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IC3MAN
Participating Frequently
Jul 28, 2026 10:54 AM UTC
Question

Text drag-and-drop not working

I'm experiencing what appears to be a bug in InDesign for Windows (InDesign 21.4.1).

After updating to InDesign 21.x, I can no longer drag selected text to another position.

Here's what I've confirmed:

  • Object frames can be dragged normally.

  • Only text drag-and-drop is affected.

  • This happens in multiple documents, including newly created ones.

  • Resetting Preferences did not fix the issue.

  • The most interesting part is that, on Master Pages, drag-and-drop works on the right-hand page, but does not work on the left-hand page.

  • Another Japanese user reported exactly the same issue on the Adobe Community forum several months ago, and the discussion remains unresolved.

Is this a known bug? Can anyone reproduce this issue on Windows?

The issue started after updating to InDesign 21.x. After downgrading to InDesign 19.x, text drag-and-drop works normally again.

I also contacted Adobe Support by phone, but the issue could not be resolved.

 

*Here's the Japanese thread describing the same issue.

 

    5 replies

    leo.r
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Jul 28, 2026 11:21 AM UTC

    Just to make sure: Is this preference enabled in Preferences > Type:

     

     

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    IC3MAN
    IC3MANAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    Jul 28, 2026 11:57 AM UTC

    Yes. I checked both options, and they are enabled.
    I also reset InDesign preferences and tested again, but the problem remained.

    One additional observation:

    This issue occurred in a Japanese academic paper that uses Japanese vertical Text Grid frames for the main body text.

    At this point, I'm not sure whether the problem is specific to Japanese vertical Text Grid frames, long threaded stories, or another document-specific condition, but it may be related.

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    leo.r
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    Jul 28, 2026 10:49 PM UTC

    From what I see, it does appear to be specific to the Japanese version of InDesign. I don’t believe this issue has been reported before.

    Therefore, you may want to submit this bug here:
    https://indesign.uservoice.com/forums/601180-adobe-indesign-bugs

    Hopefully, Adobe will notice this thread here, too.

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