Command X

Click the feedback button in the app or send it here.

How to make the app show up in the menu bar

If there is no crash report, macOS most likely quit the app to free up memory or disk space. Keep at least 10–20 GB of free disk space, and do not use tools that “free up purgeable space”, like CleanMyMac, as they make macOS quit apps too. A restart of the computer can also help. This is a common problem for macOS apps.

First try relaunching the app. If that doesn’t help, try restarting your computer.

Then, make sure you pressed Command+X and not Command+C.

To make sure you used the app correctly, try this: Select a file in Finder, press Command+X, change to a different folder, press Command+V. The file should have been moved to this new folder.

Note: You cannot cut, highlight a folder, and then paste. You have to actually go into the folder to paste to it. That’s just how Finder works. Same with copy-pasting.

It could also be that certain apps (password managers and browsers) are interfering with the app.

If still not working, try closing down all apps and menu bar items, just to rule out some other app interfering.

Then try toggling the setting “Use more reliable way of handling Command+X”, and try the above steps again. If it works then, please report it to me.

If it’s still not working, try this: Select a file in Finder, press Command+C, change to a different folder, press Option+Command+V. The file should have been moved to this new folder. If this did not work, the problem is not this app, as those are the keyboard shortcuts it simulates.

If it’s a work computer, your company may have something installed that prevents the app from working.

Try uninstalling and reinstalling the app, and restart your computer.

If it’s still not working, try re-granting access:

1. Open “System Settings › Privacy & Security › Device Control and Data Access”
2. Remove Command X from the list
3. Quit and reopen Command X
4. Give it the access when it asks for it

Note: “Device Control and Data Access” is “Accessibility” on macOS 26 and earlier. More about this access.

The last thing you could try is to reset the permissions. Either use App Buddy, or quit the app, and run this in the Terminal app:

tccutil reset All com.sindresorhus.Command-X

To help me figure out the issue, make sure the “Use more reliable way of handling Command+X” setting is enabled, press Command+X and Command+V in Finder, click the “Copy Debug Info” button in the Command X menu bar menu, and then send the debug info to me, including a short explanation of what didn’t work.

The app works by overriding the normal cut Command+X keyboard shortcut when Finder is active and executes a copy Command+C instead. When you then paste Command+V, it executes the native move Option+Command+V keyboard shortcut. So really, it’s Finder moving the files. This app just makes the keyboard shortcuts more intuitive.

No. The files are not touched until you paste. If you don’t paste, the files just stay in place.

No, you can only use the keyboard shortcuts. The app works by overriding the original keyboard shortcuts. There is no way to override the Finder menu items.

This is not possible. The app works by overriding some key combinations. It doesn’t and cannot modify Finder in any way.

The cutting sound is a macOS system sound effect, so its volume follows the alert volume in “System Settings › Sound”. The sound also requires “Play user interface sound effects” to be enabled there. To turn off the sound, disable “Play sound effect when cutting” in the settings of the app.

This is a Finder bug. You can reproduce it even without Command X by selecting the file to move, pressing Command+C, selecting the destination folder, and then pressing Option+Command+V.

Same as the above.

This is a known issue that is unfortunately not fixable. The app works by overriding the normal cut keyboard shortcut when Finder is active, which also affects cutting text in a filename. There is no way to differentiate between cutting a file and cutting text in a filename in Finder. The main reason this is not possible is because of restrictions (sandboxing) imposed on apps on the App Store. My Supercharge app has the Command X feature without this rename limitation because it’s not on the App Store.

Same as the above.

• It’s more logical to cut & paste than copy & move.
• Consistency and muscle memory benefits if you also use Linux or Windows.

I don’t plan to localize the app.