Can't drag files up or down in finder window on Mac, please help.

snerkler

snerkler

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Hi,

For some reason this morning I can't drag files up or down in a finder window in Mac OS Sierra on my 2012 MBP. Before if I dragged a file up towards the top/bottom of the window the window wold scroll up/down so I could place the file in a folder etc that might be at the top/bottom of the window. Now if I drag the file to the top/bottom nothing generally happens. Sometimes it will stutter and move down one row of files and then stop again.

What's going on and how can I fix it?

Thanks.
 
•


Maybe you selected a specific way to order the files?

At the top of the window
Arrange > None!
 
Thanks it doesn't matter how they are arranged, you still can't drag them up and down past the viewable window, ie the window won't scroll down. I've checked my iMac and this is the same so maybe it's a bug with Sierra?
 
Kodiak Qc said:
That, I wouldn't know… still on El Capitan!
Sorry I was of no help.
Click to expand...
No Problems, thanks for trying. It's very annoying as I can't arrange my files easily now as I used to drag them into folders etc that might be at the top or bottom of a window out of view of the open window.
 
Only time I have seen this is when I have had 2 mice connected (& one had something resting on it as if a click-hold, or something resting on a key on the keyboard.
 
JohnM100 said:
Only time I have seen this is when I have had 2 mice connected (& one had something resting on it as if a click-hold, or something resting on a key on the keyboard.
Click to expand...
Thanks, definitely only the trackpad connected, and everything else behaves normally, ie can drag from window to window etc.
 
To set the scrolling behavior for Finder (and other) windows, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click General.
 
Keith W said:
To set the scrolling behavior for Finder (and other) windows, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click General.
Click to expand...
Thanks, as far as I can see that just allows you to show the scroll bar or not, I can't see any other behaviour. Changing these does not affect the issue in any way :(
 
Kodiak Qc said:
•


Maybe you selected a specific way to order the files?

At the top of the window
Arrange > None!
Click to expand...
I think the above is correct. I've just tred it in Sierra [Mac Mini FWIW] and it seems only reliably works when Arrange/None is selected. I tried some of the other "Arrange" options and think some work and some don't -- makes sense where the choice groups files e.g. by size.
 
sphexx said:
I think the above is correct. I've just tred it in Sierra [Mac Mini FWIW] and it seems only reliably works when Arrange/None is selected. I tried some of the other "Arrange" options and think some work and some don't -- makes sense where the choice groups files e.g. by size.
Click to expand...
Then you must be referring to something different and not the problem that I am experiencing (y)
 
snerkler said:
Then you must be referring to something different and not the problem that I am experiencing (y)
Click to expand...
I'm talking about grabbing a file and dragging to top (or bottom) of a window (showing only some of files in that folder) and when it reaches the top of the window the contents scroll so that files and folders that were invisible are now scrolled down until you find the position or folder where you want to drop the file appears and you then hover and drop it. That works on my system in Sierra, as it always has in previous versions. I assume you have tried killing the finder and/or rebooting.

(My Mac mini has a USB keyboard, Bluetooth KB, USB mouse, BT trackpad, 2 monitors, Mountain Lion running in Parallels, most files on external drives. So there is plenty of opportunity for Sierra to get confused but the scrolling works as described.)

hope this helps
 
sphexx said:
I'm talking about grabbing a file and dragging to top (or bottom) of a window (showing only some of files in that folder) and when it reaches the top of the window the contents scroll so that files and folders that were invisible are now scrolled down until you find the position or folder where you want to drop the file appears and you then hover and drop it. That works on my system in Sierra, as it always has in previous versions. I assume you have tried killing the finder and/or rebooting.

(My Mac mini has a USB keyboard, Bluetooth KB, USB mouse, BT trackpad, 2 monitors, Mountain Lion running in Parallels, most files on external drives. So there is plenty of opportunity for Sierra to get confused but the scrolling works as described.)

hope this helps
Click to expand...
Thanks for clearing that up. Yes that's exactly what I mean, sorry. However changing the options such as arrange file by name, size, or even none has no effect on the problem that I have. What is odd is that it's both my MBP and iMac so could it be some software that's interfering? The trouble is I wouldn't even begin to know where to start looking. The only thing that I though might be affecting it is bettersnap, but I disabled that and I still had the issue. Any ideas?
 
I do find that this seems to be more picky about where you drag the file to iniate scrolling, though it may be just my memory that's wrong :-( . Beyond saying it works in Sierra I can only think it a software conflict/corruption. You don't actually say you have tried rebooting or killing finder though.
 
sphexx said:
I do find that this seems to be more picky about where you drag the file to iniate scrolling, though it may be just my memory that's wrong :-( . Beyond saying it works in Sierra I can only think it a software conflict/corruption. You don't actually say you have tried rebooting or killing finder though.
Click to expand...
Sorry, yes I have force quit finder, was one of the first things I did. I would find it odd to be software corruption as whilst the iMac was an update from El Capitan the MBP was a fresh install, and both have the same behaviour. I tried moving the position of the file along the bottom or top of the window to see if it was jut the position of where I 'held' the file, but it didn't help :(
 
I'm having similar issues here - there are a couple of workarounds:

If you're using a trackpad, click on the file(s) with one finger, drag slightly and then use 2 additional fingers to scroll up/down.

Open a second Finder window/ tab, click/drag to the other window/tab.

Add the destination folder to the favourites bar if you're using it a lot
 
Andy Taylor said:
I'm having similar issues here - there are a couple of workarounds:

If you're using a trackpad, click on the file(s) with one finger, drag slightly and then use 2 additional fingers to scroll up/down.

Open a second Finder window/ tab, click/drag to the other window/tab.

Add the destination folder to the favourites bar if you're using it a lot
Click to expand...
Thanks I had been using the two window method workaround but never thought about trying the two-finger scroll. That works and is a much better workaround, thanks. Ideally would still like to know what's causing the issue though, I might make a genius appointment at some stage.
 
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