Move vs copy on file explorer: how do I default the operation to move?

I've observed a similar issue. Today, I wanted to move two directories from one place to another. Instead of just moving the directories, windows 10 initiated a copy of all the child files and dirs. The whole point was to simply move the parent dirs which should take less than a second, rather than copy over 1.3 million files!

Before anyone asks, this is a move within the same drive, ie, move mydir from d:\xxx to d:\yyy. It was a drag and drop from one file explorer to another.

My experience has always been that the system would merely move the file system record of the directory from one place in the tree to another. Why would the system decide to physically copy all of the data to a new location???

Is there a setting somewhere that would cause this? Is it a bug in recent releases? This is a recent development.

Use winaero tweaker to change the default drag n drop action or manually edit registry

Set the default drag and drop action in Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7 (winaero.com)

Hi, I am Dave, I will help you with this.

In Windows, if you are dragging files between folders on the same drive, the default is move, if you are dragging files to another drive, the default is copy and those defaults cannot be changed.

Are you dragging files between folders on the same drive or a different drive?

Is there a setting somewhere that would cause this? Is it a bug in recent releases? This is a recent development.

I am not aware of any bug or recent development that would change the drag and drop behavior.

One possible explanation is that your Ctrl key was somehow activated when you did the drag. That could be caused by a defective/worn out/sticky keyboard.

Are you able to replicate this issue? If so, what happens when you do the move using cut and paste instead of a drag?

Note: There is a registry setting to change the behavior, but there's no reason for it to have changed on its own. For the setting, see the reply from @Rayen Bouderbela. Note that the link shows that option under "Behavior", but it's current location in Winaero Tweaker is in "File Explorer".

You should get a move if the source and target are the same volume.

Please also note that if you drag items from Quick Access to another drive, it will create duplicates instead of asking you if you want to replace the files in the destination. To avoid this particular problem, be sure to drag files (instead of links) from their actual locations and then it will prompt for a replace. While this is not a "move", it's the only odd behavior I can think of that you might be encountering.

If none of that helps, please provide more details about where you are dragging from/to and paste a screenshot of what happens.