Drag & Drop

The Basics#

Drag a file from one place to another and drop it. By default that's a move — the file ends up in the new location and is gone from the old one. This works in Grid, List, and Column views, between panes, and onto folders inside the file list.

Seiz reads your modifier keys at the moment you drop, not when you start dragging — so you can change your mind mid-flight.

Modifier Keys: Move, Copy, Symlink#

• No modifier — Move. The file leaves the source folder and lands in the destination. Registered for undo (⌘Z brings it back).
• ⌥ Option — Copy. The original stays put, and a copy appears in the destination. The cursor shows a small green plus to confirm.
• ⌘⌥ Command + Option — Symbolic link. A shortcut pointing to the original is created in the destination. The original isn't touched. Useful for power users who want one file accessible from multiple places.

Spring-Loaded Folders#

If you're dragging a file and you want to drop it deeper into a folder tree than what you can see, hover the drag over a folder for about a second — the folder opens and you can keep going. Move out of the folder before the second is up and Seiz cancels the spring-load. Works in Grid and List views.

Even better: if you spring-load into a folder and the drop ends up triggering a merge conflict that you cancel, Seiz automatically takes you back to where you started — so you don't end up lost in a folder you didn't mean to navigate into.

Merge Conflicts#

If a file with the same name already exists at the destination, Seiz pauses and asks what you want to do. The dialog shows both files side by side with their sizes and dates, and offers four actions per file:

• Replace — overwrite the existing file.
• Skip — leave both untouched.
• Keep Both — the new file gets a numbered name (e.g. report 2.pdf).
• Apply to all — make the same choice for every remaining conflict in this batch.

In Settings you can change the default behavior so this dialog stops appearing every time. Options include “Always ask,” “Keep newest,” “Keep largest,” and “Keep both.”

Crossing Drives Safely#

Moving a file from one drive to another is technically a copy followed by a delete — and if the copy fails halfway through, you don't want the original deleted. Seiz handles this correctly: it copies all files first, and only when every copy has succeeded does it delete the originals. If anything goes wrong during the copy, the originals stay safe.

Dragging Between Panes#

With multi-pane layouts, drag from one pane to another to move (or hold ⌥ to copy) between folders without ever leaving the window. See Multi-Pane Layouts.

Cross-pane drag also handles remote servers: drag local files into a remote pane to upload, drag remote files into a local pane to download. See Remote & Sync for the full story.

Next Steps#

• File Operations — what happens under the hood when you copy, move, or trash.
• Context Menu — the right-click menu, including options that complement drag-and-drop.
• Multi-Pane Layouts — essential for productive drag-and-drop between two folders.