Drag and Drop not working Office 365 - Word

Anonymous
2016-03-08T03:02:00+00:00

Several community discussions on this topic, but I can't find a good answer!  Microsoft, does Word 365 support drag and drop?  If so, how do I fix my system?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-12-13T15:04:42+00:00

    I have had the same problem on and off for months. It affects all my Office programs.  I have read all these discussions and the answers from so-called experts but nothing worked until this morning. I came across this article... https://www.networkworld.com/article/2845143/software/when-outlook-drag-and-drop-stops-working.html  

    Just hit Escape... no changing settings, no restarting, no repairing Office... just hit Escape a few times and -- wonder of wonders -- it works.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-03-08T20:32:28+00:00

    Hi Parth,

    Thank you for your interest in helping us resolve this problem.

    As you probably know that for many years MS Word has provided the fantastic editing tool of dragging and dropping text from one paragraph to another paragraph, etc.  We used to be able to highlight a word, sentence, paragraph, etc. and simply drag that highlighted text to another part in the document and be done with it.  Now, the only way to do such a task is cut and paste.  Office 365 can't seem to do this very simple and important feature.  I see others in the community mention not being able to drag and drop files, and other things, but I'd like to first get Word working again and then move on to bigger and better things.

    I'm founder of an accredited college and have written hundreds of books (some published) and so much of my work is based on this feature.

    I've checked all my settings, options, and advanced options only to find everything checked appropriately.  I called the MS Office 365 tech support to no avail.  They had me reloaded all my software, they controlled my computer, etc. to no avail.  I'm running Windows 10 pro on a new Dell computer.  My other computer (1 year old) runs Windows 10 upgrade and it had the same problem.

    I tried to give you as much information as I can.  If you want to talk live or operate my computer remotely, I'm open to it.  I'd love to have this feature back; it's been around for probably 15 years or longer.

    Thank you, I appreciate your help.

    Steve

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-03-16T21:39:08+00:00

    Hello Steve,

    Thank you for your reply. I apologies for delay in response.

    Few more details would help us to provide a better response.

    1. Does this issue occurs in all document or is it specific to particular document?
    2. What is the version and build of the Office application that you are using? (Check under File> Account > About Word)

    I suggest you to refer to the steps mentioned below and check if it helps.

    • Open Word application.
    • Click on File tab, click on Options.
    • Under Options in the left pane, click Advanced.
    • In the Editing options section, select the Allow text to be dragged and dropped check box.
    • Click OK.

    I hope the above information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance.

    Thank you.

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-07-09T18:09:25+00:00

    HI, I had this exact issue. All I did to fix it was this: Go to File, Options, Advanced, and Uncheck the "allow drag and drop" box. Then close down all open Word files. Then, reopen Word, and recheck the 'allow drag and drop' box. The feature was restored. 

    Jimmy Stevens

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-03-19T02:33:19+00:00

    Thank you Parth for trying to help me out.

    I verified that Windows update is set to also update Office products.

    I ran the repair tool as you suggestion, and still not working.

    Could it have anything to do with:

    Windows 10 Pro

    Norton

    Dell

    ?

    Thank you again for helping me out.  I wish it would work like Word used to work.  Darn I miss that simple feature.

    Please let me know if you have any more ideas. 

    Thanks, Steve

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