Drag & drop images from spotlight not working

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Level 1

4 points

Drag & drop images from spotlight not working

Hi,

In my line of work I manage hundreds of documents daily & want to be able to quick and easy using the drag n' drop function to be able to drop a screenshot to a e-mail.

The issue here now is that i just updated from 10.15 (i know, really old -i had a disk issue so i couldn't update but just got it fixed) - the spotlight feature is beyond control. It doesn't show me the most recent documents & I can't drag and drop screenshots to attach an e-mail or similar. Instead of showing me the "file" it shows me the "image". I also can't drag & drop images to photoshop or illustrator any longer, this is really frustrating having to manually find the document in finder.

Is this an issue with spotlight or maybe the screenshot-tool itself saving the screenshot as a "photo" rather than a document?

Using Sonoma 14.0

Mac Pro (2019)

Posted on Oct 24, 2023 02:54 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,118 points

Oct 25, 2023 06:13 AM in response to Flashnspeed

I understand your frustration. Before you consider downgrading the operating system, wait for and install the 14.1 update and see if the Spotlight drag/drop feature has been restored. If not…

You should send the macOS product team direct feedback since they do not participate here and won't appreciate their whimsical or accidental removal of this Spotlight drag and drop feature.

Let them know that an end user should not have to downgrade the Sonoma operating system to restore functionality that has existed for years in preceding versions of macOS.

Also, before downgrading the operating system, see if a third-party tool (e.g. Find any File - free trial) can allow you to work around the Spotlight limitation in Sonoma without impacting your established drag/drop workflow.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,118 points

Oct 24, 2023 08:23 AM in response to Flashnspeed

Your friend must be on macOS Monterey or earlier as that was the last operating system where the Spotlight tool returned a list of discrete, draggable filename results, and not the image collection that Ventura and Sonoma return. In Ventura 13.6, the found images remain draggable, but not in Sonoma 14.0.

With Sonoma 14.0, you can only click on the desired image and press ⌘R to open a new Finder Window with that image selected, and draggable onto the Mail compose Window. Alternatively, you could skip Spotlight tool and just open a new Finder Window and perform the Spotlight search from its search field. That will give you a collection of matching images of which you can then drag and drop to a Mail compose window.

You can refine your Spotlight search:

kind:image name:screen
kind:image +.png name:screen

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Answer 3

Flashnspeed Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 25, 2023 12:34 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you for your feedback. The thing is I exclusively use spotlight as a tool to find my files, so not being able to use this tool in the way it has always worked is insanely frustrating. I'm probably going to downgrade to Ventura, if apple don't intend to fix this. It really slows down my work having click around, I use my trackpad "minimally". I can't work in the same speed without spotlight.

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Answer 4

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,118 points

Oct 25, 2023 11:38 AM in response to Flashnspeed

Thought I would give you an update.

Installed macOS 14.1 and there is still no drag and drop from Spotlight panel to the Mail compose window. One can select a given image on the Spotlight panel with a single-click, press the spacebar to open a Quick Look window, and on that, right-click to get Copy Image. Then you switch to the Mail window and press ⌘+V to paste. Probably also works this way on Sonoma 14.0 too.

Ventura 13.6.1 continues the ability to drag/drop images from Spotlight panel onto a Mail compose window as attachments.

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Answer 5

Flashnspeed Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 26, 2023 01:57 AM in response to VikingOSX

Thanks!

I've encountered so many bugs & errors that I don't see a different solution than downgrading now.

The search results themselves are so horrible. Instead of showing me the most recent result when searching for i.e. "Screenshot" it shows me the oldest results, so I have to go in to finder to find this manually - and when searching there, you don't have the ability to sort at all any longer. Only when scrolling through files, not when the searchbar is applied.

Above this the Mission-control animation is super-laggy. I've never encountered an error with this before.

Also, the trackpad is responding completely different than it used to. I have an external trackpad and have had it for 3 years without any issue at all. With the new update, the movements are really weird. Not the tracking speed - but it feels like it is supposed to be "smart", whilst it isn't. In previous versions you could turn on/off like a dynamic movement, but this isn't available any longer. My "accuracy" were previously 10/10 but now I'm as accurate as a drunk toddler.

We should rename this thread to "All the annoying issues with Sonoma"

1,7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 1536 MB

16g 2133 MHz LPDDR3

It has been settled. I don't have time for all this bulls**t so I'm downgrading this afternoon.

Apple, you have failed miserably with the Sonoma update.

I'm so frustrated about all of this, and having to spend hours daily on my work trying to fix issues.

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Answer 6

Flashnspeed Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 26, 2023 06:52 AM in response to VikingOSX

I have a vital update!

My colleague who just received a new computer with the M2-chip, CAN DRAG & DROP IMAGES FROM SPOTLIGHT. Do I have to order a new laptop to get this to work? Sounds like Apple though...

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Answer 7

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,118 points

Oct 26, 2023 07:56 AM in response to Flashnspeed

I have an M2 Mac mini Pro with Sonoma 14.1 on it and there is no drag/drop from the Spotlight panel. If your friend's M2 Mac was from older inventory before macOS Sonoma was released, it may have had Ventura 13.6 on it and drag/drop from Spotlight on Ventura still works.

Have your friend do this: Apple menu () -> About This Mac… That will state what operating system is on it.

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Answer 8

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,118 points

Oct 26, 2023 11:56 AM in response to Flashnspeed

And now I am too… 🧐

Clearly, the drag and drop from Sonoma 14.1 on my M2 mini Pro does not work as I tested that right after the update and again after a reboot from last night. There still is no drag and drop from the Spotlight panel to an open Mail compose window on Sonoma 14.1 — on my Mac.

I have combed through every single System Settings item and Mail setting in hopes I might find something to permit drag/drop from Spotlight and have found nothing.

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Answer 9

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,118 points

Oct 26, 2023 12:39 PM in response to Flashnspeed

If I perform the following Spotlight query on Sonoma 14.1, I can drag and drop multiple Screenshot images from the Spotlight panel to my open Mail compose window:

kind:image OR name:"shot "

I believe the case-insensitive Spotlight term screenshot conflicts with the Screenshot application name and borks the drag/drop for some reason. Any Screenshot image has the string "shot " in it and that works. The images will paste as Preview icons.

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