kkaland

Q: Cannot drag and drop files in Finder on Yosemite 10.10

This is basically exactly as it sounds. I just discovered that I can't drag and drop files in the Finder anymore for some reason. I've restarted 3 or 4 times since upgrading, and I've reset the SMC and PRAM already. Because of this, I can't update an application I'd like to. Copying the application does not work either; the paste option is greyed out  It's not just applications; click-and-drag and three-finger drag simply don't drag the file. It is not happening invisibly either; going through the motions and dropping the file on Applications yields no result.

 

I searched the Web for this but didn't find anything similar for Yosemite. If anyone has a suggestion or the same problem, I would love to hear it.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10), Late 2013 15-inch 2.7 GHz 512 GB

Posted on Oct 25, 2014 7:53 AM

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Q: Cannot drag and drop files in Finder on Yosemite 10.10

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  • by Loren Ryter,

    Loren Ryter Loren Ryter Mar 4, 2015 7:57 PM in response to Loren Ryter
    Level 3 (507 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 4, 2015 7:57 PM in response to Loren Ryter

    Spoke too soon. It worked once and the problem has recurred 2 times since and that solution has not worked either time. Restart or logout to fix. But it's becoming too frequent.

  • by fugnug,

    fugnug fugnug Mar 4, 2015 8:14 PM in response to kkaland
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 4, 2015 8:14 PM in response to kkaland

    This problem has become less frequent in 10.10.2 compared to .1 however this only means it's all the more annoying when it finally happens again because my guard is down and I'm dropping files into wrong folders or onto open windows that process the files; it's so annoying! I'm also taking cmd+shift+4 screenshots that are only about 5 pixels.

     

    I'm really looking forward to 10.10.3 because I've heard the beta has fixed some other broken things that have been getting to me. Here's hoping this is one of the issues they've addressed in the next update.

  • by Peter Deep1,

    Peter Deep1 Peter Deep1 Mar 6, 2015 3:03 AM in response to kkaland
    Level 1 (99 points)
    iPad
    Mar 6, 2015 3:03 AM in response to kkaland

    All of sudden this problem started for me, too. I could not drag and drop any file at all. I started reading and researching and one thing popped out at me: my Mac is pretty new and I had only opened Google Chrome for the first time yesterday. That's when the problems started, but I had not made the connection yet. I have a Chromebook (which I love BTW) and so I added to Chrome all sorts of copy and paste functions there. Chrome automatically syncs all these extensions to all your copies of Chrome, but these extensions are totally unnecessary on a Mac. Long story short, I disabled all of the copy/paste extensions in Chrome, relaunched the Finder, and voilá, I now had drag and drop again. Chrome is the devil, for sure. It slows my Windows PC to a grinding halt and just wreaked havoc to my Mac. Google, what is wrong with you? In your search for world domination, you're making lots of errors.

  • by fugnug,

    fugnug fugnug Mar 7, 2015 10:45 AM in response to Peter Deep1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 7, 2015 10:45 AM in response to Peter Deep1

    Peter Deep1 wrote:

     

    All of sudden this problem started for me, too. I could not drag and drop any file at all. I started reading and researching and one thing popped out at me: my Mac is pretty new and I had only opened Google Chrome for the first time yesterday. That's when the problems started, but I had not made the connection yet. I have a Chromebook (which I love BTW) and so I added to Chrome all sorts of copy and paste functions there. Chrome automatically syncs all these extensions to all your copies of Chrome, but these extensions are totally unnecessary on a Mac. Long story short, I disabled all of the copy/paste extensions in Chrome, relaunched the Finder, and voilá, I now had drag and drop again. Chrome is the devil, for sure. It slows my Windows PC to a grinding halt and just wreaked havoc to my Mac. Google, what is wrong with you? In your search for world domination, you're making lots of errors.

    Please elaborate on these copy/paste functions. I have Chrome without any other extensions pretty much. Could this still be the cause? What things need disabled in Chrome? Also is Chrome still the culprit when it's not even open?

  • by Peter Deep1,

    Peter Deep1 Peter Deep1 Mar 7, 2015 11:33 AM in response to fugnug
    Level 1 (99 points)
    iPad
    Mar 7, 2015 11:33 AM in response to fugnug

    I only know what worked for me. I have my Chrome browsers synced across all my devices, as many do. This syncs up bookmarks, passwords, extensions, etc. One of the devices I use is a Chromebook, which does not run Windows or OS X, it's a strictly online computer where everything runs in the Chrome browser. To extend the copy functions, I installed a Chrome extension that records the clipboard. I forget what it's called but it was downloaded from the Google Play store. When I opened Chrome on my new Mac, all of the Chrome extensions were installed during the sync. That's when my drag and drop problems started on my Mac, and by disabling these Chrome extensions on my Mac, dragging in OS X was restored. And yes, Chrome was closed, but still these extensions were interfering in the operation of my Mac. Once I opened Chrome again and disabled them my Mac worked fine, even without a reboot.

