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

It's infuriating! I use this feature EVERY SINGLE DAY. I get it working by force relaunching the finder from the dock. But it breaks after 10mins. Makes me want to downgrade back to Catalina, or should I say, Upgrade back.

P.S. I HATE the notification centre, notification system, and widgets on Big Sur

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.

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 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.

Hi everyone, I've been experiencing this setback too since I updated to Big Sur (I'm using a MacBook Pro Retina 13, early 2015). Before then, I used to click on a file and then, while keeping it clicked, swipe with three fingers of the other hand on the trackpad to quickly move it to the desired desktop.

But now, even swiping through the desktops takes more time than it used to. This is frustrating as it slows down the habitual workflow of the past 7-8 years. To make the process more fluid now I use three fingers to swipe up (Mission Control) and then move through the desktops, but not when I need to move a file.

None of the workarounds or fixes I read in this thread proved to be either permanent or long-lasting (I can employ one of them a number of times each hour, but that's just not practical), so I hope it is something that will be fixed with one of the future updates of Big Sur.

Kodyabbott's fix works. I can now drag and drop files like I used to with a trackpad (one tap select and drag with 2nd finger). It also got rid of the infuriating "lookup" popup that happened every time I pressed on the trackpad over a file. I don't understand why Apple would think that you want to open/preview a file on the desktop every time you click on it. The more frequent need is to just move or file it. Nor can I fathom why they would put the setting in the Accessibility preferences since the vast majority of us would never think to look there. Thank you, Kody!!!

That does not work! The only think I can get to work is 3 finger dragging which has been an awkward transition. Very frustrating.

I posted a solution that might resolve some of your problems. Search for Occasion Caucasian in this thread.

Hope it helps. 👍

I have been having the same issue, in the past I just drag and drop like normal. Now somehow the screen seems to get stuck or something when swiping to another application. For me for example finder in a full size window, move a file over to a full size chrome window. Or from desktop to whatsapp and I cant seem to push it to the correct conversation. Really annoying.

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.

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.

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.

Unfortunately this is not what was causing this problem on my computer: I already had "Look up and data detector" set with three fingers (which is the default setting I've been using all along, and luckily Big Sur has not changed it). I hope it's going to help others though!