The drag-and-drop feature not working in Microsoft Outlook is an issue that has been present since 2016 in both the Mac and Windows versions of the software. Recently, many users have reported this issue, particularly in relation to the new version of Outlook announced in 2023–24.
None of the solutions below have been confirmed by all users. We have compiled a list of solutions recommended by our community, and we hope that one of them solves your problem.
1 Press the ESC key several times
Make sure the Outlook window is active and press ESC several times.
2 Changing the view type
Try changing the view type to Folders and dragging and dropping your items again. Outlook behaves slightly different in different view types.
3 Reset Outlook folders
Certain Outlook folders may become corrupted (for example, they may lack a valid type identifier), which can cause problems with drag and drop. You can use a command-line switch to restore missing folders to their default delivery location and recreate their properties.
1) First close Outlook
2) Then open the RUN windows by pressing the Windows button and typing run
3) Then copy and pates the following command in to the RUN window:
Outlook.exe /resetfolders4) Then click on OK
4 Drag-and-drop feature to copy or move items of the same type
The drag-and-drop feature only works when you copy or move items between folders of the same type. Therefore, for example, you cannot copy calendar items to an email folder.
If you have an account with your organization and your Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Exchange account is managed by your IT department, it is highly recommended that you contact your IT team first, as some server or cloud settings could affect this feature.
We hope that one of the above solutions has solved your problem. Please feel free to comment here if you have found a new solution, or if you are still experiencing this issue.