If you have problems dragging items on your Mac, especially in the Finder, try this.
Some people have problems dragging items from one place to another using a trackpad on a Mac laptop. This happens most often when moving files and folders in the Finder (Desktop app), but can happen anywhere a drag is used.
The most common cause of this is a feature introduced in some models in 2015 and others about 2018, called "Forced Click". The trackpads on these models sense two levels of clicking: lightly and more heavily. The lighter click (or hold down to drag) does what you would expect: select the item or drag it. The harder press does a preview of the item, for example it will show a preview of the contents of a PDF or Word document.
The problem is, it is very easy to press too hard, especially when you are not aware of the forced click feature (which is the case for almost everyone) and once you do, people often tend to get a bit stressed and press harder, making the problem worse!
There are two ways to overcome this annoyance...
1. Be aware that the feature exists, and press more lightly, or if a click or drag doesn't work, try again but then press a bit more lightly on the trackpad. After a while most users can get used to this.
2. Turn the feature off, if you don't use it (very few people do), by doing this...
Go to the Apple menu, then System Settings. Click Trackpad. Turn off the "Force click and haptic feedback" option. Quit from System Settings and you can now press as hard as you want when dragging!
I usually write a blog post about once a week. The latest post can be viewed here: This is War!: I think it is a surface indicator of a deeper issue. (posted 2025-07-29 at 13:01:23). I do podcasts too!. You can listen to my latest podcast, here: OJB's Podcast 2025-07-18 Too Many Road Cones: I think it is clear, there are too many road cones!.
TIPS PAGE