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!

Screen_Shot_2018-03-09_at_10.39.36_PM.png 480 KB

74 votes

Alvina shared this idea · Aug 31, 2017 · Report… · Admin →

FIXED ·

Abhinav Kaushik responded · Aug 30, 2019

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

Show previous admin responses (5)

Available in Prerelease Builds ·

AdminRavi Kiran (Admin, Adobe InDesign) responded · Aug 19, 2019

The fix for this issue is now available in the Beta builds of InDesign. A new type of cursor is now shown on hovering mouse over the Stroke(outline) or Center point of a object, indicating that it can be dragged to some other location.

You can download the latest Beta build from the Downloads section of InDesign Prerelease portal.

1. Go to adobeprerelease.com
2. Log in with your Adobe Id.
3. Once logged in, search for “InDesign CC Prerelease” program in the list.
4. Click on the program to join the same.
5. You can now download the build (14.0.3.422) from “Builds and Plugins” section on the page.
6. The steps for installing the build can be found in the release notes

—
Adobe InDesign team

Under Review ·

Abhinav Kaushik responded · Jun 13, 2019

Hello All,
We need some information to expedite our investigation into the issue.
1. Which operating system are you using?
2. When the issue occurs, are you able to click on any file or icon outside InDesign.
3. On Windows, does locking windows and unlocking it again, help?
4. If this issue is happening right now, send your cache and preference to abkaushi@adobe.com

-InDesign Team

InDesign team

Under Review ·

Abhinav Kaushik responded · Jun 10, 2019

Thank you for reporting the issue,
We are currently investigating into it.

-InDesign Team

Need More Info ·

Abhinav Kaushik responded · Apr 10, 2019

Hello All,

We understand that issue must be slowing you down and we need your help in reproducing the issue at our end. It will enable us to investigate the problem much faster.
1. Have your observed that closing any open browser fixes the problem?
2. When the movement of the object is disabled using mouse, but do you continue to move around the object using keyboard arrow keys?
3. Have you observed that restarting InDesign fixes the problem momentarily?
4. Are you able to create a new document when the movement of objects is disabled?
5. On which device are you using InDesign?

Need More Info ·

Abhinav Kaushik responded · Mar 6, 2018

Hello All,

We would need more details from you all to help with our investigation into the issue. Please provide the information as mentioned below.

1. OS Version?
2. Are you able to resize the object which you are not able to drag?
3. Is your Application Frame On or Off?
4. Does is issue happen with a specific kind of Object, let’s say Text, Rectangle, graphic frame.

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Anonymous commented · January 17, 2018 2:39 PM · Report

try

: Reset InDesign Preferences – hold down Shift+Option+Command+Control while starting InDesign, click “Yes” to delete preference files.

it worked for me

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Lizette commented · January 12, 2018 10:06 PM · Report

I am also dealing with this problem, since I think September 2017. Usually, drag and drop functions for a little while (maybe an hour or so?) before it suddenly stops working. I am using a late-2014 27" iMac running macOS Sierra 10.12.6 and InDesign CC 2018. I am also using a wired Apple mighty mouse, not sure if that helps!

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CL commented · December 30, 2017 9:02 PM · Report

I am suddenly having this issue. Reinstalled the new CC (2018) reset preferences... NOT FIXED. :(

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Shea commented · December 11, 2017 10:44 PM · Report

I am currently having this issue. Have gone through an InDesign update and have cleared the preference file (the standard solution from the internet), and nothing. Renders the program pretty useless for layout. Anyone have any other solutions?

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Jim Crawford commented · October 25, 2017 9:52 PM · Report

I share this problem and have experienced it across multiple computers and multiple versions of InDesign CC. No one solution has worked consistently. I've used the keyboard shortcut to clear preferences, I've gone and deleted the files manually, I've restarted the computer. Usually one of those solutions works, but it's never the same thing twice in a row. This issue arises about 2-3 times per year per computer.

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E commented · September 21, 2017 6:05 AM · Report

I also have this problem. It comes and goes, though. A reboot helped it one time, and another it was helped by deleting my preferences file as suggested elsewhere online.

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RY commented · September 7, 2017 6:45 PM · Report

Is this problem in just one file or all files?

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Steve Edwards commented · August 31, 2017 1:37 PM · Report

Is the object you're trying to move anchored in a text box? That would let you resize using the handles but not necessarily allow you to move it.

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