Tabs in Finder Windows

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
I was just in Finder and almost pressed Command T to make a new tab when I realized I was in Finder and not Safari. But, why wouldn't Tabs work in Finder the same way they do in Safari? I think that would be great! Especially for people with small screens like me on a 12" PB. What do ya'll think.



Edit: I just thought about copying files. How about, if you hold a certain key or key combo down it lets you select different Tabs while still "holding" a file or folder you are dragging. As in you select it, drag it around while hitting a key or key combo, and then you can select a new tab while still holding the item and then use Spring Loaded folders to place it. Alternately you can "copy" and "paste" the item but that feels un Mac like to me.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    ibrowseibrowse Posts: 1,749member
    Just about the only reason I ever have more than one Finder window open at a time is to drag something from one to the other...
  • Reply 2 of 15
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    I thought about that as you must have been typing it... I had the response edited and went to a friends room, then finished up and replied. hehe.
  • Reply 3 of 15
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Well, I don't exclusively use multiple windows for that. It happens more than once that I'm working at two things at the same time, and just yesterday did I have the same thought as you did. I wouldn't mind tabs in the Finder at all. Not at all. They probably wouldn't get as much mileage as their brethren in Safari, but they'd still come in handy at times.
  • Reply 4 of 15
    What is *wrong* with you people????



    (only half-joking anti-tabs troll)
  • Reply 5 of 15
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Hehe. Yes I don't mean you can't have more then one Finder window. You could have say two open, your home folder with various tabs for subfolders in it and another with some folder on another drive, if you transfer between them a lot like I do. I used to hate Tabs but I can NOT live without them now. It's the biggest thing I notice now on a PC, no tabs in IE. Mozilla has them though, but you can't go through them with a key combo and they aren't as good.
  • Reply 6 of 15
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by stupider...likeafox

    What is *wrong* with you people????



    (only half-joking anti-tabs troll)




    Let me ask you then, half-joking anti-tabs troll, why you consider yourself to be anti tabs? I can imagine that there are horrendously compelling reasons to hate the living guts out of tabs, but I admit I'm not aware of them. Yet I would love to learn. Please fess up.



    \ ( )
  • Reply 7 of 15
    jwilljwill Posts: 209member
    Tabbed Finder windows would be a cool idea. Just drag an item to a tab, then it shows you its contents. Just think about it!



    I think it would be cool.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    seems like apple is depending on expose to satisfy the functionality everyone here is looking for, albeit with some trade-offs.
  • Reply 9 of 15
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    seems like apple is depending on expose to satisfy the functionality everyone here is looking for, albeit with some trade-offs.



    Tabs are sweet, but keep them in a browser. Exposé will be sweet and be better than tabs ever could be for Finder.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    jwilljwill Posts: 209member
    I think a one-windowed Finder would be nice too. Everybody has different opinions about this obviously, so if it were ever implemented it would best be done as an option (just like Safari).
  • Reply 11 of 15
    Tabbed-anything (in the tabbed-browsing style) is a poor UI design. How many times have I closed a window with a tab in which I was writing a forum post or overwritten the tab by selecting a new 'Open in tabs' group in Safari? Well, it happened yesterday.



    I try to live with tabs but it just doesn't work.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    cakecake Posts: 1,010member
    Whatever happened to piles.

    Is this feature in Panther?
  • Reply 13 of 15
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    tabs are DA BOMB... I want tabs everywhere... I want tabby cats too... mmmmmm
  • Reply 14 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aquatic

    Alternately you can "copy" and "paste" the item but that feels un Mac like to me.



    You think copy and paste are unMac-like?





    Well, you've got nice ideas about tabs, anyway.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    Quote:

    Originally posted by der Kopf



    I can imagine that there are horrendously compelling reasons to hate the living guts out of tabs, but I admit I'm not aware of them. Yet I would love to learn. Please fess up.



    \ ( )






    It's been covered a million times, I'm surprised you aren't sick of the arguments yet.



    Here's some highlights:



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...threadid=24354



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...&threadid=7832



    summary for the lazy:



    * not consistent, which is the key word for usability



    * implemented on an app by app basis rather than baked into cocoa to be shared and reused



    * solving a Windows UI (and Linux GUIs that rip-off Windows) problem that the Mac never had, and has even less now we have expose



    * promoting the Windows way of working (e.g. can't drag and drop, even if you add workarounds it's not discovorable, encourages maximising things to take up the entire screen just when screens are becoming big enough to easily multitask etc.)
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