Fast file management

Browse drives, find files and move things around in quick time.

THE PATH BAR

1 When moving files around, it can be helpful to reveal Finder’s Path Bar (View > Show Path Bar). This trail of folders is interactive; you can drag and drop items onto one of those folders, or doubleclick a folder to jump to it.

OPEN FOLDERS FASTER

2 When you drag and hold items over a folder in Finder, you’ll notice it takes a moment for the folder to open. You can speed up the process by pressing the Spacebar as soon as the folder’s icon becomes dimmer.

SAVE AT THE START

3 When starting a document, save it immediately. This ensures Time Machine can back it up hourly. If the app has a File > Revert To submenu, it supports Auto Save and Versions – see bit.ly/ asver to find out more.

COLUMN VIEW

4 In Finder’s Column view, file and folder names can often get concealed. Double-clicking the dividing line to the right of a column resizes it to fit the longest filename contained in it. Hold down Opt when you do this and all the other columns will resize similarly.

TAG ITEMS

5 Tags can help you find files later on. To tag a file in Finder, Ctrl-click it and pick one of the colored tags near the bottom of the menu. To customize a tag’s label go to Finder > Preferences > Tags, select a tag’s row, click its name and then type a new one.

CREATE NEW TAGS

6 Ctrl-click a file, choose Tags, type a label, press Return once to tag the file with that label, and again to close the pop‑up. To replace the menu’s shortcuts, in Finder > Preferences > Tags, drag a tag from the top list to a spot in the bottom area.