Three fingers drag n' drop not working since MacOS 26

I started facing the same issue after upgrading to Tahoe and it was very annoying since this is one of the most used features by me as well. I found one solution without the need of any change on any of the previous configurations I used to have. Note: None of the configurations recommended in this thread solved my issue.

The core issue seems more a behavior of the feature rather than a change in configurations, so I had to change a little bit how I am using it:

Once the mouse pointer is on top of the element you want to drag or highlight (window title bar, scrollbar, text, etc), place the three fingers on the trackpad (the one integrated in you Macbook or a separate one) and start the movement. Once the element is in the new position, simply take two of the three fingers off the trackpad and option A) keep moving the pointer to a new position with one finger (commonly your index finger) or option B) take your last finger off the trackpad as a separate action. This will end the drag-lock action.

Hope it works for you!

This is set in System Settings->Accessibility->Pointer Control, by clicking on "Trackpad Options...":

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

This is set in System Settings->Accessibility->Pointer Control, by clicking on "Trackpad Options...":

Thanks Luis Sequeira1 !

I see it now, never visited that in Accessibility. You certainly can drag w/ one finger without that option toggled on.

user alexei-t mentioned in an older comment in this thread that Proofpoint DLP was the culprit for him and I have now observed that Zscaler can similarly be part of the recipe for this mess. So if you are running any sort of data loss prevention/data change detection tools, they may have problems interacting with Tahoe resulting in this erratic 3-finger dragging behavior.

In my case it seems to be related to Proofpoint DLP Agent software which is enforced onto my laptop by a corp policy.

When I kill it things work as normal.

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

This is set in System Settings->Accessibility->Pointer Control, by clicking on "Trackpad Options...":

This is the way. Thank you Luis Sequeira1!

I am experiencing the same issue with my M4 Pro, both with the Magic Trackpad and the built-in one. I also own an M1 Air where I don't have this problem. I compared the settings on both laptops using both the UI and Terminal, and they are identical. A newly created local account also exhibits this behavior. Updating to macOS 26.1 (25B78) did not resolve the issue.

I also noticed that dropping the respective plists or changing the settings via command line is not reflected in the System Settings UI.

Looks like this is fixed in Tahoe 26.2!

I am experiencing the same issue with my M4 Pro, both with the Magic Trackpad and the built-in one. I also own an M1 Air where I don't have this problem. I compared the settings on both laptops using both the UI and Terminal, and they are identical. A newly created local account also exhibits this behavior. Updating to macOS 26.1 (25B78) did not resolve the issue.

w1ldwoods wrote:

I have a MBP 2019. I have the exact same issue as you. Never been an issue with previous releases. 3-finger gestures is completely unusable with Tahoe. Haven't found any fixes for it. I, too, have to resort to an external mouse or turn off 3-finger drag.

you can file a bug report / submit your Apple Feedback here:  Product Feedback - Apple

Agreed. It's completely unusable on Tahoe. 26.1 did not help. I have an older M1 macbook and an iMac with external tack pad, none upgraded to Tahoe and they are all working great. My new M5 Macbook pro... ugh. It's like drag lock is enabled with three finger drag, and three finger drag is literally unusable. This is a huge hit to the way I use my computer and broke one of my favorite MacOS features. Please revert this or make it an option to go back to the previous behavior.

I have the same issue on an M1 Pro macBook with both the internal trackpad and an Apple Magic Trackpad. Issue persists after upgrading to 26.1. Drag and select is working normally with mice, just not with trackpads.

Costilotti wrote:

Ever since updating to MacOS 26, I have been encountering issues with dragging and selecting with the three-finger gesture on my MacBook Pro trackpad:

the action begins, but then when I lift up my fingers the device does not register that and keeps dragging or selecting the content I was interacting with. Other than that, the other interactions (click, double click, right click, touch, swipe etc) work fine.

I have tried using external mouse and in that case it works perfectly, same if I use the right click gesture. I have not tried with an external trackpad as I do not currently have one available.

Wondering if anyone else has had the same issue and has found a way to solve it.

re: MacBook Pro macOS 26

3 finger gesture...? Not heard this; maybe I am missing something.

I can only test with internal trackpad/mouse/keyboard.

Try just clicking holding and dragging with one finger and compare your results.

make changes to your Trackpad settings. Avoid conflicting gestures to be sure.

How to use the Force Touch trackpad

How to use the Force Touch trackpad - Apple Support

Change Trackpad Setings

Change Trackpad settings on Mac - Apple Support

I have the same issue after the upgrade, using a 3rd party touchpad. In the previous MacOs was working super fine with the accesibility settings enabled / three finger drag. After the Macos 26 upgrade, it does not work properly, it does not lock properly and it is impossible to drag windows for example. I had to connect a Mouse for now.

Same. M4 MacBook Pro here. This issue applies to both the built-in touchpad and my separate Mac ones. It also makes Excel unusable for selecting and copying cells.

I've had to turn it off for now but it's a major productivity hit to not have 3 finger drag.