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dzgnr89
dzgnr89
Inspiring
June 19, 2017
Answered

Illustrator not allowing drag and drop

  • June 19, 2017
  • 4 replies
  • 37255 views

Illustrator is not allowing me to drag and drop objects within a file. It is also not opening pdfs or .ai file through drag and drop. I get a black circular ring with a line in it, a similar shape that is shown when we try to draw in a locked layer. I restarted then ran illustrator as administrator , but failed. I tried again using compatibility modes for windows 8 and windows 7 but failed again. I am using CC 2017 version on windows 10-64 bit.

Is resetting the illustrator preferences the only workaround? Re-arranging the panesl and tools is cumbersome after resets of Indesign and illustrator.

I haven't reset them yet.

      Correct answer marcyj55750277

      I had the same issue, and resetting preferences and such did nothing. I contacted Support, and they found I needed to update a graphics driver. The tech remotely installed the update, and now it works fine. 

      4 replies

      M
      marcyj55750277Correct answer
      Participant
      June 18, 2021

      I had the same issue, and resetting preferences and such did nothing. I contacted Support, and they found I needed to update a graphics driver. The tech remotely installed the update, and now it works fine. 

      M
      marcyj55750277
      Participant
      July 7, 2021

      Update -- same issue a few weeks later, but the drivers were current. I contacted Adobe again and they fixed it remotely by going to Edit -- Preferences -- Performance and unchecking "GPU Performance." 

        A
        andresr97877581
        Participant
        July 6, 2020

        if you run illustrator as admin it wont work, you have to run it normally 

         

          nakittina
          nakittina
          Participant
          November 8, 2019

          I had the same issue and closed Illustrator then updated it to the latest version. I had mine set to auto-update so I turned that off and had it reinstall the latest version which fixed the issue. 

           

          I also suspect that if you try to drag the image into a layer that is hidden then it will force the image to open in a separate window.

            D
            Dsner5000
            Participant
            May 21, 2022
            quote

            I had the same issue and closed Illustrator then updated it to the latest version. I had mine set to auto-update so I turned that off and had it reinstall the latest version which fixed the issue. 

             

            I also suspect that if you try to drag the image into a layer that is hidden then it will force the image to open in a separate window.


            By @nakittina

            OMGosh! This was my issue. Thank you! 

            Monika Gause
            Community Expert
            Monika GauseCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            June 19, 2017

            What exactly are you trying to "drag and drop"?

            dzgnr89
            dzgnr89Author
            Inspiring
            June 19, 2017

            Images in png format or jpeg format. Pdf files from a folder in my D drive. I dragged and dropped from various locations just in case a folder had some permissions messed up but it isn't like that. Illustrator doesn't allow drag and drop regardless of that.

            Monika Gause
            Community Expert
            Monika GauseCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            June 19, 2017

            So it doesn't concern objects that are inside the file but rather stuff you want to place into the file from outside?

            Can you instead File > Place them?

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