In Word and PowerPoint, you can move text from one location to another using the drag-and-drop method. However, if it creates problems frequently when using this feature using a touchpad, you can disable this feature. This guide explains how you can disable the text drag and drop feature in Word and PowerPoint. For your information, you can do that using in-built Settings, Registry Editor, and Local Group Policy Editor.
We have shown the guide for PowerPoint, however, you can follow the exact steps in Word as well.
How to disable Drag and Drop in Word and PowerPoint
To enable or disable text drag and drop in Word and PowerPoint, follow these steps:
- Open PowerPoint/Word on your computer.
- Click on the Options.
- Switch to the Advanced tab.
- Tick the Allow text to be dragged and dropped checkbox to allow.
- Remove the tick to block.
- Click the OK button.
To learn more about these steps, continue reading.
First, you need to open the Options panel. For that, open Microsoft Word or PowerPoint and click on the Options menu visible in the bottom-left corner.
Then, switch to the Advanced tab. Here you can find an option called Allow text to be dragged and dropped. You need to tick this checkbox to allow and remove the tick to block texts from being dragged.
Finally, click the OK button to save the change.
Allow or block text drag and drop in Word and PowerPoint using Group Policy
To allow or block text drag and drop in Word and PowerPoint using Group Policy, do the following:
- Search for gpedit and click the search result.
- Navigate to Advanced in User Configuration.
- Double-click on the Allow text to be dragged and dropped setting.
- Choose the Enabled option to allow.
- Choose the Disabled option to block.
- Click the OK button to save the change.
Let’s check out these steps in detail to learn more.
To get started, you must open the Local Group Policy Editor on your PC. Although there are many methods, you can use the Taskbar search box to get it done. Therefore, search for gpedit or gpedit.msc and click on the individual search result.
Then, navigate to the following path:
Word:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Word 2016 > Word Options > Advanced
PowerPoint:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 > PowerPoint Options > Advanced
Double-click on the Allow text to be dragged and dropped setting. Then, select the Enabled option to allow and the Disabled option to block text from being dragged and dropped.
At last, click the OK button to save the change.
Note: If you want to revert to the original setting, you need to open the same setting in the Local Group Policy Editor and choose the Not Configured option. Alternatively, you can also select the Enabled option as well.
Enable or disable text dragging and dropping in Word and PowerPoint
To enable or disable text dragging and dropping in Word and PowerPoint, follow these steps:
- Press Win+R to open the Run dialog.
- Type regedit and press the OK button.
- Click the Yes button.
- Navigate to office > 16.0 in HKCU.
- Right-click on 0 > New > Key and set the name as powerpoint or word.
- Right-click on powerpoint/word > New > Key and name it as options.
- Right-click on options > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Set the name as draganddrop.
- Set the Value data as 1 to enable.
- Set the Value data as 0 to disable.
- Click the OK button and restart your PC.
Let’s learn more about these steps.
First, press Win+R > type regedit and click the OK button. If the UAC prompt appears, click the Yes button to open the Registry Editor on your computer.
Following that, navigate to this path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0
Right-click on 16.0 > New > Key and name it as word or powerpoint. Then, right-click on that key > New > Key and set the name as options.
Following that, right-click on options > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it draganddrop.
By default, it comes with a Value data of 0. If you want to disable text dragging and dropping, you need to keep that. However, if you want to enable it, double-click on it and set the Value data as 1.
Click the OK button, close all windows, and restart your computer to get the change.
How do I turn on drag and drop in Word?
If you want to turn on text drag and drop in Word, you can follow any of the three guides mentioned above. It is possible to turn on or off the text dragging and dropping inside Word and PowerPoint using the Word/PowerPoint Options panel. For that, open it and tick the Allow text to be dragged and dropped checkbox.
Why can’t I click and drag text in Word?
If you are unable to click, drag, and drop text in Word, you need to check the aforementioned settings. As it is possible to enable or disable text dragging and dropping at times, an incorrect setting could cause the issue. Therefore, you need to set the factory default setting to get the option enabled again.
That’s all! Hope this guide helped.
