default depending on whether source and destination were on the same or on different filesystems. I just didn't want to clutter up the question. :-) –  Jürgen A. Erhard Mar 19 '10 at 17:45
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