Cannot drag and drop files?

I have had this problem for about a month, but now it is really bugging me. When I want to move a file in finder to a new location or just re arrange it i am unable to do so. Nothing happens, only the icon gets highlighted.
Dragging works in Safari, iCal, iTunes, and Mail and probably others that I have not tested. Dragging also works from Safari to the desktop but not after that.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It won’t solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login. Boot in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. First, disconnect all wired peripherals except keyboard, mouse, and monitor, if applicable. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including your login items.
Launch the application(s) and test. Same problem(s)?
After testing, reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)

Similar Messages

Cannot drag and drop files in Finder on Yosemite 10.10

This is basically exactly as it sounds. I just discovered that I can't drag and drop files in the Finder anymore for some reason. I've restarted 3 or 4 times since upgrading, and I've reset the SMC and PRAM already. Because of this, I can't update an application I'd like to. Copying the application does not work either; the paste option is greyed out It's not just applications; click-and-drag and three-finger drag simply don't drag the file. It is not happening invisibly either; going through the motions and dropping the file on Applications yields no result.
I searched the Web for this but didn't find anything similar for Yosemite. If anyone has a suggestion or the same problem, I would love to hear it.

For two days I tried everything I could to get the drag and drop to start working again in Yosemite on my MacBook Pro Retina. I even re-installed the OS via Disk Recovery. I wound up at the Apple Store where they couldn’t find the bug either, but we did the following and I am back up and running. There is a bit of a downside, so please read all the way through.
I have no idea if this will help you, but if you log in under a GUEST account and this drag and drop issue is NOT there - then try this. For whatever reason this bug was localized to just my single user settings Library. The GUEST account could drag and drop fine. Weird. Anyway, here’s what we did at the Apple Store that has kept me up and running….
Create a new user
Logout (deactivates the busted user library) and then login as that new user.
Enable Root User (superuser) while logged in under this new user. YouTube has some 1min. videos on how to do this.
Navigate to the Library (which is usually invisible) listed under your original admin user account.
Rename this folder. I just added ORIGINAL to it.
Also, create an alias for this folder and leave it there.
Go turn off Root User and log out.
Now, when you log back in under your usual User Acct. the system can’t find the Library system folder (because you renamed it) so it creates a fresh one. This new Library folder will still be invisible to you, but should work.
This fixed my drag and drop problem.
What this does though is kill all of your plists, saved website passwords, bookmarks, application settings, etc. for everything. I mean everything. Which kind of stinks.
This is why we created the alias in Step 05, click on it and you can open your ORIGINAL Library folder and drag out the files as you need them. I guess one day I'll drag over the one setting that borked my machine, but I haven't found it yet.
This is certainly not ideal and may not even be the best solution. But it got me up and running with no loss of files, just slows me down as I have to re-populate all my log-ins, etc.
Hopefully someone will come up with a better fix or patch.
Hope this helps.

After Effects 12.0 cannot drag and drop files into it?

I'm simply trying to drag and drop files into the programs project files. Has worked in other ae versions, help?

Install the updates:
After Effects CC (12.2.1) bug-fix update

Cannot drag and drop file from photos app to photoshop

Hi,
I'm trying to open a file saved in my Photos library in Photoshop. Previously in iPhoto I could drag and drop the file to open in other applications including Photoshop but this functionality appears to be missing in the new Photos app. Am i missing something? Or is there another way to do it?
thanks

Tristan,
I am stuck in the same place. Perhaps we could work on this together.
I am trying to drag a single item from a JList to a text editor, Word, etc. I have two problems:
1) I can't seem to get just the item in the JList to drag. It wants to drag the entire JList component.
2) How does one define the remote application as the drop target? Have not found any examples either.
Is the drop target actually the system clipboard?
Rp

Can't drag and drop files into Attachments while in Administrator mode

I can drag and drop files into attachment easily when I'm not in Administrator mode. But I need to be in Administrator mode at work and therefore for some reason I cannot drag and drop files into attachments; I'm forced to manually search and select particular files for attaching, which significantly slows my day-to-day work.
Is it a bug?
I have the up-to-date version of Thunderbird and I use MS Windows 7 Ultimate.
Any help would be highly appreciated.
Thx

