Can't use drag and drop in Windows 10?The repair method is as follows

Drag and drop feature lets you easily move files or folders to a new location.You can press Ctrl+X and Ctrl+V to move files, or browse folders when you want to attach files to emails, but drag and drop is more convenient.

Hence, you can be very annoyed when this handy feature stops working on your computer.If this happens to you too, don't worry, here are a few solutions that can help you out.

1. Restart the program you are using

If you find that you cannot drag and drop into a particular program, the software may be frozen.To quickly fix this, save your work and restart the program.Then, try dragging and dropping again.

2. Check the hardware

Failure to drag and drop on a Windows computer may be related to a hardware problem.First, double-check the left mouse button to make sure nothing is stuck there and that it's working.

Then, check to see if any devices are interfering with mouse functionality.If you have a joystick or similar device connected, try unplugging it and check if you can drag and drop now.

Also, if your mouse is using a third-party application, check its settings.Apart from that, you can also try updating the app to the latest version.

3. Make Windows forget the last drag and drop

Sometimes your computer is still processing the previous drag and drop process, preventing you from initiating a new drag and drop event.Fortunately, you can easily fix this issue without restarting your computer or configuring system settings.

In File Explorer, click and hold down the left mouse button on any file or folder.Then, press the Esc key.Now, try dragging and dropping again.

4. Check Touchpad Gestures

If you're having trouble dragging and dropping using your laptop's touchpad, it's likely that the touchpad isn't set up correctly.Press Windows key + I to bring up the Settings menu, then go to Devices > Touchpad.There, scroll down the "Tap" section and check the "Tap twice and drag to select multiple" option.

5. Restart File Explorer

Sometimes, File Explorer has issues with drag and drop.Fortunately, you can fix this by restarting the service.Doing this isn't as simple as closing all open File Explorer windows, though, since the service is always running in the background.

Follow the steps below to restart File Explorer:

1. Right-click the "Start" button and select "Task Manager".

2. Find explorer.exe in the "Details" tab.

3. Right-click it and select "End Task".Your desktop will disappear, but don't worry, it's part of the process!

4. Click File > Run New Task.

5. Type explorer.exe and click OK to restart the process.

6. Check Windows version

If you're running an outdated version of Windows 10, you may not be able to drag and drop on your computer.Therefore, follow the steps below to check and manually update Windows to the latest version:

1. Open Settings.

2. Go to Update & Security.

3. Select Windows Update from the left pane.

4. Click Check for Updates.

Windows searches for and installs any available updates.When you're done, try dragging and dropping to see if the update system fixed the problem.

7. Check the mouse driver

If you're having trouble dragging and dropping with your mouse, your mouse driver may need to be updated.If you're using a laptop and are still able to drag and drop with the touchpad, you need to update your drivers.

Follow the steps below to check your mouse driver:

1. Right-click the "Start" button and select "Device Manager".

2. Expand the "Mice and other pointing devices" menu.

3. Right-click on the mouse driver and select Update Driver.

4. Select Search automatically for drivers > Search Windows Update for drivers and Windows will find and install any available driver updates.

Also, if you use a third-party application to customize your mouse control settings, it may interfere with the proper functioning of your mouse.Take a look in the application's settings to see if anything is preventing the mouse from working properly.

If it's an application for gaming, prevent it from running at startup.Open Task Manager, go to Startup, select the application and click Disable.

8. Run SFC and DISM scans

SFC will check all system files for any corrupt or damaged system files.Once such files are detected, it automatically replaces them.Additionally, System File Checker will give you details of the scan, which you can access in its log file.

Follow the steps below to run an SFC scan:

1. Type Command Prompt into the Start menu search bar and select "Run as administrator".

2. Enter sfc /scannow.

3. Press the Enter key to start the scan.

Do not close the Command Prompt window until the scan is complete.The scan time depends on the total amount of system resources.

If System File Checker detects any corrupted or damaged system files, it will display a "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them" message.If no corrupt files are found, the message Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations is displayed.

If the SFC scan does not resolve the issue, you should try running a DISM scan.Open Command Prompt with administrator privileges (as described earlier), and type the following command:

     Dism/Online/Cleanup-Image0/ScanHealth

     Dism/Online/Cleanup-Image/RestoreHealth

After the system finishes scanning, check to see if you can drag and drop.

9. Run the hardware and device troubleshooter

Another tool that can be used to troubleshoot problems is the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter.In older versions of Windows 10, this tool was located in the Control Panel.Now, you need to use Command Prompt to start it.The specific method is as follows:

1. Open Command Prompt with administrative privileges as shown in the image above.

2. Type msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic.

3. Press Enter.

4. Click Advanced > Apply Fixes Automatically.

5. Click Next.

10. Edit the Windows Registry

The Windows Registry is one of the main elements of the system as it contains Windows and software settings, driver information and user passwords.So when you're having trouble with your computer, it's worth taking the time to check the Windows Registry.

Before making any changes to the Windows registry, a backup of the registry database should be created.If an editing mistake negatively affects the system, you can get back the original settings from the backup.

Here's how to safely edit the Windows Registry to enable drag and drop functionality:

1. Type regedit in the Start menu search bar and select "Run as administrator".

2. Go to Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies > System.

3. On the right side of the window, turn on EnableLUA.

4. Set Base to Hexadecimal.

5. Set the Value data to 0 and click OK.

6. Restart the computer and check if you can drag and drop.

Edit drag height and width

Registry Editor also contains settings for drag height and width.If the previous solution didn't solve your problem, try this.Please follow the steps below to proceed:

1. Open Registry Editor with administrative privileges as shown in the image above.

2. Go to Computer > HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Control Panel > Desktop.

3. In the right pane, turn on DragHeight.

4. Enter a new value in the Value data field and click OK.

5. Turn on DragWidth.

6. Enter a new value in the Value data field and click OK.

The default value of DragWidth and DragHeight is 4.When changing, do not set it to an excessively high value such as 2000, as this may cause new problems.

Simple fix for drag and drop functionality

Hopefully one of the above solutions will fix the drag and drop functionality on your computer.Most of the time, this is just a temporary glitch that you can fix by restarting File Explorer or by making Windows forget the last drag and drop operation.