how to disable drag and drop files in win11

Question

hello,

i want to disable drag and drop

since we lost files sometimes when we do it unintentionally

i found that there is regex for it that can change its value

this is the instructions in the net:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

• Add a DWORD value NoDraggableIcons and set it to 1.
• Restart your PC.

But when look in my laptop (i tries in 2 devices) in regex under policies there is nothing. Explorer field is not there What should i do?

Answer 1

Okay, you need to understand the difference between a Key and a Value.

Keys

• Registry Key: A key in the registry is similar to a folder in the file system. It can contain other keys (subkeys) and values. Keys are used to organize and structure data within the registry. Each key is identified by a unique name and is part of a hierarchical structure.
• Example Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows

Values

• Registry Value: A value is similar to a file within a folder. It represents the actual data stored within a key. Each value has a name, a type, and data. The type specifies the kind of data (e.g., string, binary, DWORD).
• Types of Values:
  • String Value (REG_SZ): Stores a sequence of characters.

You need to create the Key of "Explorer" then within that folder create the Value of NoDraggableIcons

Please mark as answer if this helped.

Answer 2

Hi Tzipi Rosenfeld,

Thanks for your post. To disable both drag and drop functionality by modifying both the “DragWidth” and “DragHeight” values in the Windows Registry (Regedit), follow these steps:

Important Note: Editing the Windows Registry can have significant consequences if done incorrectly. It’s crucial to create a backup of your registry or set a system restore point before proceeding.

Here are the steps to disable drag and drop using Regedit for both DragWidth and DragHeight:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and press Enter. This will open the Windows Registry Editor.
3. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
4. On the right side, look for the value named DragWidth. If it doesn’t exist, you may need to create it. To create it, right-click on an empty space in the right pane, choose New > String Value, and name it DragWidth.
5. Double-click on the DragWidth value to edit it.
6. In the “Edit String” dialog box, change the value data to 5000. This value effectively disables drag and drop for width.
7. Click OK to save the changes.
8. Now, create another new String Value by right-clicking on an empty space in the right pane, choose New > String Value, and name it DragHeight.
9. Double-click on the DragHeight value to edit it.
10. In the “Edit String” dialog box, change the value data to 5000. This value effectively disables drag and drop for height.
11. Click OK to save the changes.
12. Close the Registry Editor.
13. You may need to restart your computer or log out and back in for the changes to take effect.

By setting both “DragWidth” and “DragHeight” values to 5000, you will effectively disable both width and height drag and drop operations in Windows.

Reference: How To Disable Drag and Drop on Windows 11 - Origami IT Lab - Blog

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

---

If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.