Good day Bmachine,
If I understand you correctly, when you try to move a file from one window to another on your iMac, the icon becomes unresponsive over the Desktop and the file never gets moved. Is that right? Let's see if we can get your Mac working properly.
I would like you to boot the iMac into Safe Mode. This article describes how to do it - Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up. Note that while the title says the article is for startup issues, the troubleshooting steps are still useful for your issue.
This process does several things -
- Verifies your startup disk, and attempts to repair directory issues if needed
- Loads only required kernel extensions
- Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically
- Disables user-installed fonts
- Deletes font caches, Kernel cache and other system cache files
Are you able to move files between windows now? If so, restart the computer normally and test again.
If the issue is gone after restarting again not in safe mode, we are all done. If not, or if the issue is present even when booted into safe mode, the next step is to create a new user account and test the issue in that account. See this article - How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac.
Specifically -
Create a test user account
- From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
- Click the Users & Groups icon in the System Preferences window.
- Click the lock icon, then enter an administrator name and password.
- Click the Add button (+) below the list of users.
- Choose a type of user from the New Account pop-up menu.
- Give the user a full name, account name, and password.
- Click OK.
- Close the System Preferences window.
If there are documents from your original user account that you want to test with, place a copy of these items in the Shared folder in the Users folder. Press the Option key while dragging a file to this folder to create a copy.
Log in to the test user account
Log out of your current user account by choosing Log Out from the Apple menu, then log in to the new account you created. If you're prompted to sign in with your iCloud account or Apple ID when you log in, skip this step.
Try reproducing the issue
Try the same steps that caused the unexpected behavior to appear before. For example, if you were unable to print, try printing from this user account. If you were unable to connect to the Internet, try browsing a website from this user account.
If your issue is still unresolved, post back on this thread again giving the results of these tests, and we will keep working with you.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Safe computing.
