<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
      xmlns:ui="http://projectmallard.org/experimental/ui/"
      type="topic" style="task"
      id="files-copy">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="files"/>
    <desc>Copy or move items to a new directory.</desc>

    <revision pkgversion="3.2" date="2011-09-04" status="final"/>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Cristopher Thomas</name>
      <email>crisnoh@gmail.com</email>
    </credit>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>Tiffany Antopolski</name>
      <email>tiffany.antopolski@gmail.com</email>
    </credit>
    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>
  </info>

<title>Copy or move files and folders</title>

 <p>A file or folder can be copied or moved to a new location by dragging and
 dropping with the mouse, using the copy and paste commands, or by using
 keyboard shortcuts.</p>

 <p>For example, you might want to copy a presentation onto a memory stick so
 you can take it to work with you. Or, you could make a back-up copy of a
 document before you make changes to it (and then use the old copy if you don't
 like your changes).</p>

 <p>These instructions apply to both files and folders. You copy and move files
 and folders in exactly the same way.</p>

<steps ui:expanded="no">
<title>Copy and paste files</title>
<item><p>Select the file you want to copy by clicking on it once.</p></item>
<item><p>Click <guiseq><gui>Edit</gui><gui>Copy</gui></guiseq>, or press
 <keyseq><key>Ctrl</key><key>C</key></keyseq>.</p></item>
<item><p>Navigate to another folder, where you want to put the copy of the
 file.</p></item>
<item><p>Click <guiseq><gui>Edit</gui><gui>Paste</gui></guiseq> to finish
 copying the file, or press <keyseq><key>Ctrl</key><key>V</key></keyseq>. There
 will now be a copy of the file in the original folder and the other
 folder.</p></item>
</steps>

<steps ui:expanded="no">
<title>Cut and paste files to move them</title>
<item><p>Select the file you want to move by clicking on it once.</p></item>
<item><p>Click <guiseq><gui>Edit</gui><gui>Cut</gui></guiseq>, or press
 <keyseq><key>Ctrl</key><key>X</key></keyseq>.</p></item>
<item><p>Navigate to another folder, where you want to move the file.</p></item>
<item><p>Click <guiseq><gui>Edit</gui><gui>Paste</gui></guiseq> to finish moving
 the file, or press <keyseq><key>Ctrl</key><key>V</key></keyseq>. The file will
 be taken out of its original folder and moved to the other folder.</p></item>
</steps>

<steps ui:expanded="no">
<title>Drag files to copy or move</title>
<item><p>Open the file manager and go to the folder which contains the file you
 want to copy.</p></item>
<item><p>Click <guiseq><gui>File</gui><gui>New Window</gui></guiseq> (or press <keyseq><key>Ctrl</key><key>N</key></keyseq>) to open a second window. In the
 new window, navigate to the folder where you want to move or copy the
 file.</p></item>
<item>
 <p>Click and drag the file from one window to another. This will
 <em>move it</em> if the destination is on the <em>same</em> device, or
 <em>copy it</em> if the destination is on a <em>different</em> device.</p>
 <p>For example, if you drag a file from a USB memory stick to your Home folder,
 it will be copied, because you're dragging from one device to another.</p>
 <p>You can force the file to be copied by holding down the <key>Ctrl</key> key
 while dragging, or force it to be moved by holding down the <key>Shift</key>
 key while dragging.</p>
 </item>
</steps>

<note>
 <p>You can't copy or move a file into a folder that is <em>read-only</em>. Some
 folders are read-only to prevent you from making changes to their contents. You
 can change things from being read-only by
 <link xref="nautilus-file-properties-permissions">changing file permissions</link>.</p>
</note>

</page>
