how to move or copy a folder from desktop

user3434591

1/26/24, 2:46 PM

I have a folder on my desktop with some files inside.

I wish to move or copy this folder into another folder as I do not want it on my desktop anymore.

Ubuntu will not allow me to do this. Is this a bug or a feature?

Thanks

0 + 7

.desktop

MikroPower

1/26/24, 3:02 PM

Could you use the terminal, go to the desktop-folder and enter "ls -l" so that we can see the file properties please?

sudodus

1/26/24, 3:24 PM

Open the file browser 'Files' alias `nautilus` and change directory to make it show where you want to move the directory from the desktop. Move the directory by drag and drop: left click on the directory's icon on the desktop, hold the button down while moving the cursor (and the directory's icon) to the window of the file browser and release the button of the mouse. This works, unless there are problems with permissions (I tested a minute ago in Ubuntu 22.04.x LTS).

sudodus

1/26/24, 3:33 PM

If there are problems with permissions (either of the directory that you want to move or of the target directory, the destination), you must find out about the permissions or 'properties' and fix them (your user ID must have permissions to perform the operation to move the directory). It is easier to find out and fix using the terminal, but also possible via right-clicking in the file browser.

user3434591

1/27/24, 3:11 AM

hi thank you for your reply. it seems my 2nd message was deleted. I tried to express that it seemed overly complicated for a windows user. When we drag and drop the file it does not copy it literally, visually, fly's back to where it came from on the desktop with no error message. in the end we had to make another folder and then copy the contents of the folder from the desktop(not the folder itself ) and then copy the files into the new folder and then rename the new folder to what we wanted it to be called.

user3434591

1/27/24, 3:11 AM

On windows we just drag and drop or copy and paste. in ubuntu its an overly tricky thing to do from the desktop. I bet allot of people who experience this issue go back to windows . I've used linux for a long time and did not have issues like this in the past on earlier version. It used to be great. A few distributions do not even allow a file on the desktop! with no options no explainations: / Thank you for your suggestion with nautilus btw

user3434591

1/27/24, 3:16 AM

if we cant drag and drop due to permissions I wonder why does ubuntu not simply ask for a password instead of animating/flying the folder back to its original location without a copy and paste? As stated we can do the copy paste but through a strange long-whined method. very uncomfortable for a windows user and there are millions of windows users will be trying ubuntu out in the near future.

sudodus

1/27/24, 9:03 AM

I think I understand what is happening, but I cannot see why it is happening (and it does *not* happen in my Ubuntu system). *Troubleshooting is easier, if you use the terminal, run some command and edit your original question to show the command and its output as 'code'*. It gives us helpers a chance to see what is happening for you and what should be done to solve or work around your problem. So please try according to the first comment (by MicroPower).

Elon Musk

I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

EN: how to move or copy a folder from desktop

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.