Default Folder X 6.2.4 is available, and despite the minor bump in the version number, there are some significant improvements.
New services in Finder contextual menus
There are new commands in the Finder’s contextual menu:
- Default Folder X: Copy
- Default Folder X: Move
- Default Folder X: Contents
They let you use Default Folder X’s hierarchical menus to Copy or Move selected files and folders, or pop up a hierarchical menu showing the Contents of a selected folder so you can navigate within it. Here’s the Copy command in action (you may have to click on the image if your browser doesn’t auto-play animated GIFs):
These are really useful when organizing files or digging into deep folder hierarchies in the Finder. The one complication is that you have to explicitly turn the commands on before you can use them.
To enable these new Default Folder X “services,” go to System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services > Files and Folders, then look for the Default Folder X commands and turn on the checkboxes next to them:
If you’ve got fewer than 5 commands enabled in the Files and Folders category, they’ll be listed directly in the Finder’s contextual menu when you Control-click (or right-click) on a selected file or folder. If you’ve got 5 or more services enabled, they’ll be listed in a Services submenu. And yeah, I wish they weren’t so buried in System Settings – that’s a lot of clicks just to get to the place where you manage them.
Always-On Path Display in File Dialogs
In Tahoe and Sequoia, holding down the Option key in an Open or Save dialog briefly shows the path of the currently selected item:
Default Folder X now offers the option to have the path permanently displayed. Just turn on the option here:
If you use it, you’ll notice that the path isn’t actually always on – if you mouse over it to select something in the file listing, or if there’s a selected item underneath it in the list, the path will hide itself until it’s no longer in your way. On the other hand, if you actually want to click on one of the intermediate folders in the path to go to it, hold down the Option key to prevent the path from hiding.
More New Stuff!
If you’re an AppleScript user (which usually means you’ve been using a Mac for more than 20 years 🙄), the new menu-based Move, Copy and Contents services I described above are also scriptable. In Default Folder X’s AppleScript dictionary, you’ll find the new verbs MoveUsingMenu and CopyUsingMenu, plus the ShowMenu verb has been expanded to take a folder as an argument so that you can pop up a hierarchical menu showing that folder’s contents.
Also, keyboard shortcuts in Default Folder X can now include the Fn (Globe) key. And finally, if you hold down the command key while choosing a folder set from the Folder Sets submenu, Default Folder X will switch to the new folder set, then pop its menu back up so you can select a file or folder in that folder set.
Bug Fixes
I’ve fixed a slew of little issues that we’ve come across in the last month. Gone are the graphical glitches in the path menu at the top of file dialogs and the slightly jagged corners and incorrect corner radii on some windows (yeah, all those differently rounded corners in Tahoe are confusing for developers too).
Compatibility issues with PasteBot, Paste and other apps that pop up a window to insert text have been fixed. I worked around a bug in Adobe apps that was causing visual artifacts and strange behavior in Open and Save dialogs. And problems with Default Folder X “seeing” QSpace Pro windows will be resolved as soon as QSpace Pro is updated.
When you’ve got “Make the filename editing field wider” turned on in Save dialogs, you’ll no longer have to click twice on items in the sidebar or on the Delete button. Plus the numpad Enter key will work consistently and the Option key will display the path of the current folder as it should.
And finally, the built-in crash logging has uncovered a few rare (and some very weird) crashes that have been addressed in this update.
Getting the Update
As usual, this update is free if you’ve purchased a license for Default Folder X version 6 – just select “Check for Update” from Default Folder X’s menu in your menu bar. Or if you’re not already running Default Folder X (and are thereby wasting your time futzing with files and folders) go to the What’s New page for download links and a full change log.
