Proxy icon - a small feature (literally)
So, you have a document already open and you’d like to use the same file in another program. For example, you have an image open in Preview and would like to insert into a email message as attachment.
The usual way would be, to locate it in Finder and drag it onto the composing window or use the Attach button in Mail (even slower).
Away with that - proxy icons come to rescue you.
You have seen it already but probably paid little attention to it. The proxy icon. This is the icon in the title bar of an application.
Here are the news: This is not just a dumb icon, it’s the proxy icon which will allow you to drag the file to other applications, in exactly the same way as you would do it from Finder.
So, probably the quickest way to bring a file (that’s already open) into the another application is to drag and drop the proxy icon.
1) Move the mouse cursor exactly over the icon in the title bar of an open file.
2) Click, hold down the mouse button and start to drag the icon.
3) Drag it anywhere you like (for example on a email composing window). Let go the mouse button when the icon has reached its destination.
Note: You can also drag a file onto any application icon in the Dock that can open this kind of file.
There is more to it …
That’s the first useful function of the proxy icon. Here comes the second one. Showing the entire path to the file, so you can see where any open file is stored.
To see it, hold down the command key and click the proxy icon. A list will pop up, indicating the exact location of the file. Note that it starts at the bottom.
Clicking any of the folders will open it up in Finder. If you click the folder, containing the currently open file (”Tutorial”) in this case, it will open the folder and highlight the file.
Using the proxy icon works in every application, that has an icon in its title bar. Using this method makes you a bit more effective and faster. After all, there is no need to dig around in Finder for a file that you have already open.
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Tags: dock, finder, mouse, proxy icon
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