How Do I Move And Delete Files In Windows 10?

Don has a question about managing files in Windows 10, but first I think he’s trying to butter me up. He writes: I have purchased; received; downloaded; printed and read Cynthia’s “WorldStart’s Ultimate Guide to Windows 10”. I think she did a magnificent job
in creating this Guide. I border upon being computer illiterate therefore had help downloading Windows 10 and now I am having difficulties
trying to use it. I miss the “EDIT” tab from Windows 8. My largest and most immediate problem that I need your help with is as follows:

I open “File Explorer” and a long list of files appear in the “Recent Files” and even many more in the “Documents” file. Most of the files should be deleted or moved into a Flash Drive. I have made several attempts to delete a file without success. I clicked on the file to be deleted to highlight it. I then clicked on the “X” delete icon in the toolbar at the top of the window thinking that the selected file would be deleted. Wrong, nothing happened. Would you or Cynthia or a member of your staff please teach me how to delete, move or copy any document located in the “document File” ?

Don, first of all thank you! I think your issue may be that you’re attempting to delete from the Quick Access Menu. The Quick Access Menu is a feature of Windows 10’s File Explorer that lets you see your frequently used folders and recent files.

You’ll notice that the X for delete  at the top is grayed out in this shot. Even if I select a folder, I can’t delete it from here.

To delete, I need to click on the actual folder and open it. Then I can select a file to delete.

Notice that the X is now red. If I hit the X now, the file will go to the recycle bin. Or you could hit the “Del” key on your keyboard.

You can also right -click on the file for options to delete, move or copy.

Moving a file or folder to an external is a simple as selecting it and then dragging to to that location. The external drive will show up in File Explorer as well.

Just click, hold and drag the folder there. Or you can choose the copy and paste option.

Also, at the top of File Explorer you’ll notice options to “Move to” or “Copy to.”

The drop down menus here will let you move your files to another location or drive easily.

~ Cynthia