Cannot drag and drop pages between documents

[MWV desk jockey]

Today was the big day - I finally updated Acrobat Pro from my 2017 perpetual license to the current subscription model.  Unfortunately, the one function I use most often doesn't appear to work.

For some reason, Acrobat will not allow me to drag and drop pages from one open pdf to another.  This function is literally 90% of what I use Acrobat for.  I've done a community search and tried the fixes related to protected mode but they haven't worked.  Has anyone found a reliable fix for this issue?

[gary_sc]

Hi, @MWV desk jockey 

That "should" work just fine. Have you tried it with only the one PDF, or have you tried it with others? Is there a chance the PDF that you're not able to insert into might be locked or something? 

Have you tried to "INSERT" the page into the document other than dragging it into the receiving PDF?

Can you please elaborate on the exact procedure you're using?

Lastly, for the record, what is your OS, and what release?

Thanks

[MWV desk jockey]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the quick follow up!  I'm running Windows 11, which is up to date according to system update info.  Acrobat Pro was just downloaded and installed from the Adobe website today, so I assume it's the most current version.

I have tried opening multiple pdf files to see if the issue is just with files created in this new version of Acrobat, but the problem exists with all pdfs I've tried.  Even the ones I created yesterday in Acrobat 2017 which have pages that were dragged/dropped into a single file.

I can insert from file, but there are many times I want to grab only specific pages from one document and drag them into another.  The process of extracting the pages I want from one document then inserting that file and reorganizing in the new document is a giant leap backward in efficiency/productivity.

Thank you!

[gary_sc]

OK, I just tried this, and it worked as well as anyone could expect. I'm working on a Mac with the most recent OS and most recent Acrobat Pro.

I did it two different ways, one way was with the Pages thumbnails showing in the left Panel and also with Orgnanize Pages. Either way, I need to be seeing page thumbnails. I did it both with the two documents as tabs and as the two documents on two different windows. Either way, I had to be viewing the pages as page thumbnails.

It was as simple as grabbing the page thumbnail with my mouse and moving/dragging it to the new location in the other document, place it between the two pages I wanted to place it and letting go. When I had the two documents as tabs, I had to move the page up to the tab of the receiving document until that document came into view (in the Organize Pages view) and placing the single page where I wanted it.

So, please explain what you are doing any differently (if at all) and it's not working for you.

Something is preventing this for you and I'm not all that sure what it might be right now. But suffice it to say, this ability has NOT be removed in Acrobat. We just need to figure out what might be causing that.

[MWV desk jockey]

Hi Gary -

I'm doing exactly as you're doing, two documents open in tabs, viewing the pages as thumbnails, dragging the page I want to move up to the tab of the document I want to move it into.  Same process I've used in Acrobat 2017 for four years now.  When I do it now, I get a litle red circle with a slash (think Ghostbusters logo minus the ghost) letting me know I can't do that.

[wendy_3699]

Working with Acrobat is a nightmare!  It is getting more & more difficult dragging an dropping pages btw file. 

[Bernd Alheit]

Try this:

In the preferences of Acrobat disable the protection mode.

[gary_sc]

Hi @Bernd Alheit 

Can you please save people time and provide which tab that might be in? A screenshot would also be helpful.

[MWV desk jockey]

Tried that, since it was recommended in other threads.  Hasn't helped.  Here's a screenshot of my settings:

[gary_sc]

OK, let me do some investigation. I'll see what I can find.

I'm sorry for all these issues.

[MWV desk jockey]

Thanks, Gary, I appreciate your help. 

And of course, there's a guy sending my private messages using the email address "adobe.service@outlook.com" trying to sell me a perpetual license for Acrobat Pro 2020...  Just wanted everyone to be aware of the scammers, even on the Adobe community forums.

[gary_sc]

My pleasure and thanks for (A) recognizing that that's a scam and (B) passing the info along to others.

[Dakota5EA6]

Has anyone looked into this since January? Our office is still struggling with this.

[try67]

Try to tick off "Enable Enhanced Security".

[MWV desk jockey]

Tried that - doesn't make any difference.

[Amal.]

Hi @MWV desk jockey 

Hope you are doing well and am sorry for the trouble.

