"I've lost the ability to drag and drop content from PDF files in Acrobat to my InDesign layout. Is there a specific preference or setting in either application that controls this feature?"

Forum|Forum|1 day ago
May 5, 2026
2 replies
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I've lost the ability to drag and drop content from PDF files into InDesign in Acrobat. Is there a specific preference or setting that controls this? I can copy and paste text from Acrobat to InDesign, but that's tedious and cumbersome. Is there a setting that allows me to drag and drop text into InDesign?

Correct answer leo.r

I’ve never tried it before, but after giving it a try, all I know is that I can’t drag-and-drop text from Acrobat to InDesign either. macOS 26.4, latest InDesign and Acrobat. What are your versions?

JR Boulay

Community Expert

Is there a specific preference or setting that controls this?
Is there a setting that allows me to drag and drop text into InDesign?

The answer is no and no.

I’m very surprised you managed to do that.

Are you sure you didn’t just drag and drop an entire PDF file into the INDD document?

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

leo.r

Correct answer

Community Expert

I’ve never tried it before, but after giving it a try, all I know is that I can’t drag-and-drop text from Acrobat to InDesign either. macOS 26.4, latest InDesign and Acrobat. What are your versions?

Fatma TANAuthor

Participant

MacOs 26.4.1., Acrobat 2025, İndesing 2026

leo.r

Community Expert

Out of curiosity, I tried several other PDF apps including browsers and I couldn’t drag and drop text from any of them to InDesign.

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