Cannot drag photos from Photos to iMovie timeline

Can't drag photo from Photos to iMovie timeline. As was suggested in another post, I launched both apps at the same time.

Mac mini, macOS 26.2

Posted on Jan 11, 2026 1:42 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 14, 2026 12:58 PM

FWIW, Apple found the problem.


I had unintentionally turned off iMovie access to Photos at:


Apple > System Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos > iMovie.


I have no idea how that happened!


Dick

2 replies

Jan 12, 2026 2:50 PM in response to DHuitema

Here's some more info.


  1. I can drag media to the desktop and drag it to the timeline. That's an extra step I'd like to avoid.
  2. When I select Photos in the iMovie Browser, nothing appears.
  3. None of the four possible selections I select in the drop-down at the top of the browser yields anything.
  4. I've deleted iMovie's Settings (Start with Option & Command Keys down, Select Delete in resulting dialog box, then restarted) to no avail. (Is this the proper way to delete Settings with a Silicon Mac? It's how another poster suggests resolving this issue.)
  5. I've restarted several times and even powered down/up (rebooted).


A screen shot of my iMovie window is attached. The clips in the timeline were dragged from other sources.


Please help.


Dick



Cannot drag photos from Photos to iMovie timeline

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