Can you drag and drop an email into a folder or will it cause issues and possible corrupt the emails?

If you are talking about moving an email item from the Inbox (or folder) to another folder by dragging and dropping, then yes, you can do this without fear of corruption.  If this isn't what you are asking, please clarify.

My drag and drop functionality has stopped working.  I can move messages by clicking 'move' in the ribbon bar, but cannot drag them to another folder.  Any ideas?

I have the same issue and it was working fine for about 5 months before... I deleted all of the OST's on the local machine however, it's still occurring...

 

I'm not sure why this thread is "answered" as there is no fix to be found...

In a moment of brilliance, I decided to eat my own dog food as an IT Professional and reboot my PC. Problem solved :-D

• Proposed as answer by Dale Lewis Thursday, June 23, 2011 7:26 PM

After a reboot the drag 'n drop functionality starts working  again. But since this problem occurs quite frequently for me I am wondering if there is any other way than rebooting to have drag 'n drop start working again?

any updates on this, i am having this issue as well and a reboot seems to fix it, but i cant always be rebooting my computer just for email.

I can't remember where I found this, but if you repeatedly press Esc. Hey Presto - Drag 'n' Drop starts again. This works both in Outlook and outside in windows explorer.

EDIT

Found the URL:

http://it.thelibrarie.com/weblog/2010/06/drag-and-drop-stops-working/

• Edited by Embedded_Ian Thursday, March 22, 2012 3:45 PM Found the referance
• Proposed as answer by iJebus Wednesday, June 06, 2012 2:58 AM
• Marked as answer by David WoltersModerator Friday, September 14, 2012 1:42 PM

This worked like a charm.... I was so frustrated with not being able to drag and drop... didnt know what I did wrong.... just followed the above... hit ESC several times... may be angrily..and bang.... it worked again... drag and drop

Current marked answer isn't relevant, post by Embedded_Ian is the correct solution.

• Proposed as answer by kilroy79763 Wednesday, June 06, 2012 4:35 PM
• Unproposed as answer by kilroy79763 Wednesday, June 06, 2012 4:36 PM

I can't remember where I found this, but if you repeatedly press Esc. Hey Presto - Drag 'n' Drop starts again. This works both in Outlook and outside in windows explorer.

EDIT

Found the URL:

http://it.thelibrarie.com/weblog/2010/06/drag-and-drop-stops-working/

Esc Esc Esc Esc did it for me....thanks

Well done, after 20 years of suporting MS products I just have to laugh at this one, too funny!!

Unbelievable - it works! Thank you!

woohoo....you just saved me a reboot!    I pressed ESC and held it down for a few seconds....bingo, drag and drop is back.   there must be some combo of keywords that gets outlook stuck....and ESC frees it back up.

Well done!!!

But hitting the ESC key once, i was able to move the emails in between folders.

Thanks

This worked for me (pressing ESC key), thanks Embedded Ian - it was driving me nuts!!!

Thank you much for sharing, worked...

Thanks a lot.It worked for me.

Unbelievable! Many thanks

Thanks Embedded_Ian.  That fixed the drag 'n drop issue.

Appreciate the post...  1st solution i saw and it worked the 1st time...  Thanks

... repeatedly press Esc. Hey Presto - Drag 'n' Drop starts again.

Ha! Same here. Great find :-) What a quirky issue. It just cropped for me - perhaps coincident with recent Windows Updates (may be not). Thanks again!

I know this is an old post; however, I have to laugh at it...

Must have been the dog food was eaten before rebooting the PC that actually solved the problem...  If you would have eaten dog food AFTER the reboot, hmm I don't think it would have worked.

I can't remember where I found this, but if you repeatedly press Esc. Hey Presto - Drag 'n' Drop starts again. This works both in Outlook and outside in windows explorer.

EDIT

Found the URL:

http://it.thelibrarie.com/weblog/2010/06/drag-and-drop-stops-working/

Huge laf.

Thank you for that one

I still cannot drag & drop after hitting the escape key, holding the escape key, rebooting, or anything else.  This is a ridiculous issue, even the fact that holding the escape key can modify this function for some.  I have carefully gone through every setting and have changed some things, but still cannot get this to work.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

I found the real issue for me at least.  I deselected "Run as Admin", which prevented me from drag & drop.  I hope this is helpful for all.

A relatively old post post, but worked like a charm for me. Thank you

Wow! Such a simple solution...it works. Thank you.

worked like a charm!

after pressing "ESC" repeatedly drag and drop started working.Rebooting the machine also solve the problem.

I cant beleive! It works!

After hitting ESC maybe 8 or 10 times ive tested and... drag and drop is back!

Maybe i entered in some sub-sub-sub-sub menu option, or.. whatever... ESC sounds to me like im undoing something, or going back menus or functions...

Thanks!

• Edited by KayZerSoze Monday, October 14, 2013 12:54 PM typo error

I have confirmed that this is a windows 7 (maybe other too?) issue.  The same problem is  occurringin the file explorer.  To restore functionality in windows and outlook, left click any file and hold.  press the esc key once and the functionality should be returned.  No need to reboot or restart!

haha, yes, i hit ESC like a mad woman and bam, problem solved....dumb Outlook, I never gave it instructions to stop dragging and dropping. :P

Esc Esc Esc Esc did it for me....thanks a lot.....

I had this problem and my solution was.

1) In internet explorer select Tools --> Compatability View Settings

2) In "Websites you've added to Compatability View " select the website that hosts your e-mail and

3) After selecting your website pres the remove button on the right site and then Close.

In my case this solved the problem.

Valdimar Helgason

Esc dit not do the trick for me but this did

I had this problem and my solution was.

1) In internet explorer select Tools --> Compatability View Settings

2) In "Websites you've added to Compatability View " select the website that hosts your e-mail and

3) After selecting your website pres the remove button on the right site and then Close.

In my case this solved the problem.

Valdimar Helgason

Wow - what an easy fix - fantastic