Home > Questions

How to move files from a PC to a hard drive instead of copying them?

I want to move files from a PC to an external hard drive before factory resetting it. Since copying takes longer, I wonder how I can move the files instead of copying them. Any suggestion?

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Jenny Zeng

Jenny Zeng

Answered on Friday, June 14, 2024

You can move files from your PC to an external drive by following the steps below.

  1. Select the files you want to move on your Windows PC.
  2. Press Ctrl + X to cut the files.
  3. Navigate to the external drive where you want to paste the files.
  4. Press Ctrl + V to paste the files.

Also, moving is faster than copying only when you do it within a partition. When you move files in a disk partition, your computer will just relabel the directory entries, which can be done in a shorter time.

However, if you are moving between disks, your computer will first copy the files and then immediately delete them from the source disk. In other words, moving files to a different disk is the same as copying but with an extra step, deleting.

Also read:

How to Copy and Paste Text/File/Folder on Mac

[Guide]How to Transfer Files to WD My Passport from Mac

Can't Copy from Mac to External Hard Drive, Fixes & Reasons

People Also Ask

Read More Questions

Read More Advice From iBoysoft's Computer Experts

com.apple.diskmanagement.disenter error 53249

Drive Externo Não está Montando (Erro 53249), Razões e Soluções

Guia para corrigir o problema de não montagem do drive externo no Mac com a mensagem 'com.apple.diskmanagement.disenter erro 53249'.

bash cd too many arguments zsh string not in pwd

Bash: cd: 引数が多すぎます & Zsh: cd: 現在のディレクトリ内に指定された文字列がありません

インストール済みのターミナルまたは他のコマンドシェルがコンピュータ上でエラーを発生させる場合、「bash: cd: 引数が多すぎます」または「zsh: cd: 引数が多すぎます」というエラーが表示される場合、この記事を参照して解決方法を見つけてください。

 IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

[10 Principais Soluções] Erro IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL no Windows 10/11

Guias para aprender como resolver o erro IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL no Windows e os motivos por trás dele.