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Can't drag objects

I am unable to drag objects/textbox/etc in InDesign. I can resize using corner handles but I'm unable to click and drag object to desired location I've uninstalled, reinstalled, shutdown, restarted, cleared all settings, etc and nothing seems to work. I have never encountered this issue in all my years of using InDesign. Please help!

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Alvina shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →
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FIXED  ·  Abhinav Kaushik responded  · 

Hello All,

We thank you for your patience all this while.

Addressing this problem has been tricky for us given the random nature of the issue.
Determined to resolve the issue, we had launched our investigation into the matter to identify the root cause and fix it.

Many of you must have received email from us seeking more details about the issue.

We have concluded our investigation and came up with the below mentioned finding:

It was found that, most of the times, users were trying to drag an empty polygon which was leading the confusion because the legacy behaviour of InDesign allows dragging of polygon only from its edges or the centre most point.
If the user tries to drag it from any other position, the object cannot be moved.

We have tried to improve the user experience in this regard. You can try the same in InDesign’s latest version id 14.0.3.

Please download and install id 14.0.3 and let us know your feedback on the new experience.

Note:
If you are unable to drag other types of objects (other than empty polygons), please check the memory usage of your system. It has been observed that when the memory usage reaches the critical level, dragging of the objects become difficult.
As a workaround, you may either try to close some applications or restart the system.

Regards,
InDesign team

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  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Ever since updating to Catalina - not sure if it's related - I have had this problem among many others. I am using 14.0.3 but can no longer move anything! Very frustrating. I have plenty of memory. I am going to have to revert back to the previous OS as I've had never-ending issues since, including not being able to use Mac Mail.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    I have this problem - obviously not fixed yet - I can't work without this function... of course

  • Brian commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is a HUGE problem Adobe. Fix it. We don't pay to not have you guys not-fix an issue that dramatically changes a work day.

  • Lisa B commented  ·   ·  Report

    This sort of random stuff is why I'm getting to truly hate using Adobe products. They have become so unreliable and any time you need to get by one of these stupid issues you end up wasting time. It happens often enough that it often seems not worth the time it takes to track it down. And this for software that you have to pay for month after month after month. MAKE ADOBE RELIABLE AGAIN.

  • Elena Trevino commented  ·   ·  Report

    My IT tech just solved it. Left click on the small solid blue square and then you can move the object. No idea why it happens however.

  • Elena Trevino commented  ·   ·  Report

    I have the latest version of InDesign CS (14.0.3) Everything was OK, then suddenly I couldn't move anything. They I tried shuttong ID down, didn't work. Then I rebooted. Yay, it workeld, except then it didn't. I was scaling and cropping the small picture of the girl at the bottom of page 2, suddenly I couldn't move it, or even grab it. I could move and select everything else. InDesign used to be rock solid, but for the past 5 years it has wobbled from one problem to another, occasionally finding stability, only to lose it again. I can't keep rebooting my machine. I am going to save it with another name,

  • David Whitmyre commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is still happening! It's October 2019! Problem first reported in early 2018!!!!
    I am running 14.03. When will this be fixed? It has happened to me several times. Shane, closing Illustrator did not help. But thanks for the suggestion. At this point, if I have to stand on my head and rub my belly, I'll do it just to make this work! Very debilitating!

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    hi guys, i think i know what the issue is with this, i work on mac, so i work in an agency where we do ads, we use even the latest indesign 2019, and there has been more than one of my employees who had this problem, i went around asking some of my employees about this known issue, so one of them asked me what browser im using, so i said Safari, he said thats the problem, i must switch to a different browser, such as chrome or firefox. he said some how having the Safari browser open while you using InDesign, it somehow messes with you the InDesign program, so yeah, use a different browser. but you will have to restart you machine first, thereafter, use a different browser if you streaming videos or listening to music. Hope this helps...

  • Disgruntled commented  ·   ·  Report

    This nonsense has been happening for literally years and they don't fix it.

  • Jay Cee commented  ·   ·  Report

    Doesn't work for me either? any real fixes for this yet?

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same issue here ... working fine one moment and then BOOM .... no mouse/drag at all!

  • Michele Colino commented  ·   ·  Report

    I feel like somehow the Free Transform tool and Selection tool have swapped roles. I can't move anything with my selection tool but if I use the Free Transform tool I can move objects.

    I downloaded and installed the Beta Builder... didn't help the issue.

  • Sam Freeman commented  ·   ·  Report

    Updated indesign cc a week ago (8-20-2019) and have had problems running programs. can only run them as admin and cannot drag resources into any of them.. It really is bad when you pay adobe 120 a month and cant add assets into indesign projects..What gives Adobe..3 tech support trips remoted onto my computer with same result.. Maybe I need someone in US that actually knows what is going on . and I see Im not the only one!!!!! Do I start getting a refund for the months the programs arent working?? Windows 10 pro OS 14.02 x64

  • Ellen commented  ·   ·  Report

    Seriously, WHAT IS THE FIX for this?

  • Poop commented  ·   ·  Report

    Also just had same problem occur after working on same document all day. Now all of a sudden I can't move with my mouse/arrow tool. Can only move with keyboard arrows. System: HP 32GBRAM PC Windows 10 OS. Opened several ID docs & all same issue. Can use computer normally otherwise. No bueno.

  • Josh commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same issue here:
    1. Mac OS 10.12.6
    2. Yes resizing works but unable to move
    3. App frame off
    4. Would appear to happen to any frame type.

  • Melissa commented  ·   ·  Report

    Restart seems to have fixed this problem for me :)

  • Melissa commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same problem - just happened - very frustrating.
    Can't move text or graphics using drag and drop / can move by nudging or by specifying a measurement.

    Mac OS10.12.6 running InDesign CC2019

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