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How to drag and drop with Magic Trackpad 2?

I just got my new Magic Trackpad 2. I plugged it into my keyboard and turned it on. Worked right away (charging). I changed a few settings in the System Preferences. Everything is working great - fast, smooth. I'm running El Capitan on an iMac Retina 27. The only thing I haven't been able to do is figure out how to SELECT and DRAG an object. When I do any sort of gesture I typical did to drag an object with my older trackpad, the new trackpad simply invoke ForceTouch and opens the file in QuickLook. How do you select to drag a file? I have my old trackpad still paired via bluetooth and it is working side-by-side with the new trackpad 2.

Thanks,

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 16, 2015 10:23 AM

Best reply

Kevin Callahan Author

Level 1

30 points

Posted on Oct 18, 2015 5:56 PM

Yeah, I saw that I could uncheck "Use Force Touch"... but then what's the purpose of the trackpad 2? With Force Touch enabled, I can't figure out how to drag an object (window, file etc) without invoking FT.

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83 replies

poil66

Level 1

60 points

Oct 24, 2015 3:02 PM in response to cheeseb

i can move application windows easily but not desktop files at all. doesn't matter how delicate i click, its like dragging doesn't work that way when force click is turned on. would really like to use force click, but still need to be able to drag and drop. its the same with selecting multiple files in a folder. I used to be able to sort of click one off to the side a little, then drag up and it would select all the files, can't do this anymore either

Oct 25, 2015 11:09 AM in response to poil66

Same here .. I just don't think Apple thought through drag+drop and Force Touch interactions/interference.

--Tim

Oct 25, 2015 5:24 PM in response to Tim Hill1

Well, I finally figured it out. The trick is to force click on the ICON for the file in Finder to drag+drop, not the filename. Since I use Finder mostly in column mode (with small icons) this distinction wasnt clear to me.

So, to anyone else who hits this problem:

-- Force click on the file NAME to edit it (rename)

-- Force click on the file ICON to Quick Look it

-- Click normally on the file ICON to drag+drop it

Oct 25, 2015 6:33 PM in response to Tim Hill1

Yes to what you say. Ever since I unplugged my trackpad 2 from the lightning cable (when charging it) it seems to work just like my trackpad 1, with the addition of ForceTouch. So it is working as expected. When I plug it in, however, it doesn't behave properly - so when charging, I will do so at night or when I'm not using it.

poil66

Level 1

60 points

Oct 25, 2015 6:40 PM in response to Tim Hill1

this isn't working for me, when I click on icons, nothing happens except selecting the icon

Oct 25, 2015 7:05 PM in response to poil66

So you can't force touch to get quick look? I just tried on several different file types - force clicking on their respective icons, and they all opened in QL. Is your trackpad 2 tethered via your cable? or is it running via Bluetooth?

poil66

Level 1

60 points

Oct 25, 2015 7:07 PM in response to Kevin Callahan

I can definitely force touch to get quick look, I just can't then do a regular click to drag files. its running via bluetooth. and yup, trackpad 2

Oct 27, 2015 11:30 PM in response to Kevin Callahan

I am finding this hit and miss as well. Sometimes it works every time, and then a minute later I cannot get a drag and drop at all. Apple really needs to look at this. I wonder if they had any beta testing with non experienced outsiders. I assume not, probably just people within their own R&D environment.

Oct 28, 2015 12:38 AM in response to Tim Hill1

PRECISELY! Well said!

Oct 28, 2015 10:18 AM in response to MalenySteve

Did you perchance install the El Capitan beta via the beta program or dev program? A friend has been running the beta releases of El Capitan. His trackpad 2 never worked beyond single mouse mode. He then took the trackpad 2 to an iMac with a release version of El Capitan and the trackpad 2 worked perfectly well and as expected. So it appears the trackpad 2 is not the issue, rather some kext or other file in the beta that may be causing it, at least in his particular case. He is investigating.

Oct 28, 2015 10:57 AM in response to Kevin Callahan

No, I never participated in any of the beta versions. I purchased the Trackpad 2 after I had installed the release version of El Capitan (and the subsequent updates).

Oct 29, 2015 9:43 AM in response to Tim Hill1

This works. I'm having the same issues though. I've found the new MT2 has many bugs. I constantly lose the ability to drag and drop files, pinch to zoom, etc. Then they just start working again.

One thing that works for dragging and dropping (for me at least) is just a 3 finger drag on a file or files. I'd rather just click and drag though.

I feel like they rushed this out. For the cost, it's kind of ridiculous that simple features aren't working the way they should. My old MT worked flawlessly, so I figured this would too. 😐

k_ryan

Level 1

0 points

Oct 30, 2015 12:29 PM in response to commodorecrush

Attracted by the larger size and haptic feedback, I sold my old Magic Trackpad and purchased the new Magic Trackpad 2. Currently it is disappointing.

I see others are experiencing problems with drag and drop. Unreliable drag and drop is my number one complaint. Sometimes it works, other times same screen same work session drag and drop fails to "grasp" the highlighted icon so dragging is impossible. After many, many tries it eventually drags.

I did find one of the posts listed the solution as returning the trackpad as defective. The poster reported the new replacement worked perfectly.

I was using the El Capitan beta but when Version 10.11.1 released to production I wiped my hard drive and did the full install of 10.11.1 so I can completely rule out remnants of beta code causing issues.

I will update this as soon as the problem resolves for me.

k_ryan

Level 1

0 points

Oct 31, 2015 4:04 PM in response to k_ryan

Today, 10/31 I exchanged my problematic Magic Trackpad 2 for another new Magic Trackpad 2 at the local Apple Store. My drag and drop problem has been resolved. Drag and Drop first time, every time plus all other functions work without any problems. This is not very scientific but my problem appeared to be hardware specific.

Oct 31, 2015 9:15 PM in response to k_ryan

Interesting. I may have to try that if it's not resolved soon.

How to drag and drop with Magic Trackpad 2?