Why is it not possible to use the "cut" command to manipulate a file in the Finder?
On OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), I don't seem to be able to us the "Cut" command on a file in the Finder, like you can do in Windows Explorer on Microsoft Windows. (In Windows, once you select a file and "cut" it, you can then move to a different directory and "paste" the file to that location.)
The only way I can move a file using keyboard or contextual menu commands is to copy the file to another drive or location and then delete the old version of the file.
In the Finder's 'Edit' menu, 'Cut' is in the list but if a file itself is selected, it is always greyed out. 'Copy' is not. Why is this?
Solution 1:
Keyboard method: Cmd-C then Opt-Cmd-V does the cut&paste for files on Mac.
Mouse method: Drag the file from one folder to the parent of the target folder (ie, if moving to Documents:Financial, drag to Documents). Hover on the parent folder for a few seconds, and it will spring open. Then you can continue dragging the file to the target folder. (note, the mouse method may result in very long hover times, if you're dragging a huge number of files, eg 1,000 files)
Menu method: It's not part of the Apple menu system to 'cut' files. The menu Cut option is grayed out, and becomes enabled when text is selected. But not files. Here is an in-depth discussion on Apple's discussion forum.
Solution 2:
The cut function is implemented in Lion and later as a result of modifying the paste command. If you copy a file and hold down the ⌥ key in addition to the normal paste command.
⌘+⌥+V = paste + cut in macOS
This retroactively cuts the original file(s) and pastes them in the new folder.
You can also use: right click + Copy then Option + right click + "Move Item Here"
On Snow Leopard and earlier, the cut function is not part of Finder.
The thing that seems to be different is that CUT on OS X means it's gone now. Whereas cut on Windows means text goes away and files get copied for cutting on paste. The implementations seem quite similar for filesystem cut/paste operations in practice.
Assuming it's not a "patent thing", one could speculate that this is a "do no harm" design standpoint. Why cut something and then potentially lose or misplace it? Imagine the harm if you selected a few hundred files to copy them (or duplicate them) but inadvertently hit the X key. Instead of forcing you to realize a cat or toddler has cut a whole folder of files, the cut only happens when you paste with the option key held down to paste and then cut in one action.
Solution 3:
There is no native way to Cut in Finder.
It has always been that way. Why? We don't know.
I believe the Cut you're talking about is either standard on an Edit but it will most likely become available when you rename a file.
Bottom line is, you can't cut & paste files natively in Mac OS X.