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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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Posted on Oct 28, 2014 4:25 PM

A simple restart fixed this.

82 replies

Oct 31, 2014 8:08 AM in response to Andrew Allsop

For two days I tried everything I could to get the drag and drop to start working again in Yosemite on my MacBook Pro Retina. I even re-installed the OS via Disk Recovery. I wound up at the Apple Store where they couldn’t find the bug either, but we did the following and I am back up and running. There is a bit of a downside, so please read all the way through.


I have no idea if this will help you, but if you log in under a GUEST account and this drag and drop issue is NOT there - then try this. For whatever reason this bug was localized to just my single user settings Library. The GUEST account could drag and drop fine. Weird. Anyway, here’s what we did at the Apple Store that has kept me up and running….


  1. Create a new user
  2. Logout (deactivates the busted user library) and then login as that new user.
  3. Enable Root User (superuser) while logged in under this new user. YouTube has some 1min. videos on how to do this.
  4. Navigate to the Library (which is usually invisible) listed under your original admin user account.
  5. Rename this folder. I just added ORIGINAL to it.
  6. Also, create an alias for this folder and leave it there.
  7. Go turn off Root User and log out.
  8. Now, when you log back in under your usual User Acct. the system can’t find the Library system folder (because you renamed it) so it creates a fresh one. This new Library folder will still be invisible to you, but should work.


This fixed my drag and drop problem.

What this does though is kill all of your plists, saved website passwords, bookmarks, application settings, etc. for everything. I mean everything. Which kind of stinks.

This is why we created the alias in Step 05, click on it and you can open your ORIGINAL Library folder and drag out the files as you need them. I guess one day I'll drag over the one setting that borked my machine, but I haven't found it yet.


This is certainly not ideal and may not even be the best solution. But it got me up and running with no loss of files, just slows me down as I have to re-populate all my log-ins, etc.


Hopefully someone will come up with a better fix or patch.

Hope this helps.

Nov 12, 2014 10:38 AM in response to kkaland

This is due to a corrupt library file. I found this through troubleshooting on my own system.

/Users/USERNAME/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist


Using a separate user (I did it using root), delete that file.

Reboot.

Yosemite will rebuild the file for you automatically. You should be in good shape after that.


For reference, I did this on a Macbook Pro Retina, Mid 2012, Yosemite 10.10 14A389

Nov 17, 2014 3:14 PM in response to Delphi8000

Jay42k & Delphi8000-


Thank you for the replies and zeroing in on the issue file.

I followed you steps and deleted the file and rebooted.


Everything is running smoothly since.

Except iMessage notifications and Handoff detection (I'm no longer getting the prompt on the laptop to Handoff).


If you guys are still getting the notifications and prompts then I'll assume I have created another issue for myself and will keep digging.


Thanks again.

Nov 21, 2014 3:18 AM in response to jay42k

The restart method just feels like PC to me. Regarding that "just restart" was chosen as correct answer, running

rm /Users/MY-USERNAME/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

in Terminal, your solution, was actually the only solution that worked for me, and it fixed it instantaneous; no need to even log out.


My problem was severe instant drag drops when I didn't even let got of left button, and the inability to right click.


Strange though it was a Finder problem, because this was happening in all apps.

Nov 25, 2014 2:30 PM in response to kkaland

WARNING: Super easy fix-

User uploaded file

I have encountered this problem in several versions of OSX. As a matter of fact I encountered it twice today. What I have found to be a "quick fix" is to click on the apple in the upper left corner and then select "sleep." Once the computer has fallen asleep for a few seconds you simply wake it back up and your drag and drop functionality is magically restored! Amazing what a nap can do. Did this work for you also?

Nov 26, 2014 10:14 AM in response to jay42k

Thank you jay42k.

I did as you outlined, but still had some iMessage, Handoff, etc. issues. So I did a re-install of Yosemite.

It has been just over a week and I have had no issues. It's been great.


So deleting the .plist jay42k mentions + re-installing Yosemite (via Mac recovery tool) fixed the issues I was having.

Cannot drag and drop files in Finder on Yosemite 10.10

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