What might I be doing wrong in this scenario??? 1

[BobMCT]

I don't think this is an issue with Win 10, but seeing how I'm now using it and its happening, I'll ask in this forum.

I'm trying to prune files from a very large directory using File Explorer. With the list of files displayed I'm holding down the Ctrl key and then clicking on all of the files I want to delete. Then when I've selected those I want to delete I let go of the Ctrl key and press the delete key (well, actually shift delete to keep them out of the recycle bin).

However, what's happening is that while attempting to select my multiple items Windows will somehow automatically make duplicates of those that I've already selected. So instead of being able to delete those files I've selected, I'm actually ending up with copies of those I wanted to delete.

So, can someone familiar with this technique please enlighten me as to what I might be doing wrong and how I might alter my technique to eliminate this copying process?

Thanks in advance to all who understand.

 

[guitarzan]

If you hold the CTRL key down, then drag and drop a file (that is, click on the file, but move the file before releasing the click), you will create a duplicate of the file. If you have 100 files already selected, this action will duplicate those 100 files.

As an alternative you can use the File Explorer option to "select using cleckboxes" instead of ctrl+clicks. This site shows how to set this option.

 

[apstef]

As guitarzan said, you might have accidentally dragged and dropped while holding CTRL, thus creating copies of those files.

 

[Nelviticus]

As mentioned, accidental drag-copy looks like the culprit.

If you have a 'jumpy' mouse you can avoid this by using keyboard shortcuts instead:
[ul]
[li]Hold down the Ctrl key as usual[/li]
[li]Use up & down cursor keys to move the highlight up/down[/li]
[li]Press space to add the highlighted file to the selection[/li]
[li]Use the shift key while still keeping Ctrl pressed to extend the selection (i.e. to select a contiguous block). Unless you start off with a contiguous selection this bit can be tricky to get right though, so double-check that you haven't over-selected files near your initial selection.[/li]
[/ul]

It's possible to select multiple contiguous blocks with gaps between them in this way, but it's rather fiddly to explain how. Experiment and you'll figure it out.

Nelviticus

 

[BobMCT]

Thank you so much to all responders. It must have been my "jumpy" mouse. I actually settled on the option to use checkboxes which I never knew existed. Just FYI - after converting file types I am selecting every other file out of a couple thousand. So your resolutions are really helpful!!!