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

I don't see this answer anywhere. System Preferences -> Accessibility -> Pointer Control -> Then click on the Trackpad Options button on lower left of the screen. Then check Enable dragging.

@1111AppleUser

Does not work for me ... there seems to be no difference. In fact, i don't even know what it is supposed to do. Maybe it does not work, because my trackpad has no force touch.

I try to get used to hold the item on the bottom right of the trackpad.

Hi all,

This problem has been doing my head in but I have found a solution!!

When moving files, press on the file with your thumb first and then you use your other fingers to navigate to it’s intended destination.

Hope it worlds for you.

charles

Thank you Charles. Yes this works, but only 1 in 10. Another one that works 1 in 10 is "bring arrow on the file, put 2 fingers and press on pad, then move the file with finger of the other hand". But clearly there is no reliable, permanent fix. How can this be ignored for so long? Disappointing ...

This answer is somewhat buried up there. Thought I'd post it again. Seems clearly to work just like it should. Enable dragging: System Preferences -> Accessibility -> Pointer Control -> Then click on the Trackpad Options button on lower left of the screen. Then check Enable dragging.

Big Sur 11.2.3, MacBook Air 13 inch Early 2015. No more haptic touch and I can only use 3 finger drag which I really struggle with. Most often I resort to using my mouse with my laptop these days. :(

Hi Charles,

thank you for your comment! I tried it and for a few seconds, it worked (using my thumb instead of my index finger), but then it started to lag in the same way. It seems like it arbitrarily decides when the action will work seamlessly and when it will not...

Yeah same problem here I think.

When I drag a file in the finder, the file does not keep up with the cursor - intermittently sticking and then catching up with the cursor.

[Trackpad 2, Big Sur, MacBook Air M1]

Is Apple even reading this thread ? Do we have to make more « noise » ? Can someone from Apple explain what next steps will be if any ?

phil

ps: in the end the solution promoted by 1111appleuser above did not solve the problem permanently.

ABSOLUTELY agree. I've been dragging and dropping since 1984 and I now I upgrade to Big Sur and have to search the Internet to find out why one of the most basic Mac moves is disabled by default. It's similar to iPhone 14 where "Silence Call" is enabled by default. Truly annoying on both counts.

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

It's not gone. I use it all of the time. I explained above how I do it. Never had a problem in all the years and I have never changed my habit patterns when it comes to drag and drop.

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.

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

Why is your trackpad scrolling so slow? I swipe up and my cursor is at the top of the screen instantly.

You can also switch Desktops with ctrl-#, or ctrl-arrow. I have no idea why you would attempt to contort your hand to make something like that work when it is so easy to do it another way.

It sure seems like you are trying to make something work that was never intended to work. They probably have no idea why it worked and have no idea how to make it work. I can't imagine them wasting time to make it work.

Here’s an update.

• I tried all the options for dragging: 3 fingers, w/ and w/o lock and nothing worked.
• I called Apple, got a knowledge Tech, screen-shared and showed him what was happening. He had not seen it before but agreed he should report it.
• I updated to the latest Big Sur version, screen sharing with the Tech, tested again and it was still broken.
• We did further testing and saw that some folders worked, whether they were Aliases or original and some didn’t.
• Conclusion: some folders and aliases (not all) created awhile ago on my second MacBook Pro running Mojave (I have the two computers synced across through iCloud) were broken in Big Sur. I’m in the process of deleting old aliases and creating new ones to make all uniform. It seems to be working.
• Last note: even with the drag and drop problem I could drag and drop 1- if I opened the folder first; 2- if I dragged and dropped within the Documents Folder.

Hopes this info helps.