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Aug 05
No Cut option in Mac Finder

Cut Option in Windows

There already has been a long debate about Mac’s Finder without the Cut option for folders. Cut option is enabled while working in TextEdit to cut the text but the same Cut option seems disabled for folders inside Finder. I use Cut very frequently in my Windows machine but i am missing such flexibility of file moving in Mac. Cut basically is similar to Move function but in “Move” i have to drag the folder to the destination . With “Cut” the process becomes very fast. I think in Cut what extra is given over to Move is , Cut just keeps the path of the Cut Folder in Clipboard/temporary memory and when pasted somewhere else the foder/file is moved from the Clipboard location to the destination. Programatically Cut shouldn’t be any problem for Mac developers but still its not there . I dont understand why. This should easily be done through AppleScript . I dont have knowledge of AppleScript but when i learn it , the first thing i will do would be to create a AppleScript for Cut and Paste. So till now Cut paste is availabe in Apple Mac but it includes two steps ;-) . Oh there already is a scrip here but i cant seem to get that work on my Leopard. The two steps for Cut in Mac are

1. Copy the folder to destination ( takes longer time than Cut in windows because contents should be duplicated )

2. Delete the folder/file from original location

Apple’s apparent philosophy here is that it would be confusing to the user if they were to cut a file in the filesystem, then cut something else (such as text from a document) without having first pasted the cut file (where does the file go?). To avoid this situation, Apple has opted to prevent the user from using cut in the filesystem entirely. Unforunately, this means that if you want to move a file from one location to another using the keyboard, you’ll need to copy the file, paste it into its new location, and then delete the original file.

There is a Script which enables Cut Option for folders in Finder window but this only moves the folder to Trash. No paste option is available after Cut. And to have the Script Menu bar extras available in the Apple menu bar like shown below in image we need to activate Script Menu.menu file by double clicking the file which is located at Apple Drive>System>Library>CoreServices>Menu Extras .

There also is an utility called Finder Cut & Paste which does the work . This utility is basically the applescript ( but works  the previous script didn’t work for me). To have key combination for Cut and Paste like in Windows , we can use Spark

The nearest built-in solution to Cut optin i have found is related to Spring loaded folders which makes the Move process Animated and little easy . But this is no way equivalent to Cut but comes closer . Below is the Video about how to use Spring loaded folders inbuilt in Mac.

Click to Play

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11 Responses to “No Cut option in Mac Finder Window”

  1. Wendy SINGAPORE Says:

    With the help of Exposé, I don’t find it’s hard to move files from one place to another. But still, Windows switchers will find it’s really difficult to live without Cut option.

  2. MacPhobia HONG KONG Says:

    Expose is one Good thing i like in Mac . It sure makes Moving of files or folder easier but not as easy as it is with Cut and paste . In cut and paste there is no dragging , no mouse freezing

  3. Akash UNITED STATES Says:

    i’m not able to enable cut/paste option you explained.when i try to run it,an error is generated like this:Can’t make “Macintosh HD:Users:akashjain:Library:Preferences:CutAppleScript Prefs” into type specifier.

  4. MacPhobia HONG KONG Says:

    Hello Akash, Did you use this utility found here. http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/30250

  5. MacTipper UNITED STATES Says:

    Yeah, I’m totally self-promoting, but I think I have one of the cleanest solutions out there:

    http://www.mactipper.com/2008/09/cutpaste-in-finderapp.html

    Basically, I use a Service in conjunction with a keyboard shortcut (Cmd-X of course) to mimic cut in Finder. Enjoy!

  6. Alex UNITED STATES Says:

    Great utility MacTipper. Thanks!

  7. Janakiram AUSTRALIA Says:

    In mac with out cut option we can forgo. There is no need of cut in mac because we always use drag and drops in mac. Mac is a Gorgeous OS.

  8. haha... UNITED STATES Says:

    haha… janakarim! love the sarcasm. :)

  9. vishaal CANADA Says:

    Apple could just have a beep if you try and paste a ‘cut’ item from its clipboard to somewhere it can’t go permanently.

    beep!?

    Seems like an easy fix that isn’t too confusing.

  10. aces TAIWAN Says:

    the most absent feature in mac is the right click->cut (on files and folders),

    i wonder who is the jerk in apple that is keeping us from getting this feature,

    PathFinder is a good replacement for Finder and it has cut feature,
    but it lacks several features that the new Finder in leopard has, for instance Cover-Flow, quick look etc.

    1. open terminal and write this line:
    defaults write com.apple.finder AllowCutForItems 1

    2. restart Finder, in terminal write:
    killall Finder
    or
    right click dock finder icon with option button pressed (Alt/WinKey in hackintosh) and choose “relaunch”

    to undo this simply execute the same lines only this time replace the value 1 with 0 like this:
    defaults write com.apple.finder AllowCutForItems 0
    killall Finder

  11. Rob UNITED STATES Says:

    Aces: That is good, but it doesn’t seem to make the file available for pasting. It only trashes the file. :(

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