Here’s one of my favorite Mac tips. This is a workflow tip. Most of the time,�when opening a file in an application, you are not doing this in isolation. You are working on a project. There may be many steps and many files. You probably have the project folder already open in a Finder window.
When you select File/Open in the application, however, it shows the last place you opened a file, which is probably not where you want to be. It’s irritating to have to navigate from there back to the project folder which you�already located in the Finder once.
You don’t need to do that. You can drag the icon of a file or folder into the open-file dialog box. Unlike dragging to a Finder window, it doesn’t copy or duplicate anything. Instead, it instantly navigates the open dialog to the folder containing your file, with the file selected.
![This file -- This one right here!](https://macmad.org/blog/ruciantornes/uploads/2014/10/Drag-to-Open-1a.jpg)
As soon as you drag it in, the dialog shows the dragged file selected in its enclosing folder, ready to be opened.
![The chosen file is selected and ready to open.](https://macmad.org/blog/ruciantornes/uploads/2014/10/Drag-to-Open-2.jpg)
Congratulations, you’ve just saved who knows how many clicks navigating to the desired folder.