To diagnose problems with Thunderbird, try one of the following:
*Restart Thunderbird with add-ons disabled (Thunderbird Safe Mode). On the Help menu, click on "Restart with Add-ons Disabled". If Thunderbird works like normal, there is an Add-on or Theme interfering with normal operations. You will need to re-enable add-ons one at a time until you locate the offender.
*Restart the operating system in '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_mode safe mode with Networking]'''. This loads only the very basics needed to start your computer while enabling an Internet connection. Click on your operating system for instructions on how to start in safe mode: [http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-including-safe-mode Windows 8], [http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-computer-safe-mode#start-computer-safe-mode=windows-7 Windows 7], [http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-computer-safe-mode#start-computer-safe-mode=windows-vista Windows Vista], [http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/boot_failsafe.mspx?mfr=true" Windows XP], [http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564 OSX]
; If safe mode for the operating system fixes the issue, there's other software in your computer that's causing problems. Possibilities include but not limited to: AV scanning, virus/malware, background downloads such as program updates.

Cannot drag and drop icons,

I'm working on a Mac Power PC G4, OS X, version 10.2.8. About a week ago I started noticing a problem dragging and dropping items with the trackpad. I can click on a file to open it, but I cannot drag and drop files to move them. If I am in a Word document, I can no longer drag highlighted text around either, or drag songs to playlists in iTunes. However, if I open a window, I can drag the open window around, just not any of the files displayed in it. The same thing happens when I hook up a mouse. I've checked the Finder view options and have done a test to check that it is not a corrupted system preferences and have tried many of the things listed on discussions I have seen online. I'm hoping that I don't have to resort to reinstalling the operating system. Everything was working fine until about a week ago, and I am aware of no changes or damage to the computer that could have caused this problem. Any help?

I created a new account with administrative privelages, but the new account still does the same thing. I also tried trashing com.apple.systemuiserver.plist as suggested to me by someone else, and it had no effect.
Thanks for you idea.

I dragged and dropped files to my time capsule from my laptop but now I cannot find them anywhere on there... Please help

I dragged and dropped files to my time capsule from my laptop but now I cannot find them anywhere on the time capsule... Please help I no longer have that laptop. All it is showing is time machine backups.

Open Macintosh HD and look for your Time Capsule icon under the SHARED heading on the left side of the window.
Click on the Time Capsule icon and folder will appear to the right representing your drive
Double click the folder to reveal the contents
You should see a xxxxxx.sparsebundle file for each computer that is backing up and the files that you dropped onto the Time Capsule from the other computer. Leave these files alone.
If you do not see the other files, unfortunately, they are not there.

How do I drag and drop files in iTunes 12? I don't see my other computers in the side bar only playlist?

I upgraded to Itunes 12 and now cannot drag and drop my movies & music files between my shared computers? The side bar option, which only appears under the Playlist tab does not show my other shared devices where I used to simply drag files over and drop them on them to transfer. I have 2 IMACs and a macbook pro that i like to keep hard copies of my music and video libraries on. Anyone know how I can get my shared computer to show up on the side bar so I can drag and drop like I've been doing for the last 5 years?

Thank you Peter. Mine is more about creating playlist on my iMac and then wanting to drop it it on to my macbook pro for tailgating and family events, instead of recreating. That doesn't seem like something that should bother apple as I already have the music and I am not going to go purchase it again off iTunes if this is what they are thinking. I think this is about limiting our ability to share music and movies.

I can't drag and drop files...

Hello!
Out of nowhere, I can no longer drag and drop files on my desktop or within my Finder windows. I also cannot drag pictures from Safari onto my Desktop. I do not think there is a problem with my Trackpad as I can still move Safari windows and the like around the screen. I am using an Intel-based Mac Book Pro with OS X 10.5.8 Any help would be amazing and much appreciated. Thank you!

I'm having the same issue. I can no longer drag images from Safari (5.1.2) to Finder. I am on Lion (10.7.2). Has anybody found a fix for this? Having to right-click and "Save As..." makes me feel like I'm working in Windows XP, which is, needless to say, he11 of an unbearable kind.

Can't drag and drop files onto Applications in Dock since upgrading to 10.6

Ever since my wife upgraded her iMac (2 GHz, 2 gigs) to 10.6, she can no longer drag and drop files onto certain applications in her dock to open the file. She has to go into the application and go to "open file" or whatever.
For example, if she has a Word doc on her desktop, she cannot drag it onto the Word icon in her dock.
Any advice?

