The file tray

Where the files you are moving wait. It sits in the notch, floats beside your cursor, or both, and holds what you drop until you drag it out somewhere else.

Drag any file, folder, image or selection to the top of the screen, or shake while dragging. The file tray opens to take it and holds it until you drag it out somewhere else, drop it on a Quick Action, or clear it. Items can be pinned so they survive automatic clean-up.

Where it appears

Settings, File tray opens with one question: where does the file tray appear?

In the notchThe tray is a page of the open notch. Drag a file to the top of the screen and the notch opens to take it.
FloatingThe tray comes to your cursor instead, as the floating file tray.
BothThe default. The notch keeps its tray and the floating file tray comes when you call it, so you use whichever is closer.

The switch in the page's toolbar turns the file tray off entirely. The notch still opens for widgets and media.

In the notch

Open tray after dropSwitches to the Tray page after a successful drop, so what you just added is visible.
File retentionRemoves unpinned files from the notch's tray after a time you choose.

How the notch opens, its size and its pages are under Settings, General, Expanded notch. See The notch and the island.

Floating file tray

Instant appear and its delay, Shake sensitivity, Auto-hide and its delay, and Multiple floating trays. Each one is explained on The floating file tray.

Both trays

Shown while the file tray appears in both places.

Sync between traysKeeps files and removals in sync between the notch's tray and the floating file tray.

Moving files out

These two are under Settings, General, File handling.

Auto-removeTakes files off the file tray once you drag them out, so the tray empties as you use it.
Protect originalsAlways copies instead of moving. Without it, dragging to the same disk moves the file and the original leaves its folder; dragging to another disk always copies.