Direct Selection Tool Marqueeing in Illustrator 2020?

[phoebeconrey]

I am relatively new to Illustrator but not to adobe (been using Photoshop and After Effects for years) but the direct select tool won't let me move objects, it only lets me marquee or select multiple objects at a time. I could be being completely stupid but if I have to move multiple objects with my arrow keys I think I will scream. 

[Barbara Ash]

The main purpose of the Direct Selection tool is to select part of an object. If you hold down Alt/Option when clicking on an object to select it with Direct Selection, it will temporarily act like the Group Selection tool and it will select the whole object. If the object has a fill color, the default is that the Direct Selection tool will select the whole object if you click on the fill.

[marliton · Accepted solution]

Hi. Maybe this tutorial can help you: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/how-to/methods-for-selecting-artwork.html

[michelew83603738]

You should be able to select and then move objects with the direct select tool, even though the purpose of the tool is to gain access to the individual anchor points. Once you have marqueed the objects, you should be able to click back and drag the objects as a whole. Just make sure you are clicking within one of the selected objects, not off of it and immediately dragging.