How to move files from computer to USB without copying them? Windows 10?

Question

I want to move some files off of my computer and onto the USB but I want to move the original file, not a copy of it. I’m running Windows 10, I’ve tried dragging the items, I’ve tried right clicking.. both options only give me the option to copy

Answer 1

Favourite answer

Hold the Shift key down while you drag and drop the files.

Answer 2

USB is the name of the connection. You probably mean a USB flash drive. One way you can do it is to copy the files to the USB device and then delete the original files on the hard drive.  There is also a move command in the menu. 

Answer 3

You move an identical copy of it to USB.  Delete it off where you got it from, now the only file is on the USB.  No one is any wiser for it.

Answer 4

Drag and drop while holding down the right mouse button, select move.  

Answer 5

Clearly. When you "move" a file from one directory to another your file management system just changes the pointer from "It's at point A" to "It's at point B" and the data is unchanged.

If you change physical locations from one drive to another (Even from C:\ to a second hard drive called E:|) then there is no other option but copying it. How could there be?

Answer 6

Yes, that is correct. There is only Copy. Even if you use Move, it's a Copy and Delete process.

It's digital. The result is always an exact copy of the original. If your concern is file creation and access times then download a free program to change that. 

Answer 7

From an implementation point of view, when you "move" a file from one folder to another on the same volume, the file isn't actually moved; the system just updates the directory information. But if you move that file to a different volume (such has your USB), you will always get a copy of your file. In this case, the only real difference between "copy" and "move" is what happens to the original file. If you "copy" a file to a new destination the original file remains. If you "move" a file the system confirms that the file has been copied, and then deletes the original.

The interface answer is - If you left-drag a file to a destination folder on the same volume, it's moved. If you left-drag a file to a folder on a different volume, it's copied. If you right-drag the file, you get a menu to choose the desired action.

Answer 8

You can share your file with shareit.

Answer 9

Windows 10:

Plug the USB flash drive directly into an available USB port. Note: You will see "USB Drive" in windows explorer.Navigate to the files on your computer that you want to transfer to the USB drive.Select the file you want to transfer.Click and hold file to drag it to the USB drive.

Answer 10

EVERY "file transfer" in a computer is a copy action, you cannot literally move the original data; that's just not how data storage systems work.

(Or not since the days of tape or disc pack systems back in the 60s, when you could remove the physical storage media).

The effect you want would be given by using cut and paste, but in reality the file is copied then, then automatically deleted from the source location after the copy is finished.

Just copy & paste then go back to the source location and delete the old files, if you cannot find "cut" in the options.