Moving a folder out from under another folder in Finder

I have found several times where I need to move a folder up from under another folder as part of my file system cleanup.

If I could find a blank space in the folder I could just drag and drop it there but I can’t find that blank space.

Drag that subfolder up or down. When the dragged folder is between the other folders, you should see that whole finder view gain a thin colored outline around the edges. When you see that outline, you can let go and your subfolder will move and become a sibling of the other folders.

Thx for the reply.

“subfolder will move and become a sibling of the other folders.”

  • Root Folder
  • Sub Folder 1
    
  •     Files
    
  •  Sub Folder 2
    
  •     Sub Sub Folder
    
  •     Files
    
  • Files in Root

Do I just drag it to the Root Folder, the only problem with that is sometimes there are 1000s of File/Folders and it makes for a lot of scrolling?

or are you saying that if I collapse 1 and 2 and then drag it between Sub Folder 1 and Sub Folder 2 it will then be at their level in the Root Folder?

I’m saying the former, hopefully understanding correctly. Finder has a solution for long lists of items in that it will do a quick scroll to the top or bottom if you try to drag something up out of a long list of sub-sub folder items to the edge of the view. Here’s a quick screen record of what I mean:

I wrote a Keyboard Maestro macro do this with a keyboard shortcut.

It’s fairly simple, but it works.

You can find it here:

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In Catalina there’s a non-obvious solution to this. Drag that file to the right, over the non-name columns. However I just tested this in Big Sur and it sometimes works but seems inconsistent.

I used to do this all the time on Catalina and never had any problems finding a drop zone that outlined the whole.

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