How to collect files from different folders before attaching them on a Mac
Drag each file toward the notch and drop it on the shelf zone as you find it. The files wait there as icons with their real names. When you have them all, switch to your email or form and drag them out one by one, or AirDrop the lot. This avoids opening two Finder windows side by side.
Steps
- Drag the first file toward the top of the screen. The notch opens on the Shelf tab.
- Drop it on the right hand zone, which has a dashed border and highlights when the file is over it. The left zone is AirDrop, so avoid it unless you want to send.
- Go to the next folder, find the next file and repeat. The icons line up in a scrolling row.
- Check the row. Hover over an icon and press the small x to remove one by mistake. Clear removes all of them from the shelf, not from your disk.
- Open your email or form. Open the notch and drag an icon from the shelf into the attachment area. Do the same for each file.
Why it helps
Files are often scattered across Downloads, Documents and a project folder. Without a shelf you hunt in a window for each one while the form waits. With the shelf you do the hunting first and the attaching second, so you can see at a glance whether you have everything.
Limits
- References, not copies. If you rename, move or delete the original, the entry breaks. Drag out before you tidy.
- Gone on quit. The shelf empties when NotchStar quits.
- One drag per icon. There is no multi select drag out of the shelf.
- Files only. Text or an image from a web page does not go on the shelf.
- No names beyond the file name. Two files with the same name look alike, so check the folder in the right click menu with Reveal in Finder.
The File Shelf page has the full controls. For moving a file between folders rather than attaching, see moving files between folders.
