Why can't I drag and drop documents into folder on desktop post macOS sonoma?

I used to be able to drag and drop document into files on my MacBook Pro desktop and after the update it now won't work? I have tried changing the settings and nothing seems to work...

Posted on Oct 12, 2023 03:34 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 3, 2024 10:53 PM

Yes, it is. I was a Strike WSO quite a while ago. Her patches are strange to me, though. Wish her “good hunting” for me.

50 replies

Jul 2, 2024 06:39 PM in response to seekir

seekir wrote:

vesque (see above) had the solution that worked for me. In OS Sonoma on my MacBook, a lighter pressure on the trackpad till a subtle click is felt will permit drag and drop. Firm pressure opens a preview of the file. Extremely annoying to those of us who are accustomed to the old click and drag but are uninformed about this feature.

Turn off the Force Click gesture, or don’t press that hard.

Mar 3, 2025 09:21 AM in response to sweetsarakornbread

CORRECTION: This does work! I was in the Pointer & Trackpad settings under Accessibility which is why I didn't see it at first, but there are additional trackpad settings under Trackpad in the left nav of settings. That's where you can find the "Force Click and haptic feedback" setting. Turning that off worked for me, as the original poster said.

Mar 3, 2025 09:59 AM in response to Powerofthetoe

There are TWO different settings that need to be adjusted for this:

  1. Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options > Turn ON "Use trackpad for dragging" and set "Dragging Style" to Without Drag Lock.
  2. Trackpad > Point & Click (you land here by default) > Turn OFF "Force Click and haptic feedback"


I had to do BOTH of these things for the drag-and-drop functionality to return to normal, where a regular/hard press selects the item and you continue holding down to drag it to where you want.


(If you want to not have to hold it down while you drag, check out the other options under the "Dragging Style" options in Accessibility settings above.)

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Why can't I drag and drop documents into folder on desktop post macOS sonoma?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.