Drag’n’Drop Editor: Change Default File Drag & Drop Behavior In Windows Explorer
Copying and moving files is one of the most frequent computer tasks. Back in the old days, you’d type DOS commands to perform the said operation, then it was made it easier with the introduction of GUI, as copy and move etc. commands were made available in the context menu. It has been made a lot more easier, as nowadays, almost all major OS platforms offer drag & drop support, allowing users to copy & move items from one location to another. Take Windows for instance; it lets users move and copy files and folders by dragging them over the target location. By default, if you drag and drop a file within the same volume, it is moved from the source to the destination folder. However, Windows also lets you copy and create shortcut of files by holding down the Ctrl button while dragging the file/folder, it copies the file. Similarly, holding down the Ctrl + Shift keys while dragging a file creates only a shortcut of the source file in the destination folder. By default, Windows doesn’t let you change that behavior. If you’ve been looking a for a way to change the default drag & drop function, which moves the file/folder to target location, try out Drag’n’Drop Editor. It’s a miniscule application for Windows that allows you to change the default drag and drop behavior in Windows Explorer. Using this tool, you can replace the default Move items action with either the Copy or Create Shortcut action. It can particularly come in handy for those who don’t like holding down Ctrl key while dragging files over the target folder in order to copy them. More details about usage up ahead, including a screenshot.
If you have any confusion regarding how the utility works, the following video provides a better explanation.
The main interface of the application comprises of a miniscule window, which features 3 buttons to change the default dragging behavior in Windows Explorer. If you, for instance, want to replace the default drag & drop behavior with Copy items, click the Copy item button. Now, when you drag the files from one folder to another, Windows will copy them to target location. Similarly, you can switch between all three options, whichever you want to set as default. Should you need to go back to default Windows state, click Uninstall Explorer tweaks.
The application works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.
The method implemented by Windows7 is the best. You change to the alternate one simply by holding Ctrl.
If You Drag Files From Same Partition/Drive It Moves (As is the Fastest, only to change indexes of files),
If you Drag files from Diff Partitions or Drive, it Copies (As Both Copying n Moving Takes Same Time, hence doesn move unnecessarily)
WINDOWS Development Team IS THE BEST.
you can do the same with the keyboard…
drag + nothing = move
drag + ctrl = copy
drag + alt = shortcut
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Thank you very much for review. It is not first time when i see my tools on ‘addictive tips’ and I proud to see them here.