Quick navigation in open/save dialog
Every time when you open or save a file, you have to navigate the directories to get to the place where it belongs to. It can take some time until you reach the folder in question or pick an item from a long list of files.
Well, not on a Mac…
The open/save dialog accepts drag and drop items. This means that you can drag any file or folder onto it, and the open/save dialog will use the file or folder you dragged onto it. This is the exact same as you would navigate through the entire directory structure.
Furthermore, there is no need to be in the directory where the file, you want to open, is located. For example, you can be in your Documents directory and drag a file from the Desktop onto the open/save dialog.
Opening a file
Let’s say you have a file on your Desktop, you want to upload to a web site. Using the Browse button an that web page opens up a open dialog.
Now drag the file from the Desktop onto that open-file dialog window.
Note, that currently the home folder is open, but the open dialog accepts the file from the Desktop, like you navigated through the directory structure and highlighted (i.e. clicked) the file.
This method is very useful if you have a lot of stuff on your Desktop. Of course you can also drag a file or folder from any Finder window onto an open dialog.
Saving a file
This method of dragging, works also for choosing a directory to save a file in. Let’s say we want to save a web page as WebArchive to a folder on the Desktop.
Drag the folder from the Desktop onto the Save As dialog and it will choose the directory as directory to save in.
No need to expand the Save dialog by clicking on the arrow next to the file name, fast and simple. This also works for files, so if you want to overwrite a certain file, just drag the file onto the Save dialog.
As said, this does not only work with Desktop items. You can drag files and folders from any Finder window onto an open/save dialog.
This is a method is really handy for opening and saving files without having to dig through a directory structure.
More time for you files and less time searching for them. Enjoy.
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Tags: data, Desktop, mouse, shortcuts
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