     

    Regarding my complaints about Chrome, it has caused a myriad of problems on my Windows 8 computer as well. If you close Chrome and then open the Task Manager, you'll see Chrome is still running many times - once for each tab you had open. I normally have at least a dozen tabs open, so that's how many times there will be an instance of Chrome running even when it's closed. I don't know of the corresponding tool to look at these running instances on a Mac, though I am sure there is one. All I know from experience is that Chrome is a memory hog and will cause my computer to slow down considerably. I try to avoid using it in Mac and Windows, but I wanted to record a web broadcast using Screencastify on my Mac. I gave up and just used the Chromebook to record instead.

  • by kellisimo,

    kellisimo kellisimo May 7, 2015 7:04 AM in response to fugnug
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 7, 2015 7:04 AM in response to fugnug

    I apparently do not have the apple..plst file in existence on my computer. I restarted and the problem persisted. However, the simple relaunch of finder helped me. This was the most helpful suggestion.

  • by juliansf,

    juliansf juliansf May 14, 2015 3:22 AM in response to jay42k
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 14, 2015 3:22 AM in response to jay42k

    First of all, thanks to jay42k because, in fact, that file is the root of the problem. I know I'm some months late, but anyway I just wanted to add my two cents. There is no need to reboot nor to use a different user. In a Terminal.app (can be found in /Applications/Utilities folder) window, the following two commands should do the trick:

     

    $ rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

    $ killall -9 Finder

     

    (Remark: The dollar signs are not part of the commands).

    Everything should be working now.

  • by kkaland,

    kkaland kkaland May 21, 2015 9:57 PM in response to juliansf
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 21, 2015 9:57 PM in response to juliansf

    10.10.3 made this less frequent for me, but not fixed. I think I have it narrowed down and that apps that use a browser inside of themselves (presumably Safari-based) are causing it. So I've stopped running my Fluid (browser-based app tool) apps and anything else obviously based on Safari. The Slack app, though browser-ish, doesn't cause the issue for some reason. I ran the Toodledo Mac App (which loads the mobile site) yesterday and noticed the clipboard problem had come back. Not sure if it's a coincidence.

     

    Anyway, my workaround is:

     

    Either:

     

    1)

     

    a) In Terminal:

     

    launchctl stop com.apple.pboard

    sleep 1.5

    launchctl start com.apple.pboard


    b) Restart Finder (Cmd-Option-Escape, pick Finder, restart)


    c) And then restart the apps between which you need to use the clipboard


    2) Restart Mac

  • by fugnug,

    fugnug fugnug May 24, 2015 2:36 PM in response to kkaland
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 24, 2015 2:36 PM in response to kkaland

    I seem to be having more luck running OS X with my printer turned off. However, like all the other solutions I wonder if this is coincidence. My Canon printer/scan/fax that came with this iMac has many incidentally mischievous aspects, that I have found in Activity Monitor and my firewall from time to time.

  • by theBrom,

    theBrom theBrom Jun 19, 2015 7:56 AM in response to kkaland
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 19, 2015 7:56 AM in response to kkaland

    I'm not sure if your issue is the same as mine, but I was used to force clicking a folder and dragging it it the Trash, etc from Mavericks and earlier OS's.  When I got my new MacBook it had Yosemite and every time I clicked the folder it gave me a description of the folder.

     

    I turned of Force Click and Haptic Feedback option within  System Preferences>>Track Pad>>Point & Click>> and uncheck the box that says Force Click and Haptic Feedback

  • by kkaland,

    kkaland kkaland Jun 29, 2015 3:01 AM in response to theBrom
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 29, 2015 3:01 AM in response to theBrom

    So I discovered that even the Slack app may cause the issue, and I've been avoiding all apps that embed websites in some way. I've had a working clipboard for days now. Still having trouble tracking down what is crashing com.apple.pboard...I don't understand why those kinds of apps would. But it's definitely related to Finder, since Finder drag and drop stops working at the same time.


    I think someone did a 100% clean install and was still running into this? I might eventually do one anyway, perhaps for 10.11.

  • by ivanxcaracas,

    ivanxcaracas ivanxcaracas Jul 17, 2015 9:28 AM in response to tsutrav
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 9:28 AM in response to tsutrav

    Hi from Caracas,

     

    I had the same problem in MacMini 2012/Yosemite... I discovered the desktop was locked

    1. Just open a window

    2. Go to sidebar and select Desktop

    3. Press command i (Info)

    4. Unlock de desktop (uncheck)

     

    And now my Mac its ok...

     

    regards,

  • by nzblair,

    nzblair nzblair Aug 8, 2015 1:10 AM in response to juliansf
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 8, 2015 1:10 AM in response to juliansf

    This worked for me. Thanks.

  • by vjmass,

    vjmass vjmass Aug 24, 2015 5:07 PM in response to corey.graft
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 24, 2015 5:07 PM in response to corey.graft

    i did the Sleep too and voila! now it works

  • by noapple,

    noapple noapple Aug 25, 2015 11:08 AM in response to kkaland
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Aug 25, 2015 11:08 AM in response to kkaland

    Apple support solved the problem for me. Went into my home folder and clicked onto desktop (original). Then got info (Command I) and clicked on wheel below window, after unlocking window, and clicked on 'apply to enclosed items.' This solved my problem.

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