Drag downloaded files in Edge

Question

The ability to drag my downloaded files in Edge has recently stopped. The look of the files in the download folder has also be changed (don't know if that's relevant?!) How can this be fixed?

Answer 1

This is a known issue in recent Microsoft Edge versions where some users cannot drag and drop files from the new Downloads menu. The problem is on the Edge side and not caused by local settings, and a fix is being rolled out in newer Edge builds.

To resolve or mitigate:

1. Make sure Microsoft Edge is updated to the latest Stable version, then restart Edge and test dragging from the Downloads menu again.
2. If the issue persists even on the latest version, use these workarounds until the fix reaches the device:
   • Open the system Downloads folder directly (for example, C:\Users\[your name]\Downloads) and drag files from File Explorer instead of from Edge’s Downloads menu.
   • In Edge, go to Settings and more > Settings > Downloads and note the Location path; open that folder in File Explorer to access and drag the downloaded files.

Once the updated Edge version containing the fix is installed, drag-and-drop from the Downloads menu should start working again.

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References:

• Microsoft Edge known issues
• Find where your browser is saving downloads

Answer 2

Hello !

The AI answer is correct : this is a known issue and should be fixed in the future versions of Edge.
In the meantime, you can use a quick workaround to disable this behavior.
Please note that it involves creating a new key in the Registry : this can be overwhelming for beginners, and an accidental deletion/modification can have serious consequences.
Proceed if you're comfortable with that.

Open your Registry Editor by typing "regedit" in Windows' start menu. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge and create a new DWORD key called "ExperimentationAndConfigurationServiceControl". Set the value to 0.
Reboot your PC.

You should be good to go.

Please let me know if you have any other question !

Answer 3

After the registry edit suggested by Aymeric-B, I only needed to restart Edge and did not need a full reboot of the computer.