Windows 8.1 file management tip: copy a file’s full path to the clipboard and use it in the File Open common dialogs

Sometimes, you discover new features in Windows and the applications you use daily by chance. This happened to me today: I noticed that you can very easily paste a full path name of any file to a Windows common file dialogs (file open and save dialogs).

For example, let's say you are using OneDrive through your web browser, and you want to upload a file. When you click the Upload button on your web browser, Windows shows you the File Open dialog box. You can naturally browse and select your file, but if the file you want to upload is stored in a deep directory structure, this can take a while.

Now, this is what I discovered today: if you have any File Explorer window open, copy any file to the clipboard (Ctrl+C for example), and the paste (Ctrl+V) to the file name field (the text field) in the File Open or File Save dialog. The full path to the file is pasted in, allowing you to simply press Enter to open or save your file without any navigation.

Back to the OneDrive upload example: when you are in the Choose File to Upload dialog box, simply paste in the file you have previously placed to the clipboard to the file name field. Then, press Enter (the Open button), and your file gets uploaded! No matter where you file is and where you are currently in the file open dialog box doesn't really matter.

Note that you try to paste the clipboard contents to, say, Notepad, nothing appears. In case you need the full path as text, you can use the Shift+click trick that has been available since Windows 7: right-click a file while holding down the shift key, and select the Copy as Path command from the menu. Cool!

Hope this helps!