The following applies mostly to Desktop and Laptop PC's. Instructions for handheld (strictly touchscreen) devices will differ significantly.
One of the most common tasks I get asked about is how to move stuff around on a computer. This most commonly involves text, images, files, and folders.
Nearly every program and operating system (OS) uses the same standard process. If what you see here does not apply to your system, try a search on your specific system for the exact commands.
Note: In the Mac OS, the "Ctrl" key is often substituted with the "Command" (Cmd) key ... illustrated with the clover looking icon.
It helps to understand that anytime you Cut or Copy something, it goes to a place in memory called the "Clipboard". It will remain there until you either Cut or Copy something else, or turn off the machine.
Generally speaking you need to highlight something, then you can manipulate it.
You can usually find the manipulation commands you need under the "Edit" menu, but learning the basic keyboard shortcuts can save you a significant amount of time. As usual, it is a sort of "Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later" type situation.
Most file managers allow you a lot of control on how to display items. While you can hunt down the view options in a menu, usually a "right-click" (or equivalent) in a blank space in the same "frame" as the list will allow you to see a pop-up menu, which allows view settings such as: Icons (of various sizes), a "List" view, or a Details" view (which is the one I use most). You can sort most lists by columns, such as by Name, Date, Type, or Size. Each time you click on the column header it reverses the order ... ascending vs. descending.
The most common keyboard shortcuts for this topic are:
Ctrl+A = Highlight "All"
Ctrl+C = Copy
Ctrl+X = Cut
Ctrl+V = Paste
Ctrl+Z = Undo
Ctrl+Y = Redo
In a File Manager List, the following tips usually apply:
Select one item to highlight it.
Hold down the "Shift" key and select another item in either direction ... as far as you can see, or need to select from the original item ... this will highlight everything in-between.
This trick also works in text documents.
Hold down the "Ctrl" key to remove (or add) items to the list.
You can do this as long as you like ... just do not make a mistake, or you will need to start all over again from the beginning.
Once everything is selected as you wish, you are now free to Cut (move) or Copy it to another location.
Some "file managers" can have little "check-boxes" that allow you to create custom selection lists fairly easily. (Sometimes you need to go into the View Settings and turn this feature on.) If this is "on", you can still use the Shift & Ctrl tips outlined above... having the best of both worlds.
In every variation of the MS Windows file manager from Win-95 to Win-10 there are a number of controls for how (or what) items are displayed in your file manager window (and assorted "frames"). Usually you can access this settings dialog box via; Tools > Folder Options > View ... or something similar.
Usually the option to view the file extensions is turned off in the Windows File Manager, which is a major pet-peeve of mine. I highly recommend that you set this option to NOT: "Hide extensions for known file types" (i,e, "un-check" that option). I can assure you that your (Windows) PC Life will be much easier of you can see the extensions for all file types.
Common File Extensions are:
.TXT = ASCII Text File
.DOC = MS Word document file ... also .DOCX (extended)
.XLS = MS Excel spreadsheet file ... also .XLSX (extended)
.PDF = Adobe "Portable Document File", which are actually images.
.JPG = Common (highly compressed) file type for Photographs ... also ,JPEG
.GIF = "Graphic Interchange File" ... (less common these days, for graphics images)
.PNG = "Portable Network Graphics" ... very popular replacement for .GIF images.
.MP3 = Music / Audio files
.WMA = "Windows Media Audio" ... Microsoft's response to .MP3
.MPG - .FLV - .AVI - .MOV = Some common Video File Formats
.WMV = Windows Media Video" ... Microsoft's response to .MPG , etc.
.ZIP = Several files bundled and compressed into one file.
.EXE = An "Executable" file ... Handle These With Care!
Additional Common File Extensions
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