Yoink is an awesome drag and drop utility for the Mac

Yoink 03

Sometimes dragging and dropping items between multiple windows and full screen apps and folders can be challenging. But dragging and dropping doesn’t have to be a tedious or perplexing task. One of my favorite utilities for the Mac is called Yoink, and it allows you to simplify the process of dragging and dropping on OS X.

Its description in the Mac App Store states that Yoink simplifies drag and drop between windows, apps, spaces and fullscreen apps. As a long time user of the tool, I can vouch for developer Matthias Gansringler’s description. As you’ll see in the video walkthrough that follows, Yoink is one of those apps that you don’t realize you need until you see it in action. Have a look inside for the full walkthrough.

Using Yoink
Once you have Yoink installed and running, all you need to do is initiate a click and drag motion on any app in your Finder. After doing so, you’ll notice the Yoink pop-up folder appear on top of all other windows. This folder acts a temporary place holder for any files you drag there. You can then navigate to your desired designation, and drag the apps out of the temporary holding spot into their final resting place.

It’s one of those things that’s a bit hard to explain in writing, but the lightbulb goes off when you see it in action. For that reason, I urge you to watch the video walkthrough above to see Yoink in action.

Yoink’s Preferences
Yoink features a variety of setup options found in its preferences. There, you can choose the desired location of the temporary holding folder pop-up window. By default, the window resides on the left hand side of the screen, but you can position it elsewhere, or have it float near your dragging location. You can also choose a set of ignored apps, and create a keyboard shortcut to invoke the Yoink pop-up folder.

Yoink 02
Yoink’s preferences allow you to reposition the pop-up folder

Yoink is a great utility for my workflow
Yoink is instrumental to me when working with full screen apps like Final Cut Pro. Because of my 11″ MacBook Air’s small screen, I always find myself running Final Cut Pro in full screen mode. It’s difficult to drag and drop files into my project’s timeline without a tool like Yoink, so I’m extremely grateful for its existence.

If you always find yourself in an awkward situation while moving your files from one location to another, then give Yoink a try. It’s a great app, and its developer provides excellent support and keeps it constantly updated. Again, you can find Yoink on the Mac App Store for $3.99. Let me know what you think in the comment section below.