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

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.

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.

Here is the path to enable one-finger double-tap drag-and-drop:

System Preferences

Accessibility

Pointer Control

Mouse & Trackpad

Trackpad options

Enable dragging (check-mark in the checkbox)

with drag lock (from drop-down menu)

FFR: The trend over the last to OS versions seems to be to move more and more of these type of options into Accessibility controls.

Rare occasions is untrue for me. I use this feature daily at least 4 to 5 times. 9/10 times I have to force relaunch the finder from the dock.

I've never attempted to drag with two hands.

Just enable dragging (with or without drag lock) in Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options.

Double-tap to grab the item, then bump the top of the screen to open Mission Control.

That's true, but since it's not what I've been doing for the past 7-8 years, it requires me to: quickly locate the control key and move my fingers from the trackpad to the keyboard to press the arrow keys while dragging a file. It is just not as efficient: you want to keep your fingers from moving too much if you want to carry out a single action. Either on the keyboard or on the trackpad.

Status for BigSur 11.4 (20F71) still broken.

Good for you that your workflow is not corrupted. But to us it feels broken and your workflow is slower (go to top, select the space and then waaaait a very long second) than switching spaces with a 3 or 4 finger swipe.

But try this. Grab a file with "click and hold". 3/4 finger swipe up (left right down, does not matter) and see how broken it feels. You still hold the file but you cannot move it anywhere, while the animation that you expect with the 3/4-finger swipe stopps in the middle.

It only works for me (on my 2013 pro) when the finger "holding" the file (pressing the trackpad) is on the very bottom of the trackpad. Then the swipes work as expected.

In fact i switched to my gaming PC for working now (this issue not being the only reason). I use a mouse there and Windows 10 now also has usable spaces. The MacBook is back to being a couch PC.

Every time I would try to click on a file to move it, it wouldn't open and not let me drag it anywhere.

You are pressing too hard and invoking Force Touch. You can disable that in the Trackpad System Preferences.

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.

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.

I was having the same issue trying to move files on my desktop. Every time I would try to click on a file to move it, it wouldn't open and not let me drag it anywhere. Finally figured out you have to hold down the command key then it will let you drag the file anywhere you want.

I have 2 macs. One is a 2015 MacBook Air (13 inch) where the drag and drop and in fact the entire two-finger functionality of using the left (index) finger to click/hold and the right (middle) finger to select (text) or move files or create a rectangular area (for screenshots etc) has gone kaput. Now these functionalities can only be used with three fingers (i.e.) using index and mid finger to hold and the ring finger to select text or move files/objects. Even this functionality was enabled only after going to Accessibility>Pointer Control>Enable Dragging>three finger dragging. This is so counterintuitive a function that it literally hurts your fingers to do this regularly.

Funnily, my second Mac, a MacBook Pro M1 chip (latest model) doesn't have any of these issues as the same old intuitive and easy two-finger drag and drop functions perfectly fine. It is as if Big Sur is deliberately discriminating between different macs and this is pathetic!

The only way I found was to start dragging the file using the Magic Mouse, using the Magic Trackpad to switch Spaces and drop it onto an app that was in Edit mode, e.g. Notes in my case.

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.