This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I have a new problem that has cropped up just in the last week or two. I can no longer drag and drop my files and folders in Windows Explorer. I have Windows 7 on a HP Notebook. It came installed on the computer last December when I bought it (09). I've never had an issue with it since then, and I'm not sure how to find the settings to enable drag and drop or re-enable it. I know I've done it before on this machine, many times- and just noticed it first in Thunderbird, (my email desktop application) then in explorer. I did recently install the SP1 (spelling??) a few weeks ago, and have installed a few other odds and ends programs, but I'm pretty sure drag and drop was working okay until a few days ago.
Any help would be appreciated. As a genealogy writer, that's a must have feature.
Thanks.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
This happened to me yesterday.
In Windows Explorer, click a file with the left mouse button and keep the button held down. Then press the Escape key. Drag and drop is miraculously re-enabled.
I think just pressing the escape will work too but I'm no longer in a position to test that. I got this from http://it.thelibrarie.com/weblog/2010/06/drag-and-drop-stops-working/
This happened to me yesterday.
In Windows Explorer, click a file with the left mouse button and keep the button held down. Then press the Escape key. Drag and drop is miraculously re-enabled.
I think just pressing the escape will work too but I'm no longer in a position to test that. I got this from http://it.thelibrarie.com/weblog/2010/06/drag-and-drop-stops-working/
I don't feel like reading through everything to see if this has been mentioned. The escape fix worked for me with Win 7. The only thing I have that is unique from coworkers is a wireless keyboard and mouse. I expect that has something to do with my issue.
Thanks Nige!
I had this same problem not being able to drag and drop after installing Windows 7 service pack 1. I tried everything I could think of but no luck. Finally I created a standard user account to see if it worked on a non-adminstrator account. It worked! Not only did it work but it also started working when I logged back on my regular account with administrator priveleges.
This happened to me yesterday.
In Windows Explorer, click a file with the left mouse button and keep the button held down. Then press the Escape key. Drag and drop is miraculously re-enabled.
I think just pressing the escape will work too but I'm no longer in a position to test that. I got this from http://it.thelibrarie.com/weblog/2010/06/drag-and-drop-stops-working/
Just pressing ESC worked for me!
Same key I normally use to let go of something I've accidentally grabbed (like when you don't want to move it after all)
Related info: I had recently used a Wacom tablet, now disconnected. In fact I think it was connected when I suspended the machine and is disconnected now. Not sure how to reproduce but the fix worked.
Thanks!
Oh my god, thank you!
I restarted twice yesterday (this machine runs services for my whole network, restarting is NOT good).
The problem kept coming back. HOLDING Left mouse-button and tapping Esc WORKED!
I was going crazy. There are registry fixes and all kinds of crazy stuff for Win95/98/XP, but everything under Win7 was about desktop icon auto-arrangement or trying to arrange files in a folder.
None of the answers provided had anything to do with my issue. This fixed it and it hasn't come back yet. Thanks again!
(This DID occur after a browser VM to local-disk Drag & Drop operation was interrupted.)
