drag and drop stopped working

Drag and drop files has suddenly stopped working on my 2020 macbook air. It is driving me crazy because I cannot figure out why. For files on my desktop, they are opening now instead of dragging. I have looked online at the trackpad settings and they are not set up sensitively and I have no idea how else to fix this. When I download things and for example want to select all and drop them into my google drive, they are all opening up instead. Is there another fix besides trackpad settings because that doesn't appear to be the problem. I did not do anything recently and I have downloaded the latest OS but this was happening before that and was not fixed by upgrading it.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Dec 18, 2020 6:38 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 21, 2020 2:31 PM

Hi, Suzie G4.


We understand that you’re not longer able to drag and drop files on your MacBook Air. It sounds like it’s opening those files instead of dropping them after the drag. 


You mentioned that you’ve checked all of your trackpad options. Did you get a chance to check to see if you have dragging enabled? If you’re using your trackpad to drag and drop, these articles will show you how to check:


Turn on three finger drag for your Mac trackpad - Apple Support

Change Mouse & Trackpad preferences for accessibility on Mac - Apple Support


You’ll want to enable three finger drag. 


We appreciate you taking the time to post in the Apple Support Communities.


Warmest Regards.

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 21, 2020 2:31 PM in response to Suzie G4

Hi, Suzie G4.


We understand that you’re not longer able to drag and drop files on your MacBook Air. It sounds like it’s opening those files instead of dropping them after the drag. 


You mentioned that you’ve checked all of your trackpad options. Did you get a chance to check to see if you have dragging enabled? If you’re using your trackpad to drag and drop, these articles will show you how to check:


Turn on three finger drag for your Mac trackpad - Apple Support

Change Mouse & Trackpad preferences for accessibility on Mac - Apple Support


You’ll want to enable three finger drag. 


We appreciate you taking the time to post in the Apple Support Communities.


Warmest Regards.

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drag and drop stopped working

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