Keynote 2 Keynote

OS X has many little features built in that most users never know about. One such feature is the Proxy Icon located at the top of most windows. The icon is usually accompanied with the name of the file or folder that you are using. This icon is not simply eye candy, its a powerful yet overlooked feature of OS X. Here are 5 things that every Mac user should know about Proxy Icons.

#1 - Saved State

This only applies to the Proxy Icon that is displayed at the top of documents, since folders themselves can’t be saved. When a document has recently been saved and is up to date the Proxy Icon will be at full opacity. If any changes are made to the file the icon will be slightly grayed out and will remain like that until the document is saved again.

Note: For the following tips to work make sure that your document is saved and up to date. (see #1 above) If your document isn’t up to date you won’t be able to click/drag the Proxy Icon.

#2 - Move The File

If you’d like to relocated the current folder/document then hold down the control key and drag the Proxy Icon to the new location. Its simple, especially if you have the new location’s window open in the finder.If you’d like to relocated the current folder/document then hold down the control key and drag the Proxy Icon to the new location. Its simple, especially if you have the new location’s window open in the finder.

#3 - Copy The File

Sometimes I want to quickly back up a file onto a usb flash drive or external hard drive. To accomplish this I just hold down the option key and drag the Proxy Icon to the drive I’m using. This makes an exact copy at the new location

#4 - Make An Alias

I often find myself opening the same documents/folders repeatedly. To save time I create an alias (shortcut for you windows folk) to the document/folder on my desktop. This can be accomplished quickly with Proxy Icons. Hold down the Apple and option keys, then drag the Proxy icon to where you’d like the alias.

#5 Path To File

By holding down the Apple key and clicking on the Proxy Icon the path to the file is displayed. This is useful for when you save a file, but have no idea where it when. Another good use of this is if you’ve traversed through lots of folders and want to know where you are. When the path menu is open you can click on any of the folders within that menu to be taken there.

Bonus Tip! - Synergy

Did you know that Proxy Icons can interact with other applications? To cheak out this neat feature open a document. Now, drag the Proxy Icon to to your Mail.app icon in your dock. A new email will be composed with the document as an attachment! I’ll leave some exploring to do with this one. There are many many neat things that can be accomplished with this method.

So there you have it. 5 things you may or may not have known about Proxy Icons. The listed hot keys will work for the majority of applications. You might find some applications, TextWrangler for example, that don’t abide by listed hot keys. If things aren’t working as expected try different combinations of keys and you’ll find your desired result. I swear, these littler icons will grow on you. Give them a shot, they will save you a bit of time and give you one more thing to show off to your Windows buddies :)

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