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Gather Files From Anywhere on One Shelf, Then Move Them All at Once
Mintdrop is a small shelf that floats on your screen. Drop files from several folders onto it, then drag them out together, move them to a folder or put them in the Trash. The shelf only remembers paths and never copies a file. Part of Tidymint since 0.5.0, off by default, no permission needed.
When to use it
- Gather photos to send: a few in Downloads, a few on the Desktop, one in a project folder. Drop them all on the shelf, then drag the group into Mail or a chat app at once.
- Tidy the Desktop: drop the loose files on the shelf and use Move to… to put the whole group in the right folder. Changed your mind? Undo.
- Collect leftovers: drop each file you no longer need on the shelf as you find it, then send the group to the Trash in one go.
Turn on Mintdrop
- Open Tidymint and choose TOOLS › Mintdrop in the sidebar.
- Click Turn on. No extra permission is needed.
Open the shelf: 3 ways
- Shake while dragging files: drag one or more files in Finder and shake the pointer a few times. The shelf appears under the pointer; let go and the files land on it. You can turn this off on the Mintdrop page.
- Shortcut ⌃⌥S (Control, Option, S) shows or hides the shelf.
- The Open shelf button on the Mintdrop page.
Photos, videos and PDFs show a thumbnail. Press Space for Quick Look, double-click to open. ⌘W hides the shelf and keeps its files.
Select several files (like Finder)
- Click selects one file. ⌘-click adds or removes one. Shift-click selects a range.
- Drag on the empty part of the list to draw a selection box.
- ⌘A selects all, Esc clears the selection.
With nothing selected, every action applies to the whole shelf. With a selection, only to the selected files.
Drag out, move, trash
- Drag out: dragging one file moves just that file. To drag several at once, select them first (⌘ or Shift), then drag any file in the selection. The Drag all N out bar at the bottom carries the whole shelf (or the current selection).
- Move to…: pick a folder and the files move there. If a name is taken, the new file gets a number ("Report 2.pdf"); nothing is overwritten.
- Move to Trash: like every clean in Tidymint, files only go to the macOS Trash.
- The minus next to each row and the X at the top only take files off the shelf; the files are not deleted.
Does dragging out move or copy?
The shelf does not decide. Where you drop decides, exactly as when you drag in Finder:
| Drop onto | Result |
|---|---|
| A folder on the same disk | Move (like cut and paste). The file leaves its old place and drops off the shelf |
| A folder on another disk (external drive, USB) | Copy. The original stays where it was, and on the shelf |
| Holding Option while dropping in Finder | Copy |
| An app (Mail, a chat app, a browser upload box) | The app takes a copy to attach or upload; the original is unchanged |
The Move to… button always moves.
Undo
After each action, the status line at the bottom of the shelf offers Undo:
- Dragged out to a folder on the same disk, or Move to…: the files go back where they were and back on the shelf.
- Move to Trash: the files come back from the Trash.
Limits: only the last action can be undone. Undo never overwrites: if a file with the same name now sits in the old place, that file is skipped and the shelf says so. Once the Trash is emptied, nothing comes back.
Privacy
Mintdrop needs no macOS permission. While a mouse button is held, it only checks whether files are being dragged, and only then follows the pointer to notice a shake. It never reads file contents and sends nothing. Details: Does Tidymint send your data anywhere?
FAQ
Does Mintdrop copy my files?
No. The shelf only remembers where files are. A file is copied only when you drag it to another disk or hold Option while dropping, exactly as in Finder.
Shaking does not open the shelf?
Check that Mintdrop and Shake while dragging are both on, on the Mintdrop page. Shake while still holding the files. The sure way is ⌃⌥S.
⌃⌥S does nothing?
Another app may hold that shortcut; the Mintdrop page says so. Open the shelf by shaking, or free the shortcut in the other app.
Clean your Mac for free
Tidymint is free and open source. Everything always goes to the Trash first, so you stay in control.
