DropPoint makes drag and drop operations easier

Martin Brinkmann
May 24, 2022
Windows software
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21

Windows, Mac OS and Linux support drag and drop operations to move or copy files from one location to another. The open source cross-platform application DropPoint aims to make drag & drop operations easier on all three desktop operating systems.

Dragging files from one location to another can be time consuming. You may need to open a second window and place both windows next to each other before you can start the drag & drop operation.

DropPoint changes the process by adding an always visible element on the screen that can be used as temporary storage for files. All it takes is to drag all files onto the element on the screen and to drag them again from the element to the destination. It is like a shopping basket, but for files and folders. A keyboard shortcut, Shift-Caps Lock on Windows and Linux systems, and Shift-Tab on Mac OS systems, toggles the visibility of the element on the screen.

DropPoint is available for Linux, Mac OS and Windows. Windows may throw a SmartScreen warning on first run of the application.

It is an Electron application, which means that it has quite the large size, especially when compared to other applications of its type. File copy tools such as SmartCopyTool, TeraCopy, or Copy Handler improve the copy process. Our first review of a specialized program dates back to the 2008 review of Piky Basket for Windows.

DropPoint supports a couple of features that users may like. Besides cross-platform support, it is also supporting virtual desktops and workspaces. Usage is always identical. Drop files onto the DropPoint element on the screen, and drag them from the element to the target location once you have added all the files that you want to copy to it.

You can perform multiple drag operations onto the element to collect files from different locations before sending them to the desired target location.

The open source tool supports copy operations only. If you want to move files, you still need to use other means to do so.

Closing Words

DropPoint is a useful open source tool designed to improve drag & drop operations on desktop systems. It is easy to use and works exactly as described. The main downside to using the tool is that it has a large size when compared to copy tools that exist for all operating systems.

Now You: how do you copy files from one location to another?

Summary
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Software Name
DropPoint
Operating System
Windows, Mac, Linux
Software Category
Productivity
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Comments

  1. albresc said on May 26, 2022 at 4:07 pm
    Reply

    ExtremeCopy not reliable at least for me.
    I copied 13GB with verification and got to the right of ‘Verification:’ the word ‘different’ …
    I checked the source and the copy with a checksum verifier (HashCheck Shell Extension) and got some source files unreadable (not copied) and some files failing checksum verification.

    Teracopy does it great every time. 100% checksum verification. All files copied, of course.
    Staying with it.

  2. delap05 said on May 26, 2022 at 2:20 pm
    Reply

    Occasionally I have a bunch of files which I need to sort and distribute among different folders. I use Q-Dir, and drag and drop the files to their respective folders. No need for an intermediate step like this one.

  3. smaragdus said on May 26, 2022 at 12:54 am
    Reply

    Pushing Electron junk time and again is plain evil, it is a violent attack on desktop, on programming and on common sense, which nowadays is really not so common. Once people used to complain about sluggish Python, Java and .Net programs, now such stuff looks lightning fast and light as a feather compared to the abominable, evil Electron.

  4. Luca P. said on May 25, 2022 at 2:51 pm
    Reply

    I was just looking for a similar program though with more options, like copy or move and that would display the list of files… However, I agree with those who complain about the amount of memory required, definitely disproportionate to the task.

  5. wow-WOW said on May 25, 2022 at 12:59 pm
    Reply

    What a useless gimmick, I use CTRL+X to copy all files and paste to target, no fuss, no muss and no additional anything needed.

    1. jonathan said on July 26, 2022 at 3:02 pm
      Reply

      ctrl + x overrides the previous selection when you have to take items from multiple locations bruh

    2. Martin Brinkmann said on May 25, 2022 at 1:21 pm
      Reply

      Ctrl-X is cutting, not copying. Files are no longer in their source directories after the operation. Cutting is great, but only if the files need to be moved to the new location.

      1. wow-WOW said on May 25, 2022 at 6:18 pm
        Reply

        CTRL+X actually copies all items and with CTRL+V will MOVE all cut items/folder/files whatever into new directory removing them from previous directory completely.

        Which is what this gimmick feature does, doesnt matter if it holds them is limbo, the cut items are no longer in the previous directory.

        So essentially the feature you wrote about only offers a temporary limbo directory to hold such items until youre ready to move them to final directory.

        Current Windows 10 also offers clipboard history which is pretty much the same as this limbo directory offered by this gimmick feature.

        So this feature doesn’t actually introduce anything new that isnt already offered by default with ANY WIndows OS of any version with exception of clipboard history.

