# How to move files out of the NotchStar shelf

> Drag an icon from the shelf into a folder, message or app. The original file is used, and the icon stays on the shelf until you remove it.

Canonical: https://www.notchstar.com/help/move-files-out-of-the-notch-shelf/
Last updated: 2026-11-04

Published 2026-11-04.

To get a file out of the shelf, drag its icon to where you want it: a Finder folder, a message, an email or an app window. NotchStar hands over the original file, not a copy made by the shelf. The icon stays on the shelf afterwards.

## Steps

1. Open the Shelf tab by hovering over the notch.
2. Drag the file icon out of the notch, onto the folder, message or app.
3. Release. What happens next depends on the place you drop it. Finder, Mail and Messages each decide for themselves whether they copy or move the file.

## Remove an icon

- Hover over it and click the x at its corner.
- Right click it and choose **Remove**.
- Click **Clear** beside the shelf to empty everything.

Removing an icon never deletes the file. It only forgets the location.

## Other right click actions

- **Reveal in Finder** opens the folder with the file selected.
- **AirDrop** sends just that file.

If the drag gives nothing, the original may have moved. See [why a file looks missing](https://www.notchstar.com/help/why-a-shelf-file-looks-missing-after-moving-it/). For the whole tool, see the [File Shelf page](https://www.notchstar.com/features/file-shelf/).

## Quick answers.

### Does dragging a file out remove it from the shelf?

No. The icon stays until you remove it, so you can use the same file in more than one place.

## Keep reading.

- [A shelf and an AirDrop zone in the notch](https://www.notchstar.com/features/file-shelf/): Park files in the notch while you work, then drag them out or AirDrop them. Drag a file toward the notch and the shelf opens by itself.
- [How to drop a file on the NotchStar shelf](https://www.notchstar.com/help/drop-a-file-on-the-notch-shelf/): Drag a file toward the notch and the Shelf tab opens. Drop it in the dashed zone and it waits there until you drag it out or send it.
- [How to AirDrop several files at once from the notch](https://www.notchstar.com/help/send-several-files-from-the-notch-shelf/): Drop several files on the AirDrop zone together, or park them on the shelf and press the AirDrop button. One picker opens with all of them.
- [Why a file on the NotchStar shelf stops working after you move it](https://www.notchstar.com/help/why-a-shelf-file-looks-missing-after-moving-it/): The shelf remembers where a file was. If you move, rename or delete the original, its shelf icon no longer leads to it. Remove it and drop it again.

## More in Shelf and AirDrop.

- [How to drop a file on the NotchStar shelf](https://www.notchstar.com/help/drop-a-file-on-the-notch-shelf/): Drag a file toward the notch and the Shelf tab opens. Drop it in the dashed zone and it waits there until you drag it out or send it.
- [How to open the NotchStar shelf by dragging a file](https://www.notchstar.com/help/open-the-shelf-by-dragging-toward-the-notch/): Drag a file toward the top of the screen near the notch and NotchStar opens the Shelf by itself. Let go elsewhere and it closes again.
- [Why the NotchStar shelf does not open for text or images](https://www.notchstar.com/help/why-the-shelf-does-not-open-for-text-or-images/): Drag to open reacts to files only. Text and images dragged from a web page do not open the shelf. Save the image as a file first, then drag it.
- [How to AirDrop a file from your Mac notch](https://www.notchstar.com/help/airdrop-a-file-from-the-notch/): Drag a file toward the notch and drop it on the AirDrop zone. The macOS AirDrop picker opens with the file attached. Pick a device to send.
- [What the AirDrop zone in the NotchStar shelf does](https://www.notchstar.com/help/what-the-airdrop-zone-does/): The AirDrop zone does not keep files. Whatever you drop on it opens the macOS AirDrop picker with those files attached, and nothing is stored.
- [How to AirDrop from your Mac notch to an iPhone](https://www.notchstar.com/help/airdrop-from-the-notch-to-an-iphone/): Drop a file on the NotchStar AirDrop zone, then tap your iPhone in the picker. The iPhone must be nearby with AirDrop receiving turned on.