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I hear you about Finder. Windows File explorer seems a lot easier and more feature rich compared to Finder. The single most annoying thing is that there is no e

I hear you about Finder. Windows File explorer seems a lot easier and more feature rich compared to Finder. The single most annoying thing is that there is no easy/ obvious way to grab the path to a file/folder in Finder, which seems like the most basic of features. I did figure out a keyboard shortcut at some point, but Finder feels so dated as a file manager.

chipotle_coyote 7y ago
If the Path bar is visible, you can right-click at any point along the path of the selected file and select "Copy Path." You can also just drag an icon from a Finder window into any window that accepts text, including Terminal, and it'll paste the fully qualified path right in. I always used to find Windows File Explorer to be the one that was less feature-rich, but I haven't used it in... we'll just say a shamefully long time. But as someone who got used to Macs an equally long time ago, I've wondered if it's because the Mac seemed to make drag-and-drop such a central way of manipulating files and Windows emphasized "select object - select operation" as its central metaphor. If you're used to one way, moving to other system feels weird and clunky.
kalleboo 7y ago
As a life-long Mac user, I feel the opposite. Whenever I have to use Windows, it feels like Windows Explorer is missing lots of features I take for granted, some that the Mac has had since the 90's. Stuff like spring-loaded drag and drop, directory sizes being calculated in list views, QuickLook... It also has some really braindead design choices like sorting directories separate from files, making navigating with the keyboard a pain (and last I checked, this can't even be turned off!) To me Windows Explorer feels like it hasn't been updated with modern features since XP, aside from adding the ribbon
- orpheline 7y ago
  Interesting. I use a MBP for work, and hate that Finder intermixes directories and files. I much prefer having directories sorted separately: it makes it easier to drill down through a hierarchy of all the directories are grouped together...
  - kalleboo 7y ago
    I browse my file system a lot with the keyboard by typing the first few letters in a file name, and if directories are sorted on the top, that means getting to a file starting with the letter "F" is way more difficult when there are also directories named with "F". It also makes things messy when you have related files and folder. E.g. how Firefox saves a website as a "page name.html" and a directory with the assets "page name files". Suddenly these aren't grouped together and copying them together means scrolling back and forth. At least in the Finder on the Mac you can turn your preferred behavior on (it's in preferences/advanced). On Windows AFAIK there is no setting for it.
    - dmitriid 7y ago
      > At least in the Finder on the Mac you can turn your preferred behavior on Per directory. There’s still no way to set the desired view and sorting for the entire system. And DMGs will open with no toolbar and sidebar.
      - kalleboo 7y ago
        I don't mean just sorting a window by file type - Finder has a global "Keep folders on top when sorting by name" preference that applies to all windows. AFAIK there is no way to get Windows to not sort folders on top.
  - sixstringtheory 7y ago
    What about sorting by type/kind? Sounds like you might be on sort by none/name...
  - neilalexander 7y ago
    Finder has a preference item called "Keep folders on top" for both "In windows when sorting by name" and "On Desktop".
saagarjha 7y ago
> The single most annoying thing is that there is no easy/ obvious way to grab the path to a file/folder in Finder, which seems like the most basic of features. Right click and hold down the option key, I believe.
sixstringtheory 7y ago
I’ll grant you it’s not obvious, but it’s quite easy once you know (as with most things in GUIs): just drag it. You can drag a file/folder from Finder to Terminal or a text editor and it’ll populate the full path. You can even drag a folder from a Finder window to a save prompt or web browser upload prompt and it’ll relocate you to that directory in the prompt. The rich drag and drop functionality is one of my favorite features of macOS.
PascLeRasc 7y ago
If you're still using macOS/Finder, try entering `defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true` in Terminal and restarting Finder, it'll show the full path in the title bar.

chipotle_coyote 7y ago

If the Path bar is visible, you can right-click at any point along the path of the selected file and select "Copy Path." You can also just drag an icon from a Finder window into any window that accepts text, including Terminal, and it'll paste the fully qualified path right in. I always used to find Windows File Explorer to be the one that was less feature-rich, but I haven't used it in... we'll just say a shamefully long time. But as someone who got used to Macs an equally long time ago, I've wondered if it's because the Mac seemed to make drag-and-drop such a central way of manipulating files and Windows emphasized "select object - select operation" as its central metaphor. If you're used to one way, moving to other system feels weird and clunky.

kalleboo 7y ago

As a life-long Mac user, I feel the opposite. Whenever I have to use Windows, it feels like Windows Explorer is missing lots of features I take for granted, some that the Mac has had since the 90's. Stuff like spring-loaded drag and drop, directory sizes being calculated in list views, QuickLook... It also has some really braindead design choices like sorting directories separate from files, making navigating with the keyboard a pain (and last I checked, this can't even be turned off!) To me Windows Explorer feels like it hasn't been updated with modern features since XP, aside from adding the ribbon

orpheline 7y ago
Interesting. I use a MBP for work, and hate that Finder intermixes directories and files. I much prefer having directories sorted separately: it makes it easier to drill down through a hierarchy of all the directories are grouped together...
- kalleboo 7y ago
  I browse my file system a lot with the keyboard by typing the first few letters in a file name, and if directories are sorted on the top, that means getting to a file starting with the letter "F" is way more difficult when there are also directories named with "F". It also makes things messy when you have related files and folder. E.g. how Firefox saves a website as a "page name.html" and a directory with the assets "page name files". Suddenly these aren't grouped together and copying them together means scrolling back and forth. At least in the Finder on the Mac you can turn your preferred behavior on (it's in preferences/advanced). On Windows AFAIK there is no setting for it.
  - dmitriid 7y ago
    > At least in the Finder on the Mac you can turn your preferred behavior on Per directory. There’s still no way to set the desired view and sorting for the entire system. And DMGs will open with no toolbar and sidebar.
    - kalleboo 7y ago
      I don't mean just sorting a window by file type - Finder has a global "Keep folders on top when sorting by name" preference that applies to all windows. AFAIK there is no way to get Windows to not sort folders on top.
- sixstringtheory 7y ago
  What about sorting by type/kind? Sounds like you might be on sort by none/name...
- neilalexander 7y ago
  Finder has a preference item called "Keep folders on top" for both "In windows when sorting by name" and "On Desktop".

saagarjha 7y ago

> The single most annoying thing is that there is no easy/ obvious way to grab the path to a file/folder in Finder, which seems like the most basic of features. Right click and hold down the option key, I believe.

sixstringtheory 7y ago

I’ll grant you it’s not obvious, but it’s quite easy once you know (as with most things in GUIs): just drag it. You can drag a file/folder from Finder to Terminal or a text editor and it’ll populate the full path. You can even drag a folder from a Finder window to a save prompt or web browser upload prompt and it’ll relocate you to that directory in the prompt. The rich drag and drop functionality is one of my favorite features of macOS.

PascLeRasc 7y ago

If you're still using macOS/Finder, try entering `defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true` in Terminal and restarting Finder, it'll show the full path in the title bar.