Suddenly can't drag or drop files anymore in windows 7 (64 bit)

Anonymous

Hi Everyone,

I have a new Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) laptop. I've not installed any new programs (auto-updates either) or what I know changed any settings, but suddenly today I can no longer drag and drop files on my laptop... this is everywhere, but most noticeably on the desktop, where I usually put files and group then where I want. If I want to move files from the desktop to My Documents I have to now cut and paste them!!!

What is going on?

Have I inadvertently changed a setting? How do I get this function back as it is vital!!

Sincerely, and with thanks,

Judd

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Anonymous

This sounds too simple to work, but it worked for me:

1) Find an affected icon.

2) Click and HOLD the icon with the Left mouse button.

3) Press Esc while holding the Left mouse button.

That's it! This was driving me crazy. It had nothing to do with registry entries or anything else. Simply a failed Drag & Drop operation that hadn't exited. Even restarting had only worked temporarily, so I suspect my Esc key may have been stuck down or at least the system thought it was!

My particular variant of this problem seems to stem from either a Virtual Machine taking mouse focus, or a browser window (I was running a VM inside a browser window) then being interrupted during mouse action.

Thanks to @_Nige for the quick fix.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/drag-and-drop-not-working-in-windows-7/f6dcfa11-8c51-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5?tm=1341168619214

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55 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-09-05T22:57:55+00:00

same here, my desk was a mess and i had some things covering the keyboard and my escape key was pushed without me knowing
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Anonymous

2016-06-07T12:21:39+00:00

This sounds too simple to work, but it worked for me:

1) Find an affected icon.

2) Click and HOLD the icon with the Left mouse button.

3) Press Esc while holding the Left mouse button.

That's it! This was driving me crazy. It had nothing to do with registry entries or anything else. Simply a failed Drag & Drop operation that hadn't exited. Even restarting had only worked temporarily, so I suspect my Esc key may have been stuck down or at least the system thought it was!

My particular variant of this problem seems to stem from either a Virtual Machine taking mouse focus, or a browser window (I was running a VM inside a browser window) then being interrupted during mouse action.

Thanks to @_Nige for the quick fix.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/drag-and-drop-not-working-in-windows-7/f6dcfa11-8c51-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5?tm=1341168619214

this wasn't the problem i was facing, but it did help me get to the root cause. my ESC key was physically stuck. thus canceling every drag operation i tried.

thanks
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Anonymous

2016-04-26T05:30:08+00:00

Thanks! Worked like a charm.
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Anonymous

2016-03-24T15:53:50+00:00

OMG!!! This had been an issue for MONTHS! I had thought it was a Windows issue. As long as I did a fresh boot-up of my computer and it never timed out and went into 'sleep mode' this function would work. Once I started any VM mode or it went dormant...it was all over...I couldn't move the icon.

What a simple fix!!! DEAD ON RIGHT ANSWER...literally half a second to fix Amazing that I've been so ignorant to withstand this problem this long. WOW! THANK YOU so very much for taking the time to provide the solutions...amazing how a simple keystroke will fix things.
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