You have many issues with your and your wife's machine(s). Everything you've posted works here. Reinstall Snow Leopard, repair permissions, and see if that fixes things.

Can't drag and drop files into Indesign.

My ability to dragon and drop files into InDesign has stopped. I also cannot copy and paste. I have tried dropping previously used jpg's and PDFs as well as copying text from Acrobat, Chrome and Word. I reset the prefrences with control option command shift, but still no luck - I can't drag and drop files. Also, I cannot move files with my mouse in the program.

Nobody can help you without system information. Could be anything from graphics driver issues to a defective mouse to a busted operating system...
Mylenium

Still loose ability to drag and drop files in Project pane.

In the last two weeks, I've had two instances where I lost
the ability to drag and drop files within the Project pane.
However, here's the kicker...the problem doesn't manefest itself
until after I end my session, close RH, then restart the computer
and restart the project. That means I don't know that I'm working
in a broken project until AFTER I've zipped up and saved the
current project. I tried addressing this in this orum once already
and I received some suggested fixes (included in the list below)
but it never fixed and and has happened again.
Some pieces of information:
- I've deleted the .xpj and cpd files, no joy.
- I've regenerated the output, then tried to move a file, no
joy.
- I've generated a CHM (supposedy to update other files), no
joy.
- I'm not attempting to move a file to a directory where that
name already exists
- If while I'm having the problem, I create a nw project, new
folders, and new topics, they move around fine.
- If I create a topic IN the directory with the problem, I
cannot move that file.
- I've zippd up a broken project and sent it to Adobe. They
openned it and it was fine. They zipped it back to me and it still
wasn't.
- If I create a new project, replicate my directory
structure, and import the htm files into the new structure (a
ubdirectory at a time), the files move fine.
- I'm only working local on Windows 2000 with 30 GB of disk
space, and I have not installed anything else on the computer in
the last 2 weeks.
- I've escalated this to the next level at Adobe and am
sitting by my phone with my headset waiting for the call back
"within the next two hours".
Anyone seen this?

quote:
Originally posted by:
Amebr
Could the files have somehow been set to read-only?
I'm not sure on the exact details of your process, but if you
open the project after unzipping it, perhaps the unzip process has
changed that file attribute...?
I appreciate your response, but no...all files and
directories had all permissions allowed. The zip process wasn't
involved until aftrer the problem showed itself...I zip just for
backup with the hope that I never have to go to it. It was my
working project that lost the ability to move files. It just turns
out that after it happened and I went to the zip that it showed
that the problem had affected the files before I zipped them and
therefore, the zip was of the broken set.

Drag and Drop files from other places to universal apps(windows store)

Hi,
Is there a possiblity to drag and drop a file from windows desktop or from other windows store app to my application. I tried searching samples, but it says about dragging an image with in the solution.
The best example is drag and drop files into recycle bin. Is there a way possible for modern app(instead of recycle bin), or give an user similar experince as the same.
If not windows8/windows8.1,could we expect in windows 10.
I believe if it is not possible with XAML/c#, the same holds good for HTML5/JS
Thanks & Regards Tejaswi Chandrapatla

No. This is not supported.
We cannot comment on upcoming versions.

Drag and drop files from outside of DW into DW Files Window

When I was using Dreamweaver CS for Windows, I could drag and
drop files from my desktop directly into the Files Window of
Dreamweaver. But I can't do that in the Macintosh version. Am I
doing something wrong, or is it not supported?

No. This is not supported.
We cannot comment on upcoming versions.

Cannot Drag and Drop

Hello I cannot drag and drop anything on my iMac, i can move windows and etc.. but cant move files, dock icons, or desktop icons such as Macintosh HD or my external hard drive Lacie, also cannot copy and paste, i copied a song from itunes to paste in my Macintosh HD and iTines quit without an error popping up saying it unexpectledly quit, I cant play movies in Quicktime either I will go to open a .mp4 movie and it says movie could not be opened operation could not be completed. (OSStatus error-1407.) What its wrong??? I use my iMac for alot of thing and I use drag and drop and quicktime alot sooo what is the deal!!

Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at the top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)

Cannot drag and drop files?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for