Drag and Drop confirmation prompt? Accidentally moving files.

Anonymous
2011-03-25T15:44:05+00:00

Ever since upgrading to Windows 7, we have had a problem with people inadvertently moving folders by dragging and dropping when meaning to double click.  Is there a way to turn on a confirmation prompt ("are you sure you want to...") when dragging and dropping files/folders?  It seems that previous versions of Windows had this prompt, but it has since been removed.  This is happening in our office on at least a weekly basis, sometimes daily, and we have to spend time searching for the moved folder.  If MS is unable to help, is there software that we can purchase to accomplish this?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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@CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2011-03-25T16:29:55+00:00

Windows 7 made no changes: there has never been a confirmation prompt like you describe.

One workaround is to increase the distance you must move the pointer before it triggers a drag.  Under the following registry key, you'll see DragHeight and DragWidth, which define the number of pixels the mouse must move before the drag is initiated:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT\USER\Control Panel\Desktop

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-10-20T17:33:09+00:00

    I made an actual confirmation dialog upon a drag and drop move event. It works for me but I've only tested it on Windows 7. See my page on it and download here. It's completely open source, and you can see the code on github too.

    ![](http://fud.community.services.support.microsoft.com/Fud/FileDownloadHandler.ashx?fid=be61bae7-20f8-4e98-a9f5-60a27a539212)

    Looks great.  Troubles installing though on Windows 7 Ultimate x64:

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-10-17T03:41:45+00:00

    This is the perfect solution for my 16 user network.  Thanks for the solution doveman2009.

    Great to hear Mesmerman. Glad I was able to help.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-10-17T03:26:56+00:00

    I fixed this now by installing Teracopy. That gives a prompt asking if I want to use Teracopy or Explorer to copy/move the files, so I can just click Cancel if I accidentally dragged something and didn't actually mean to copy/move anything.

    This is the perfect solution for my 16 user network.  Thanks for the solution doveman2009.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-09-30T19:19:58+00:00

    They just want our money, not our suggestions.  The only input they want is to their wallet.

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