      2. wow-WOW said on May 25, 2022 at 6:47 pm
        Reply

        Im the sort of user who takes real care about not exchanging security, privacy for convenience, in which the later is really just another layer that doesnt really offer anything that the average user cant achieve already, like for instance creating a folder to drop this data into, creating a folder is done easily by crtl+shift+n

        So really we are splitting hairs about how convenient this feature is in saving 2 seconds off any user, are we so busy in our lives that we exchange privacy/security for convenience?

        The extra two seconds the user who adopts these kinds of solution will spend on morally corrupt websites like Facebook or twitter or tik-tok or playing the latest game.

        Convenience is and will be the main cause for humanities demise.

      3. jonathan said on July 26, 2022 at 3:05 pm
        Reply

        what is the privacy violation here @wow-WOW? it is a free open source app (you can look at its code ffs) and it doesn’t even use the internet or send any telemetry

        Fuss like creating a folder for everything and deleting is exactly what is being avoided with this application. Its more of a convenience rather than a necessity, install and try it out if you haven’t before judging

  6. Mystique said on May 25, 2022 at 11:02 am
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    Is there anything actually like Piky Basket out there. I used to use that many years ago and enjoyed it but the developer discontinued it many years ago. I have over the years looked around but never found anything similar. I have purchased TeraCopy but it just isn’t the same at all.

    Echoing what everyone else has sad Electron is a poor choice for this application and just a poor choice in general.

  7. hg said on May 25, 2022 at 10:11 am
    Reply

    I have used Terracopy for many years (tiny memory usage) and I use a tabbed browser addon, and I can still see the potential use of being able to cut-copy files to temporary storage. BUT an Electron app – most stupid thing ever.

  8. nagyern said on May 25, 2022 at 9:55 am
    Reply

    Hi Martin Brinkmann!

    Can you help me? I have several corrupt .jpg images.

    Which is the best software to fix, to repair damaged, corrupt .jpg images so I can open them?

    Thanks

  9. DrKnow said on May 25, 2022 at 1:35 am
    Reply

    Use a dual pane Explorer instead which are smaller in size than this Electron junkware and have far greater functionality including moving by drag/drop.

    Seriously, who releases a drag and drop app than can’t move files?

    Why doesn’t Ghacks actively criticise software? It’s becoming more and more like a press release for software.

  10. JustMe said on May 24, 2022 at 11:28 pm
    Reply

    I fail to see the convenience of this tool. Also, who would think it’s a good idea to use a web browser in order to copy files? Electron seems an awful choice for this.

  11. Trey said on May 24, 2022 at 10:57 pm
    Reply

    I can see this being very useful for specific needs but Electron is a too much overhead just for general daily use.

  12. Anonymous said on May 24, 2022 at 9:23 pm
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    Been using windows since 3.0 and have never used the drag and drop gimmick. (Amiga before that)
    Get a tabbed dual-pane file manager and never look back.

    1. netarchitech said on May 26, 2022 at 10:29 am
      Reply

      I know there are many to choose from, but One Commander (https://www.onecommander.com) has me never looking back when it comes to a tabbed dual-pane file manager…

      One Commander’s developer is open to suggestions/requests to enhance/extend it and has a forum (https://groups.google.com/g/onecommander) where you can do just that…

  13. Paul(us) said on May 24, 2022 at 5:47 pm
    Reply

    ExtremeCopy is an Open Source Windows utility that will copy and moves files extremely fast, it will auto optimize speed and resources based on the target physical machine.

    ExtremeCopy includes the following features:

    Copy or move files or folders extremely fast.
    Increase the file copying speed up to 20% to 120% in comparison to the default Windows copying function.
    Save much time when backup huge files to another hard drive or USB drive.
    Easily manage copying tasks.
    Able to calculate and display remain time exactly.
    Supports Break Point which is able to pause when encounters any problems such as a file being locked and resume back with a click on the “Continue” button once the problem is fixed.
    Supports multiple languages

    http://www.easersoft.com/

    1. VioletMoon said on May 25, 2022 at 4:51 pm
      Reply

      @Paulus

      What is the point being made; as I understand the article, Drop Point isn’t a copy/paste program. It’s a drag and drop and paste on your own program–may be one way to describe it. Its use is primarily for those users who may need to drag out a number of files from a folder, drop them on the target, and then decide what to do with the files.

      Extreme Copy, for all its glory, can’t “reach” into a folder and move several files out of the folder without opening the folder.

      1. Paul(us) said on May 25, 2022 at 10:15 pm
        Reply

        Yep, I know but the copy part of Extreme copy is so extremely superior compared to Drop point that reaching in a folder is the way to go.

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