How to make drag&drop to move files instead of copy on Xfce desktop (Thunar 1.6.2)?

12.10 xfce desktop-environments thunar

9,633

I hope that this is what you want.

Well in Thunar , highlight all the files that you want to move, drag them with the right mouse button, and that will give you a pop up menu, that gives you the option to Move

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Also you can use the Shift, while dragging the files, and that will also move them.

9,633

Admin

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Admin over 1 year

On the Xfce 12.10 desktop drag&drop to move files into a folder would copy them instead of moving (cut/paste) them.

I tend to have many files on the desktop and usually I grab them and put them in a folder for further use etc. I want to be able to do this by drag&drop, but at the present drag&drop makes a duplicate of them in that folder without removing them from their previous location.

In Xfce I use the default Thunar, and it handles the desktop.

UPDATE:

The question is limited to an older version of Thunar. In thunar 1.6.3, Xubuntu 14.04. drag&drop moves by default instead of just copy.
- Mitch almost 11 years
  
  Are you using Nautilus?
- Admin almost 11 years
  
  @Mitch - I do not (and will not). I use Thunar.
- Admin almost 11 years
  
  Thunar version?
- Admin almost 11 years
  
  Shift+drag works to move; plain drag just copies. This is with Thunar 1.6.2 and xfdesktop4 (on Lubuntu).
- Admin almost 11 years
  
  @vasa1 - thunar version 1.6.2. is it latest? are move/copy actions customizable?
- Admin almost 11 years
  
  1.6.2 is what I got when I did sudo apt-get install thunar. I don't know about whether copy/move is customizable. Also, I won't go down that road myself because I don't know what else may be affected. I like it the way it is because having to press "shift" makes it less likely to do something by mistake.
- Admin over 9 years
  
  this is no longer the case in thunar 1.6.3, Xubuntu 14.04. drag&drop moves by default instead of just copy
- bartolo-otrit about 9 years
  
  @cipricus Thunar 1.6.3 for Ubuntu 14.10 copies files if they are on same mounted ntfs device and moves them if they are on the same ext3 device.
Admin almost 11 years

i don't know if i made myself clear but i want this action on the desktop proper - not in a thunar window inside a folder. (i am not sure what the correct term is for the 'desktop' as seen when opening the system, but that was what i meant by saying "on Xfce desktop", instead of "in Xfce desktop environment"). also, i cannot see the menu popup on the desktop or in a thunar window. there is no difference between left and right click dragging. but 'shift' does it