up vote 4 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

I am a newbie on the mac world and i'd like to know if it's possible to cut a file using a shortcut (like Ctrl + X on Windows).

link|improve this question
1  
On Lion you can move files after copying them with ⌥⌘V (Move Item Here). – Lri May 6 at 10:32
feedback

4 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

This is unfortunately not built-in to OS X. However, there's a utility called FileCutter (shareware, 5USD) that will add this functionality to the Finder. Here's a description from the developer's site:

FileCutter is a contextual menu plugin that improves on behavior already present in the Mac OS X Finder. In the last few versions of Mac OS X, Finder has provided the ability to copy and paste files (and folders) just like any other application does with its data. And it's very handy. But for reasons that only Apple knows, they've omitted two fairly obvious additions: The ability to cut files before pasting rather than merely copying them and the option of pasting an alias to the copied file rather than actually creating a duplicate file. FileCutter provides both of those functions.

Note that you'll have to access this functionality via the context menu -- Ctrl-X won't work. Even so, still a pretty handy tool.

link|improve this answer
+1 Nice. I never need this myself but my wife seems stuck on Cut and Paster rather then Copy :( Unfortunatly – Diago Aug 28 '09 at 19:23
feedback
up vote 10 down vote

Nope. You can drag and drop to move, or copy, but not cut.

2 year later edit: Until Lion.

link|improve this answer
didn't get the 'file' bit :), no there's no equivalent in Mac OSX – Molly7244 Aug 28 '09 at 18:42
8  
"It's because you shouldn't be treating files like text!!" - serious explanation as to why I couldn't Ctrl+X Ctrl+V on my friends Mac... – TM. Aug 28 '09 at 18:59
I must be a freaking genius! 15+ years treating my files like text and never had a problem with CTRL X! I should be a Microsoft Certified CTRL X User. Serious explanation from my friends: "hey, you have bash for this kind of advanced things". – Roberto Feb 13 at 17:14
Where does the file go when you cut? I suspect that's the argument. If you never paste it, is it the same as delete? If you do paste, it's move. Things should be simple, and cutting a file doesn't really make sense. Copying it to a temp place makes sense, though, why wouldn't you just move it? – Rich Bradshaw Feb 13 at 17:22
1  
You might want to delete or update your answer given the fact that this is possible in OS X Lion now. – slhck May 25 at 14:35
feedback
up vote 2 down vote

It is possible to cut-paste files/folders in OSX 10.7 Lion's Finder (so, since 2011), but the OSX way is slightly different from the Windows way.

  1. ⌘-C (copy first)
  2. ⌘-⌥-V (now move to it's destination)

So, the steps are very similar to copy-paste, but holding ⌥ (option key) moves the file/folder instead of copies it.

You can also have a look in the edit menu after copying a file - press ⌥ while looking to see the difference: "paste" changes to "move item here".

link|improve this answer
1  
IMHO, this should be the recommended answer. – Auron May 25 at 14:27
feedback
up vote 0 down vote

After a while I figured out that the mac answer to this is to move them to the desktop, and then to the new location. It's basically using the desktop as your clipboard.

link|improve this answer
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.