Working with files

Copying, moving, renaming and deleting work as you'd expect, with the same keys as everywhere else in Windows. The clipboard is shared with the system, and drag and drop works between Wander and any program in both directions.

Wander takes care of your files:

• almost everything can be undone: copying, moving, renaming, deleting to the Recycle Bin, a new folder, a shortcut, a rating; what can't be undone is deleting permanently and a custom action without an output file;
• name conflicts are resolved in one window before anything changes, with thumbnails and comparison; see “Resolving conflicts”;
• long operations run in the background, each in its own window with progress and a cancel button, without blocking your work; see “Long operations”;
• a copy appears only when it's complete: a read error from a USB drive or memory card is retried, and what's copied from external media is checked against the original;
• companions follow their file (.xmp, .meta): they're moved, copied and deleted along with it; see “Companion files”.

The clipboard and drag and drop are covered on the “Copying and moving” page, the Recycle Bin and permanent deletion on the “Deleting and Recycle Bin” page.

New folder: Ctrl+Shift+N, or “New” → “Folder” in the right-click menu on empty space. The folder appears right away, with a box for its name.

Renaming: F2 opens the name for editing in place, Enter applies, Esc cancels. With several files, F2 opens batch rename.

Undo. Ctrl+Z undoes the last operation, and the next press undoes the one before it:

• what was moved goes back where it was, and what was renamed gets its old name back;
• what was deleted comes back from the Recycle Bin, and what was created goes to the Recycle Bin.

A long undo shows its progress, and you can stop it. A file that couldn't be restored doesn't hold up the rest; the status bar names it. Undo waits for a file that another program has open; if it doesn't get it, the step stays, and the next Ctrl+Z tries again. If the folder the files should go back to is gone, Wander asks where to put them. The undo history lasts until you close Wander (deleted items stay in the Recycle Bin) and doesn't include other programs' operations: if you cut a file here and paste it in another program, that program does the move. After a permanent deletion, only what involved the deleted items leaves the history: their move or rename can no longer be undone, and Ctrl+Z undoes everything else as before. While a long operation is running, Ctrl+Z does nothing.

Confirmations. Deleting and moving ask for confirmation, and “Cancel” is selected by default. You can turn off the questions before deleting to the Recycle Bin and before moving in “Settings” → “File operations”: Ctrl+Z brings everything back anyway. Permanent deletion always asks.

System folder protection. You can't delete, move or rename C:\Windows with all its contents, the drive roots themselves, Program Files, ProgramData, the Users folder, or the profile folders that Windows manages (Desktop, Documents, Downloads and others). What's inside them is yours; only C:\Windows is closed entirely: Wander doesn't create anything inside it either (no folder, no extracted archive, no action result), and the status bar tells you it refused.

File in use. Wander names the program that holds the file: “the file is open in Word (PID 1234)”. If that kept the file from being deleted, a “File in use” window appears with a “Retry” button: close the file in that program and retry. Wander releases videos and PDFs open in the Preview pane by itself. Files that an operation is working on have a clock on their icon.