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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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  • Stavros Kara commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hello all,
    i noticed that when i started running ID as administrator that happend (it wouldnt let me drag n drop items inside ID) . i turned off "Run this program as administrator" and everything is good. To do that, right click on the ID icon > Properties > Compatibility tab > Uncheck this one : Run this program as an administrator.
    i Hope that helps.

  • Zoe Wainwright commented  ·   ·  Report

    Has this been sorted yet? I have deadlines and I cant seem to fix it

  • Lizette commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hi Abhinav,
    I no longer have this issue, I think because I updated my MacOS or InDesign. I work on an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) usingMac OS Mojave, but am not sure what I was using when I had the issue. I had the issue for atleast 6 months, and I even spoke with an Adobe tech support person, but ultimately they were not able to help me. I am glad the issue was somehow resolved.

  • David commented  ·   ·  Report

    Still happening, please help

  • Chris Garza commented  ·   ·  Report

    me again, the update fixed the drag situation and worked just fine for a moment, then Save, Undo, Cut or Paste are disabled

  • Chris Garza commented  ·   ·  Report

    Hi, I had the same problem. Just ran an update and the problem is solved.

  • Colin commented  ·   ·  Report

    And another one. Was working fine an hour ago and now can't move anything with the mouse - text, shape, images etc all stuck to the layout. Nothing is locked, and I can move them with the cursor keys.
    Tried quitting and restarting ID, reset preferences to default, checked for App updates... no progress.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    I also have a deadline coming up and I am running into the same problem. It looks like people have been reporting this for a while. Can we get an update?
    Windows 10
    Unable to resize
    Doesn't work with app frame on or off
    Graphic and text frames

  • Marcia commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same problem with me. Can't move/drag objects with the direct selection tool. Just started yesterday.

  • Carmen commented  ·   ·  Report

    Has this been fixed yet?

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same here! Print deadline tomorrow morning. Help!

  • Kaye Adams commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is happening to me too! I cannot drag anything with my mouse. I can grab corner boxes, but cannot simply select an object and move it. Can only use the arrows to move things. Help!!! Please!! I have deadlines to meet!

    Win. 10
    InDesign vers. 14.0.1 x64

  • Matt Currie commented  ·   ·  Report

    Literally, going down right now. Thesis project is going to print tomorrow morning. NEED THIS SORTED OUT ASAP

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    I can't move a darn box. Restarted, but nothing changes.
    So darn frustrating.
    Latest build CC.
    Windows 10.
    I have two books due in three weeks and I have to put up with this garbage from Adobe on top of all the other stress. Thanks.

  • Caroline commented  ·   ·  Report

    Same problem here. Very annoying Adobe - please sort it out.

  • Valerie Fay commented  ·   ·  Report

    Having the same problem - just started happening today!

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