How to Enable Drag and Drop in Windows 11

Microsoft is getting ready to announce Windows 11 in the holiday season of 2021. According to early reports, Windows 11 will be a significant upgrade over Windows 10 and will come with dozens of features. Thanks to the preview version, people got a glimpse of what they can expect with the new operating system. In addition, many people have reported that the company has made some major tweaks to the overall functionality.

The all-new Windows 11 comes with a simplified design with the goal of enhancing productivity and the overall user experience. However, it seems that Microsoft has discontinued some features as they prepare to launch Windows 11. One of them is the drag and drop functionality with the taskbar. The Windows taskbar has existed since the launch of Windows 95. Located at the bottom, the Taskbar contains the system's Start Menu and the system tray.

Windows 11's taskbar looks similar to the taskbar found in Chrome and mac OS. However, those using the preview build of Windows 11 have noticed changes in its functionality. According to reports, it appears that Microsoft has removed the ability to drag and drop in Windows 11. If you remember, it is possible to drag, drop, and reposition your taskbar icons in all versions of Windows. before.

Since Windows first introduced drag and drop feature, it is being used by countless users every day. It allows you to organize your files, folders and other important content easily with a simple mouse movement. This feature is much more handy than cutting and pasting individual items from one location to another on your system.

However, it seems you can no longer do the same thing in Windows 11. While some initially hoped that this was a bug, they were disappointed when the company announced that it was an expected aspect. of Windows 11. But the good news is that you can restore drag and drop feature in Windows 11. In this article, we will show you different methods by which you can enable drag and drop feature. drop in Windows 11 using .

A. Drag and Drop in Windows 11 Using Alt+Tab

1. Press, and hold down, the button on the mouse, to grab the file you want to drop.
2. Drag the file and press Alt+Tab button. Keep pressing Tab while simultaneously holding Alt and mouse button to navigate between files. Release the Alt+Tab button once you are on the desired location.
3. Now Drop the file by releasing the mouse button.

B. Drag and Drop Files in Windows 11 Between The Folders

1. Open the two folders (drag and drop file folders) side by side.
2. Open the folder from which you want to drag the file. Press, and hold down, the button on the mouse, to grab the file you want to drop.
3. Drag the file to the desired location by moving the pointer.
4. Drop the object by releasing the button into your desired location

C. Enable Drag And Drop Using The Windows Registry Editor

You can enable and adjust the drag and drop sensitivity settings in Windows by creating a system restore point in the Windows Registry Editor. 

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Next, type Regedit inside the text box and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open up the Registry Editor with admin access.

2. Now, navigate to the below-mentioned path

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell \Update\Packages

3. Now, right-click on the blank white space on the right navigation pane

4. Here, choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

5. This will create a new value in the registry editor. Right-click on this newly created value file. Choose Rename. Rename this value file as follows

UndockingDisabled

6. Right-click on UndockingDisabled.Select Modify. Now, change the value to 0 to 1

7. Click OK to save the settings

Now restart your computer. After restart, you will notice the taskbar will appear same as like in Windows 10 and the drag and drop functionality feature will now be restored on your computer.

The drawback of this method is that the Start, Search and the Cortana will not open from the taskbar. You will see the icons however, they won’t launch.

To disable the drag and drop feature and restore back to normal Windows 11, navigate to registry editor to the same folder mentioned above and right click on UndockingDisabled and delete it. Restart your system and you’ll be back to your normal Windows 11 system.

D. Use a 3rd party option

1. Visit GitHub to download the Windows 11 Drag And Drop To Taskbar Partial Fix tool by the developer nicknamed HerMajestyDrMona.

Download Windows11DragAndDropToTaskbarPartialFix

2. Click Windows11DragAndDropToTaskbarPartialFix.exe to download the executable file of the tool.

3. Double-click the downloaded Windows11DragAndDropToTaskbarPartialFix.exe to launch the tool. After the tool has finished running, you can perform file drag and drop operations like on Windows 10.

The Windows 11 Drag And Drop To Taskbar Partial Fix tool will automatically detect whether you are pressing and holding the left mouse button and determine if you have dragged the file to the Windows 11 Taskbar. If it detects the above operations, it will automatically emulate the Win+Ctlr+Number keyboard shortcuts to help you drag and drop files from one application to another.