Here are a handful of Mac shortcuts you might have never learned that make it easy to locate, move, rename, and share documents, without having to create duplicates or go on a wild goose chase for the files themselves.
Show in Finder
To locate an open document in the Finder, hold Command and click the name of the file in the title bar (top of window). This will pop up a menu showing the hierarchy of folders that contain the document.
Click the folder immediately below the file name to reveal the file in the Finder in the folder that contains it. Or, click any other folder in the menu to show its child item selected within. From here, you might rename, reorganize, or otherwise act on the child.
Move + Rename
Some applications provide two standard macOS File menu commands, Rename… and Move To…. The former enables you to rename a document directly in the title bar. After you edit the name, make sure to press Return, as clicking outside the name will cancel the change — just like pressing Escape.
The latter drops a sheet at the top of the window or shows a dialog in the middle to specify where you want to move the document. The Where popup menu shows iCloud locations, Favorites, and Recent Places — just like the Finder window sidebar — and you can click Other… to navigate to the destination of your choice.
Additionally, you can access both rename and move functions by clicking the name of the file in the title bar. A popover appears where you can change the name or location, add tags, and/or lock the file.
In unsupported applications, such as Microsoft Word, use the previous trick to show the document in the Finder. There, you can press Return to enter edit mode, rename the document, and press Return again after doing so.
Use the Proxy Icon
In all document applications, including those that don’t support the Rename… and Move To… commands, as well as Finder windows, you can use the proxy icon to act on the represented item. This is the icon shown in the title bar, to the left of the title. (You may need to hover over the title before the icon appears.)
Simply click and drag the icon to pick up the item as if you were dragging it in the Finder. From here, you can move or copy the item, drag it to attach it to an email message, switch to another application to drop it there, etc.
With these basic file management shortcuts in your pocket, you can efficiently manipulate documents without ever touching the Save As… command, with which you might unnecessarily create duplicate files on your Mac.
After all, in the same applications that show Rename… and Move To… commands, Save As… has changed to Duplicate. (To actually Save As…, you must hold the Option key.)
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