Non-destructive actions don’t need confirmation, potentially destructive actions do
How can moving files on the same device be destructive?
I’m for not endorsing behaviour only because thats what most people are used to
Neither am I, but I think it should be taken into consideration.
The easier way might be to copy ~/.config/k* to the new system.
Thanks, I’ll try that next time I have to reinstall my OS.
Plasma really could use some easy way to transfer settings.
Amen.
Well again - it’s not ‘same device’, it’s ‘same domain’.
Not necessarily destructive, but there is a lot more possible damage from errors - wrong destination (drop a bunch of carefully selected files in the wrong folder, cancel the lengthy ‘move operation’ then waste a load of time trying to recover your stuff).
SAME DOMAIN, not same device… I have a couple of folders on a mounted HDD which are hard linked, they are considered ‘same domain’ and so would default to MOVE.
However, try dragging a text file to your /usr/ directory…
Now, find a folder with 100 images, select as many blue ones as you see in the view, then drag and drop them to ‘/mnt/images/blue’ next try adding all the ‘green’ and tell me how easy it would be to undo this.
Imagine if there were already pre-existing images already in the destination - how much work to figure out which ones you need to move back?
With COPY, this never happens… you just delete AFTER it’s done.
(drop a bunch of carefully selected files in the wrong folder, cancel the lengthy ‘move operation’ then waste a load of time trying to recover your stuff)
Or just press Ctrl+Z.
However, try dragging a text file to your /usr/ directory…
I’m not allowed to do that.
Now, find a folder with 100 images, select as many blue ones as you see in the view, then drag and drop them to ‘/mnt/images/blue’
I’m not allowed to do that either.
Imagine if there were already pre-existing images already in the destination
how much work to figure out which ones you need to move back?
0 because, again, I’m not allowed to move files to those destinations via drag and drop.
Does it work for you? If so, what’s your distro and Plasma version?
Ok, well I’ll give you permission… what a strange answer.
You should have permission unless it’s a system drive. You could argue that the system should not simply block you, but call up a dialog to ask you if you wish to authorize the operation… that should be a future roadmap plan.
As you rightly point out, Distributions could feasibly adopt their own modified settings, so that after installing your OS you get MOVE by default instead.
I’m seeing conflicting reports also about the ALT drag and drop… because I also saw that holding the Alt key should trigger the POPUP menu.
If you have MOVE by default, I think that SHIFT should trigger the Popup menu - and the three modifiers should default to:
Shift 
override with move, or (of move default) trigger menu.
Ctrl override with copy, or trigger menu.
Alt trigger menu
Shift_Ctrl Override with link
Mainly, the cursor needs to more robustly reflect the status… and it does look like some clean up work needs doing (e.g. select text, drag to Dolphin to see ‘PLUS’ or ‘Copy’ but no function to add text to the folder (e.g. by dropping as a .txt file).
More here:
So the hypothetical scenario is the following:
And this extremely unlikely event should be prevented by having a pop-up menu asking you to confirm your decision every time you move any number of files from any location to any other location.
I’m not going to add much more than others, but I find a comment another user made very valuable. Dolphin, unlike other simplistic file managers like Windows’ built-in one, allows access to a number of protocols (which I use daily) such as SMB, FTP and FISH, and shouldn’t be simplified to just “local folders” and “external folders”. I think it should stay as it is now—whether it asks the user what to do or the user decides using the keyboard shortcuts.
I know Windows users who, when they switched to Plasma and started using Dolphin, appreciated the context menu asking what to do.
It’s a shame that—like many other things for almost a year now in Dolphin—the context menu no longer appears where the mouse button is released, as it always used to.
This is a good point - why I mentioned that ‘domains’ is a more valuable word than the simplistic ‘external’.
This is worth looking into:
This is a good point - why I mentioned that ‘domains’ is a more valuable word than the simplistic ‘external’.
Move operations are inherently riskier than copy operations because, if something interrupts mid-transfer, you can lose data… so it’s a mitigation strategy, not an absolute.
But I fully support the idea of having a setting for people to set Move as default.
This thread seemed to have settled the point, but also highlighted the current buggy and unreliable nature of CURSOR indicators.
This is worth looking into:
Please, please, don’t change it to “move by default.”
I once had an incident where I moved files to an unintended folder on my work laptop. It was incredibly frustrating. This happened when I was dragging files using the touchpad, but accidentally let go mid-drag while the cursor was over another folder, causing the files to be moved immediately. I had to track the files being moved one by one because the folder was already filled with so many files.
This kind of thing has never happened on my KDE system because it always asks what to do. I think “Always ask what to do” should be left as the default, and the “move by default” option should be reserved for more experienced and confident users.
The popup displayed when the drag-drop operation reaches the destination folder can be used as “thinking time” and “confirmation” for the user. Yes, it’s a hassle for the user, but it makes them more confident in their actions.
No, I don’t think that’s even under serious consideration. I was looking at an old reddit thread talking about this, and it boiled down to mostly two arguments:
People who like it also appreciate the discovery, the pop-up is also context aware and will offer you contextual options that you wouldn’t get by simply dragging to move by default.
You know, like dragging an archive.
