Spring-loaded folders are a way of moving or copying files through your folder hierarchy “without manually opening a single folder,” as described in O’Reilly’s Visual QuickStart Guide.

This is one of the oldest features in the modern Mac operating system. In fact, it was first introduced in 1999 as part of Mac OS 9, 17 months before Apple publicly released Mac OS X. It was then one of the biggest requests from users and was reintroduced in late 2002 with Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, as also reported by Crazy Apple Rumors Site.

Drag + Hold

The foundation of spring-loaded folders is that you can drag a file onto a folder on the Desktop or in the main area or sidebar of a Finder window, wait for it to open, and continue dragging within that folder.

I do this every time I publish Mac Mondays. I put my screenshots and other images in a dated folder and drag them to a folder on my desktop that contains my Blog Images archive folder. Then, I hope that one day I will take the time to cross-publish my entries on my blog.

[Update: Coincidentally, I’m cross-publishing entries on my blog now, so I no longer do this latter process. However, my archive of Blog Images has been vital to republishing all past editions of Mac Mondays, which is why you’re now able to read this one here.]

Spring-Loading Delay Setting

There is a preference pane for the “spring-loading delay” that specifies how long you have to dwell on a folder before it springs open.

Earlier in the feature’s existence, this slider was available in Finder Preferences. Now, like many less popular settings, Apple has relegated it to one of the sections of Accessibility.

On the flip side, while dragging items, you can cause a folder to instantly open by tapping the space bar.

[Update: In System Settings, you can toggle spring-loading on/off and the slider is reversed. Now, it refers to Spring-loading speed and runs from Slow to Fast, matching the Double-click speed setting above.]

Back & Forward Buttons

Spring-loaded folders also works with the Back and Forward buttons on the Finder window toolbar. That is, if you’ve been navigating in a Finder window, you can drag an item to the Back or Forward button and the window will jump to the folder that was shown before or after the current one, respectively.

Bonus: Move Command

Some folks find dragging difficult. If it’s easier for you select an item and navigate your file system to the destination without pulling the item along for the ride, here’s an alternative that might work better for you.

Select the item(s) you want to move and issue the Copy command (Command+C or via Edit menu). Next, navigate to the destination folder. You can do this in the same window without fear of losing the item(s) you copied.

Finally, if you go to the Edit menu and hold Option on the keyboard, you’ll see the Paste command change to Move Item Here. Thus, whereas Paste is Command+V, you can press Command+Option+V to issue the Move command. The item(s) you copied will appear in the current folder and no longer be in the prior location.

If the behavior works for you, spring-loaded folders have the potential to ease your file organizing habits. What other features or shortcuts have you discovered that make your Mac experience more efficient?