Big Sur Can't Drag & Drop Files Across Spaces with Trackpad

Same problem here. Very annoying :(

To replicate the problem you can just "keep clicked" your trackpad with one finger of one hand (it's actually what you do when you drag a file) and trying to change space moving horizontally between spacing, swping 3 fingers on the trackpad left or right.

I hoped the last BigSur update would have this bug fixed but it's not.

That is an extremely complicated way to move a file to another space

You can just drag the file to the edge, and then wait, then you'll be in a new space, that is to the direction of the side of the edge.

Can anyone confirm the year/make/model of Mac you are using? Just wondering is this is just affecting specific models.

I’ve never had a problem with my old MBP, but that’s been a while, likewise is anyone here talking about a Bluetooth trackpad instead?

It does sound like a setting that needs adjusting such as an Accessibility Preference, as @Barney-15E suggested,

but if it’s not I think a log of the year/make/model of Mac you’re using may shed some light, cheers.

I'm experiencing this drag and drop issue (huge annoyance) on BOTH

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)  and 

MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)

PLEASE BRING BACK THE SIMPLE DRAG AND DROP!!!!!

I was able to solve this by plugging in a wired mouse.

This seems to be a problem with wireless devices, as others have noted.

Yes.. Apple. Please fix this ASAP. This is like removing the headlight switch from your car, when you go in for an oil change.

Hey, I know it sounds complicated. But as described earlier, I would agree it's a really lovely fluid way to do it, and in fact very simple. The way you have described the process does work but if you have several workspaces open you'll need to keep them managed so they're side-by-side or wait to scroll through them to the one you want, which is clunky. Being able to grab an item, quickly swipe up to see all workspaces and go directly to the one you want is visual and intuitive.

Hey, Marcomé, thanks for picking this up. I found your solution didn't work for me but it did prompt me to have a play around with some settings. Check this - I found that in System Preferences > Trackpad > More Gestures tab "App Exposé" was unchecked. I have checked this box (also changed it back to the three-finger swipe) and I seem to have the function back ...ish. The swipe to Exposé still seems somewhat inconsistent so I've set the bottom-right hot corner to Mission Control and the Exposé behaviour seems more reliable.

It seems easier to do control-left or control-right arrow to change spaces while dragging, ot command-tab to switch to the desired application. I never would have thought to use all fingers in what seems a rather difficult job of coordination... I will have to try and see if I can do it.

I use it in the following circumstance (for eg), with a file attached to an email in Mail. Grab it, Exposé, and drop to a different window or space. I'm using a 12" 2015 MacBook so not a lot of screen space. Being able drag and drop to any space or window really adds functionality for me. I've tried the "drag-and-hot corner Exposé" method I mention above and it works for me.

I understand that being able to drag and switch to a different space is extremely useful. I do that all the time. It is just the method discussed in this thread that seems difficult for me. Command-tab while dragging seems much easier. But I agree that the other methods should also work.

Having the same issue with macOS Big Sur 11.1 on Macbook Pro2016 13-inch, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports.

Drag and drop in Preview doesn't work while using trackpad, works while using USB-connected Mouse. Would be nice to have this fixed soon as this has been one of Preview's best features for compiling final versions of reports and job applications and this issue is a major limitation.

I tried enabling dragging after I saw it in this discussion but it only works inconsistently. It worked great when I first tried this yesterday, but today it has not been working no matter even though I've tried it with the without drag lock, with drag lock, and three finger drag options. Enable dragging is not a stable solution and this issue appears to be an underlying issue in BigSur's ability to handle so many points. The only stable solution is to use a wired mouse, which is not ideal.

Hey guys, this is an old issue with spaces and dock. Last time I ran into this issue was back a few years ago. The culprit is in-fact the dock, which controls the "spaces" feature. There's a bug in the code that seems to have reared it's ugly head in Big Sur, that was squashed (at least for me) in Catalina and Mavericks toward the end of the cycle.

The fix is:

open activity monitor and quit the "Dock" (if needs be, force quit) it will re-open right away, but your stuck frustration that infuriates me to all ends, should be fixed.

Also experiencing this issue since Big Sur, really annoying. This method was the most convenient for me since it is executable with one hand (in contrast to the methods that use some key combinations) and extremely fast (in contrast to just drag it to the edge of the screen and wait).

It is definitely a bug, since it works very few times. I do not think the problem is that it cannot track 5 fingers though, because I can still activate the Launchpad while dragging.

Also, the workaround with checking "enable dragging" does still not allow me to switch between spaces when dragging.

Seriously hope they will fix this soon.

I have a Mac Pro late 2019 tower with wireless mouse and as soon as I upgraded to Big Sur last week I now have the intermittent problem of not being able to drag photos from mail, the web, etc., to my desktop. This is a huge irritation in my work flow and I pray it gets fixed.