The main thing that needs to change is the consistency of the cursor - just as dragging an ‘opus’ file to ‘strawberry’ shows a ‘Plus’ which means add (or copy in a file browser) then dragging it to another folder should show the action - so a question mark for a menu, ‘add’ for copy, ‘link’ for linking and ‘grab hand’ for move.
At least then your setting won’t come as a surprise (currently, it’s really a bug that it just shows ‘add’ for the menu, and the link icon is broken too).
Here is one who came from Windows about five years ago and learned to love the default behaviour within a very short time. And thanks to Win11 I convinced four not-really-tech-savvy people to switch as well, and they are really happy with the setting as it is, too.
Therefore +1 for not changing this - but +1 as well for fixing the mouse cursor 
I train people coming new to Kubuntu and they all pick up on the “ask which operation to do” on a file drag ‘n drop. It’s okay as it is. Sometimes you want to copy. Sometimes you want to move.
Drag and drop isn’t an ambiguous action even if the context menu makes it seem so.
The proper way of teaching someone to copy a file is to let them know how it’s done with the mouse and/or keyboard.
Mouse: right-click file → Copy → right-click destination → Paste
Keyboard: select* file → Ctrl+C → select* destination → Ctrl+V
*typically done with the mouse
The point here is that there are many different things you can do, and the post you’re replying to is about 'file drag ‘n drop’.
So if you drag 'n drop a file, the result is very contextual. Drag an opus file, drop it on Strawberry icon, drag a text file and drop it on Writer or kwrite…
With launchers, primarily the action is ‘open with’. With desktop, it’s variable (drag and drop text doesn’t create a text file, but it might create a sticky note - and there aren’t any options, it’s either on or off or ignored).
Also, @michaell says ‘sometimes you want to copy, sometimes you want to move’ - but he ignored the multiple other options which also apply.
If I drag a document from my personal folder to a shared folder, it might be better to LINK it, so I can still see it in my personal folder - but if someone edits the shared file, they’re editing the same file.
If I drag an archive, I rarely just want to move or copy it - I frequently want options for unpacking… and even an option to remove the archive after unpacking.
Files from Dolphin
URL from browser - create link/shortcut or .desktop link file
Selected Text from anywhere
Drag 'n Drop isn’t equivalent to ‘copy’ or ‘paste’. It is a GESTURE - so ‘I selected this object - now do something with it depending on where I drop it’.
More of a ‘transfer object’.
So if you’re teaching copy, or paste, sure it’s one of many tools - and the way it is, drag 'n drop is arguably a better option than Ctrl_X/C/V… I mean, what’s the shortcut for ‘paste link’ or ‘unpack here and delete archive’?
It’s bringing context and discovery to your drop… currently with the problem that the cursor isn’t clear on the ‘drop’ zone, and also that there’s no ‘default’ action for dropping where it could create a file instead of a sticky note.
So, there’s a lot of text in this thread, so I’ll just add my experience with this feature coming from a heavy macos and windows user in the past…
Once upon a time there was a 3 yr old boy who was given a windows xp pc……………… and when he came to england, he saw ubuntu with unity and found it to be the most beautiful looking desktop he’d ever seen………………. during school, he used macos only…………… during university, he had a windows 10 machine which he hated using and a macbook air, later an early M1 mac which he still own to this day.
Once he realised that linux can do all the things he desired, he learned how to use linux, and with KDE was very very very extremely happy when his graphical file manager tool would ask if he wants to copy or move a file every time, as it also prevented him from making the dreaded “where did I accidentally drop this file” mistake.
He never would have considred this type of thing even existed and probably wouldn’t be so fond of this feature if it wasn’t the default.
I think this wall of text is appropriate for this thread xd
Basically, I think that people who want to change from the default are free to do so, but the default default should stay the same, as KDE plasma is not a replacement for windows dekstop or macos. They are entirely different, there are similarities in design, but plasma shouldn’t be turned into a copy of windows for linux or whatever, not that tiny thing would do that, but you knwo what I mean
I’m just going to say, I always found the Windows drag and drop behavior really annoying (I used to be a Windows user and have moved to Linux with KDE Plasma due to Windows 10 EOL). So on Windows I mostly didn’t use drag and drop for moving/copying files, instead I used the keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl-X/Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V). On KDE though, after discovering that the drag and drop behavior lets you decide whether you want to move or copy files, I now use drag and drop a LOT more because it actually makes sense and is way more convenient than Windows’ drag and drop, especially when I can just hold shift to move or ctrl to copy my files. Instead of being at the mercy of Windows’ logic, I can control what happens to my files.
The “proper way”? Who gets to decide the “proper way”? You? You should do some training yourself and see if your positions hold up. There’s nothing more humbling that teaching a regular computer user how to use a new operating system.
Actually, I miss having lessons… Before computers were a big deal I remember going on a touch-typing course with an electric typewriter, didn’t take long to learn typing without looking down.
Some years later, facing a C: prompt and learning to create my CV, or type letters with proper formatting, using Wordstar (or Wordperfect)… learning to use codes to get italics/bold etc.
I remember also how much I enjoy p1s5’sing off my teachers by coming up with better ways of doing things 
So the ‘proper way of teaching’ is basically to throw some ideas, good practices, but accept that it’s not set in stone.
The more you learn, the more you appreciate the sheer depth of your own ignorance