I have tried to reproduce the issue on my end using Adobe Acrobat DC 22.3.20282 on Win 11 and its working fine.

Make sure you have the recent version 22.3.20282  installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once. You may also download the patch manually from the link https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotesDC/index.html

Also, try to repair the installation from the help menu (Win Only) and see if that works.

Please try to reset the Acrobat preferences as described here https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-defau...

You may also try to create a new test user profile with full admin rights in Win or enable the root account in MAC and try using the application there and check.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards

Amal

[MWV desk jockey]

Amal,

I have completed the steps in your reply above with no success.  I can drag and drop from Acrobat to the desktop to extract the page as a new pdf.  If I open pdfs in separate windows, I can drag and drop pages between them.  But I still cannont drag and drop pages between pdfs in different tabs within the same acrobat window.  I suppose I'll need to use the workaround of opening multiple windows for the time being.  Thanks for your help, and if you do find a solution please update this thread in the future.

[Amal.]

Hi @MWV desk jockey 

Would you mind sharing a small video recording of the steps you are doing and the issue you are experiencing?

Also, you may try to remove the application using the Acrobat cleaner tool https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/cleaner.html , reboot the computer once, and reinstall the application using the direct link
https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/acrobat-dc-downloads.html and see if that works. 

Regards

Amal

[kjboyd77@gmail.com]

Just to back up MWV desk jockey, just this past weekend I experienced the same exact issue. I have always been able to have two pdf tabs open - in the same window - and been able to drag and drop pages between them. I would put both documents in thumbnail view via 'Organize Pages'. Then by selecting one or multiple page thumbnails, I could simply drag and hover over the tab of the second document and then drop them into the Organize Pages space of that document. Now not only can I not do that, but even in a single document, it won't let me drag a selection around thumbnail(s). 

Thanks. Kevin

[kjboyd77@gmail.com]

Additional info - I use my Adobe license in two locations, on my local desktop and on a cloud server for work. I just found that the issue is only happening when I'm using Acrobat on our cloud server. I do not have the same issue when working on my local desktop. I am logged into the same account for both, and both are version 2023.001.20143. Not sure why it works in one place but not the other?  Unless somehow some setting was changed on one but not the other.

Thanks. Kevin

[Paul31759962xs35]

Hi MWV desk jockey,

have you ever fixed your specific issue? I lost the ability to drag and drop files yesterday on acrobat pro running on windows 10 pro. I have tried everything in this thread to restore this ability with no luck. I am the only one affect in our office which makes this quite unusual.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Amal.]

Hi there

What is the version of the Acrobat DC you are using? To check the version go to Help > About Acrobat and make sure you have the recent version 23.06.20380 installed. Go to Help > Check for updates and reboot the computer once.

Also try to repair the installation from the help menu (Win Only) and see if that works.

Please try to reset the Acrobat preferences as described here https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat-discussions/how-to-reset-acrobat-preference-settings-to-defau...
 
You may also try to create a new test user profile with full admin rights in Win and try using the application there and check.

~Amal

[Dacashmachine]

TLDR Make sure the page you are dragging is at a zoom of fit height to page.  it will let you drag it over.

OK im not sure if you are still having this issue, but i ran across it today and was able to fix the issue.  So i noticed when i was trying to drag it there was a little box highlighting the visible area on the thumbnail.  So when i clicked and draged on thumbnail all it did was move the little box around showing what area was previewing and didnt let me drag the thumb.  SO i was like maybe the view needs to be fit to page so it doesnt do that little thing where it added a box on the thumbnail.  Sure enough changing the zoom to Fit Height on the page you are trying to drag over, fixes the issue.

[Jill294118879j2d]

Unfortunately this doesn't fix the issue for me.  I had been able to drag/drop from one open pdf to another until this latest release (23.003.20201.0). I've tried changing to Fit Height and still unable to drag/drop. I rely heavily on this function so really looking for a fix asap!

Thanks for any help -

[Robert259051711lg3]

Jill, I disabled "new acrobat experience" and it changed the screen view of the program and I am now able to move between open files. I hope I explained this weel enough as I was having the same problem you were.