Drag and drop on Mac: the tips, and a shelf for your files

How do I drag a file between two apps on a Mac?

Grab the file, keep the button held, press ⌘ Tab to reach the other app, and drop the file in its window. macOS has four built-in tricks for dragging without losing your way.

A notch app can also hold files for you: see our guide to notch apps for Mac.

• Switch apps mid-drag: grab the file, keep holding, then ⌘ Tab to the app you want and drop it in its window.
• Spring-loaded folders: hold the file over a folder; it opens, and you work your way down the hierarchy without letting go.
• On a Dock icon: drop a file on an app's icon to open it with that app.
• Copy instead of move: in Finder, hold ⌥ as you drop to make a copy.

How do I drag without holding the click on a trackpad?

Turn on three-finger drag: macOS then lets you move a file by sliding three fingers, with no click to hold over a long distance.

1. Open System Settings › Accessibility › Pointer Control.
2. In Trackpad Options, turn on using the trackpad for dragging, and pick three-finger drag.
3. Put three fingers on a file and move them: it follows, no click.

If drag and drop stops working altogether, restarting the Mac often fixes it.

What is a file shelf?

A file shelf is a temporary spot where you park files mid-trip: you gather them from several folders, then drop them at their destination in one go. macOS has nothing like it built in; the desktop plays the part, and fills up. Before choosing a shelf, three questions matter.

• How does it appear? At a screen edge, under the pointer, or from the menu bar. The best gesture is the one you can make while already dragging.
• Does it copy your files? A shelf that only remembers where files are costs no disk space and never leaves duplicates behind.
• What else does it do? Some shelves add file actions (resize, compress) or online sharing; others stay a simple tray.

How does Tack+'s Stash work?

The Stash is the file shelf of Tack+, a Mac app that tucks your music, messages, calendar and clipboard history into a thin line at the edge of the screen. You drag a file toward that edge and the panel opens to receive it.

• Drag a file toward the edge: as it nears the line, the panel opens to take it. Drop it on the Stash card, or anywhere on the open panel.
• Nothing is copied: Tack+ remembers where the file is. The Stash survives restarts, and a file that's moved or deleted drops out of it.
• Drag it back out, double-click to open it, show it in Finder, send it through Messages.
• Up to 24 items, folders included; the oldest make room.

What the Stash doesn't do: no file actions, no AirDrop, no cloud uploads. It's a shelf, kept with the rest of your Mac at the same screen edge. To sort a whole folder at once, Tack+'s assistant can tidy it by type on request.