Drag and Drop

You can drag items onto the LaunchBar window, allowing you to open files or URLs with a specific application or to perform various file operations such as moving or copying.

Note that you can enter an abbreviation to select the desired destination even during the drag. Say you want to open an HTML file with TextEdit. Start dragging the file, press Command-Space to activate LaunchBar, enter TED to select TextEdit, and finally drop the file onto the bar.

Modifier Keys

By default, when you drag an item onto the bar, LaunchBar pops up a menu where you can choose the desired action for the dragged item. Alternatively you can press the following modifier key combinations during the drag:

Modifier Action
Command Move to Folder / Open with…
Option Copy to Folder
Shift Select in LaunchBar
Command-Option Make Alias
Control Make Symbolic Link (Absolute)
Control-Option Make Symbolic Link (Relative)
Control-Shift Make Hard Link

Default Actions

For different kinds of dragging destinations (applications, folders, …) a default action can be configured in the Advanced pane of LaunchBar Preferences. This action will be performed when you drag items onto LaunchBar without pressing any modifier keys.

If you drag onto the Action menu icon (at the right end of the LaunchBar window), the menu for choosing the desired action will pop up regardless of the configured default action.

Drag and drop using the keyboard

LaunchBar provides a set of commands allowing you to perform drag and drop operations using the keyboard instead of the mouse:

When you drop an item onto a folder using the keyboard (either via Command-D or Command-V) the “Default Action” as defined in the Advanced pane of LaunchBar Preferences will not be performed to prevent accidental invocation. Instead you have to confirm the desired action by selecting the corresponding item from the pop-up menu. Note that this menu can also be navigated using the up/down arrow keys.

See also:

Dragging items to other applications

Items can be dragged from LaunchBar to other applications. You can either drag the selected item from the LaunchBar window as well as any other item from the search result menu.

To prevent unintended, accidental dragging of files (causing them to be moved or copied) you have to start the drag from within the selected item’s icon. To start the drag from any other location within the bar, you have to hold down the Option key.

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