Submission details
After deleting a file, the next file should be selected
In the Finder, after you delete a file with Cmd-Delete, there is no selection. At that point, if you press the down arrow key, the first file in the folder will be selected -- not the one that had been immediately after the now-deleted file. This makes it very tedious to work your way through a large folder and delete files as you go.
When you delete a file, the Finder should select the next file.
Low
Low
Not fixed
Discussion (11 comments)
I completely agree, it's very annoying. Thank you for reminding me another Finder bug which tries to sell itself as a feature.
I also agree! I often go through folders with a lot of files and want to delete along the way, but get kicked back to the top after each delete. The reason for deleting one at a time is that you often don't know exactly what you'll be deleting until you've looked at it, so going through a folder and looking at files before choosing to delete them is the way to do that.
Agree with @grey_podder above - and the system should never place you in a position where you could accidentally delete things
Completely agree with this submission. I can't tell you the times I've been going through files to delete here and there on the way. Navigating with the keyboard, delete with the keyboard, but have to stop and mouse back to the file I want to be on. It also causes me to lose my place as I'm browsing. It's really annoying!
Nothing should be selected without the user's explicit wish, so I demoted this submission.
But I've got an alternative solution: the finder reminds the position of last selection after a file is deleted, and when you press either arrow-up or arrow-down, the next file relative to the reminded position is selected.
I am really puzzled by the arguments presented by several people that it some sort of UI faux pas to have anything selected after the user deletes a file. By that argument, all of the following applications are doing something terribly wrong:
- In Mac Mail, when you delete a message, the next message is selected.
- In iPhoto, when you delete a photo, the next photo is selected.
- In iTunes, when you delete a song, the next song is selected.
- In a generic Mac listbox, when you delete a line, the next line is selected. For example, open Safari's Preferences dialog, go to the AutoFill tab, and click "Edit..." next to the "Other forms" option. Select any line in that listbox and then click "Remove" or press the Delete key. The next item will be selected.
- In TextEdit (and in pretty much every other text editor in existence), when you delete some text, the insertion point is left at the point where the deletion occurred. Sure, it's just an insertion point as opposed to some selected text, but don't forget that at that point, pressing the Delete key again will delete the next character, so this is a valid counterargument to abitgone's argument that "the system should never place you in a position where you could accidentally delete things." And by most definitions, an insertion point is a form of selection, so this may also serve as a valid counterargument to Frylock's argument that "nothing should be selected without the user's explicit wish."
- In Gmail, if you have keyboard shortcuts turned on, then if you delete or archive a message, it automatically selects the following message.
- In Google Spreadsheets, if one cell is selected and you delete the row, the corresponding cell from the next row down is selected.
Enough examples? Of course there are many, many more. Are Apple and Google wrong to be using this metaphor in the above cases? I realize that examples don't prove the validity of a UI metaphor; but they do provide circumstantial evidence that that UI metaphor is widely understood and accepted by users -- that it "works" for them. Would you honestly prefer that every one of the above apps change its behavior? In addition, as far as Apple's own products go, the Finder is clearly the exception here -- personally, I wasn't able to find a single other Apple product that had the Finder's behavior. So the point is, if we agree that Apple is, in general, good at UI, then we should give some weight to the fact that in almost every case, Apple has decided that it makes sense to select the next item after the previous one is deleted. They clearly do not see this as a bad UI pattern.
I agree with this submission. It's really annoying to be put back at the top of the folder after deleting a file.
Grey_Podder, and if you whant to see the preview of the pictures to now if delete or not? Reconsiderate your vote please...
Imagine that you are deleting an e-mail and after that Mail selects your first e-mail! It`s the same!
i agree with Grey_Podder ... gets a -1
files in a file system are MUCH more sensitive than entries in an email or music list in a narrow scope WITHIN a specific application. it is NOT parallel to the Finder.
@"- In Gmail, if you have keyboard shortcuts turned on, then if you delete or archive a message, it automatically selects the following message."
Gmail, thankfully, has changed this behavior!! i couldn't stand it. if i was viewing a single email and i deleted it, i WANTED Gmail to return to my list -- NOT show me the "next" email.
the people who agree with this submission are making a "fatal" assumption... that is: the OS is somehow able to know what the "next" file is **when it is NOT in List View**
in other words, they are assuming the current file view is in List View where it would be a logical and easy progression to the "next" object. but in other views, such as Thumb View, it is so arguable what the "next" file is!
Mac developers probably had to choose a catch-all. If you "release" all selections after a cmd-delete it will work in ALL views and provide a safer (no accidental deletes) environment. it may be in the works that it will automatically adjust (preferably with a user setting) for List View and select the "next" file after a cmd-delete... but release all selections after a cmd-delete when NOT in List View. it's just not there yet...
Grey_Podder wrote on August 15, 2008, 9:58pm
-1
If you want to delete several files in a folder, just highlight a continuous section. If the files are not all next to each other, hold Cmd and click each one. Then you only have to press Cmd-Delete once.