Key Difference: Copy is to make a copy of the selected file or folder and place the duplicate in another drive or folder, while move is to move the original files from one place to another location. The move command deletes the original files, while copy retains them. Shortcut for move is Ctrl + F7, shortcut for copy is Ctrl + C and shortcut for paste is Ctrl + V.

Move and Copy are basic commands that are used in computers and can help save a lot of time when working on documents or projects on the computer.

Copy is to make a duplicate of the selected file or folder and place it in another drive or folder, while move is to transfer the original files from one place to another location. Both the commands can be accessed from the toolbar or right clicking and using the drop-down menu.

 Copy command allows the user to create a carbon duplicate of the file or folder and place it in another location. The data that is copied is placed in a buffer location and is recovered when placed in another location. In Microsoft Word, copy duplicates a section of the document or a piece of text and places it in a buffer or a temporary location such as clipboard until the user needs to place the text on another page. This differs from cut, which removes the text from the original page before placing it on the clipboard. While Word allows you to access all your copied selections in the clipboard, when normally copying files on a computer, the user can copy the files and paste them over and over again in different locations, but if the user copies another file, the first file will be erased from the buffer location and replaced with the new file. A keyboard shortcut for copy is Control and C (Ctrl + C), which can then be placed using Paste (Ctrl + V).

The Move command allows the user to permanently move files from one location to another location and also allows changing the name of the file. This command deletes the original file from the first location and then creates a duplicate of the file in the new location. Most commonly people use a cut and paste option is used instead of the move option, where text is selected, cut and then pasted to another location. It is similar to the move command as it deletes the text/file from the original location and copies it to the buffer location and then pastes it when clicked on paste. Move commands are most commonly used in various DOS, OS/2 and Microsoft Windows command line interpreters. Moving is a more appropriate option when the user wishes to delete the files from the original location. In Microsoft Word, Control and F7 (Ctrl+F7) chooses the move command.

Moving is a better option to use when a person has multiple files to shift, which will take a long time, and does not want the original item in the original location. In case of few files, the user can easily copy, paste in new location and then delete the files from the original location manually. Copy pasting allows the user to keep track of whatever files that were transferred and allows them to check that the files are intact and if any errors have corrupted files.

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