Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

I've been having this problem since I started using Resolve:
The manuals and help files tell me that I can drag and drop media from Desktop/Explorer to the Media Pool, but for some reason the mouse cursor just turns into a stop sign and refuses to import the files. I've tried this on multiple formats, but nothing seems to work.

At the moment I'm using Davinci Resolve 16 on a Windows 10 Professional.

[Peter Chamberlain]

What is the file format?

What is the file format?

Anything. WAV, AIFF, MP4, MOV etc. I can import using the Media Storage in the Media, but draggin from Explorer is not working at all.

Ok, I discovered something.

Apparently in Win10 Pro, if you are running a program as Administrator, you can't drag and drop from programs that are not run as Administrator. These ones include Explorer, so I can't drag and drop from them to Resolve, because I'm running Resolve as an Admin.

I did a test and ran Foobar as an Administrator and was able to drag and drop from there to Resolve without a problem.

Having the same problem. Even when running as an administrator. Any file type. I just get a grey circle with a line through it. So annoying

Why would one want to run Resolve as an administrator? There's nothing in the app that requires it as far as I know.

I had a similar issue (unable to drag & drop media or effects), but without the red "stop" icon; stuff just refused to be dragged anywhere.
Turns out my issue was with a Windows 10 update, specifically a bug with the windows explorer function.
Killing windows explorer via task manager and starting a fresh instance of it worked for me; I was able to drag & drop stuff in Davinci again.
Here's a link on how to reset windows explorer: https://howtoremove.guide/windows-10-dr ... t-working/
Hope this helps!

Same problem here. Anyone found a solution?

My solution was switching to MacOS.

fixed it: the resolve.exe was "running as administrator". not sure why that happened, but removing it works.

I've always run Resolve as Administrator and never had problems with drag and drop.

Today I seemingly ran into the same issue. Drove me nuts for a little while, had me restart the computer, and so on. In the end it was probably just this: I had hooked up my phone to the PC and it showed in the Windows Explorer. I then tried to drag and drop from there! This didn’t work (maybe it isn’t supposed to!?), BUT I could drag the same file from my hard disk. So the »solution« is to first get every file I want to use in a given project copied onto the hard disk. (Also, that frees up my phone again.)

Hope that helps at least some of you!

first get every file I want to use copied to the hard disk.

That's SOP in this industry. Importing media into Resolve doesn't actually do anything to the media, it just creates a link within Resolve to that media's location.

So yes, as a first step copy the media to an internal Media drive.

> That's SOP in this industry.

You are more advanced than I am; I am self-taught and started just recently.
So thanks for emphazising the importance of this—apparently simple—step!

> Importing media into Resolve doesn't actually do anything to the media, it just creates a link within Resolve to that media's location.

This knowledge makes it easier to understand why DR will evidently not accept a cell phone as a source. Thanks for clearing this up!

This may help:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9i3x06004w0jp ... d.pdf?dl=0

I have also noticed that drag and dropping media files no longer works on any page, I’m using 17.4 Studio on Windows 11 pc.

I have tried all that has been suggested but nothing helped. I did notice that if you select Import Media and then select all the files you want and just click on Open while the files are still selected they will be placed in the media pool, you just cannot drag them there.

This works but I really like the drag and drop option.


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Still works in 17.4.4 on a Mac.

if you open files explorer in windows you can drag and drop files that you select to the media pool on the cut and edit page while in Resolve. I have had no luck with the option in Resolve to import media doing the same.


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To clarify:
you say you can't drag a file from Media Storage window (not the list on the left) down to the Media Pool?

What I have been saying is that on my Windows 11 pc running Studio 17.4 if I select Import Media on the cut or edit page and the window appears to select my files I cannot drag from that window to the media pool(an x icon appears prohibiting me). If instead of dragging from that window I opt to open the selected files instead of dragging them(by clicking on Open in that window) they will go into media pool. And, if I’m on the edit or cut page and I open Windows explorer (not use Import Media) I can drag and drop files from the Explorer window to the Media pool.


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That's normal behaviour, not only in DR.

What I have been saying is that on my Windows 11 pc running Studio 17.4 if I select Import Media on the cut or edit page and the window appears to select my files I cannot drag from that window to the media pool(an x icon appears prohibiting me). If instead of dragging from that window I opt to open the selected files instead of dragging them(by clicking on Open in that window) they will go into media pool. And, if I’m on the edit or cut page and I open Windows explorer (not use Import Media) I can drag and drop files from the Explorer window to the Media pool.


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did you resolve your issue ... i have a similar one.

It has never occurred to me to drag files from a File Open dialog. I would drag them from an Explorer window, I suppose.

after upgrading the davinci and updating the windows
I cant drag and drop.
I have tried restarting the explorer nothing happened.!

error resolved after fresh windows reinstall

i should have used DISM and sfcscan /now > hindsight

Necro-ing this post because I had this issue despite never running DR in administrator mode.

The solution for me was: enable administrator mode, run DR, close DR, disable administrator mode, run DR

I can now drag and drop files again.

Necro-ing this post because I had this issue despite never running DR in administrator mode. The solution for me was: enable administrator mode, run DR, close DR, disable administrator mode, run DR. I can now drag and drop files again.

Unpopular opinion: we tell our students don't do that. Instead of dragging & dropping media into the media page, I think it's a better idea to navigate to the source drive, make sure it's on a local drive accessible to Resolve (through the User Prefs -> System -> Media Storage -> Media Storage Locations list), and just select the file that way and drop it into the Edit bin on the Media Page.

I've never found dragging and dropping from the OS level (assuming that's what you're doing) to be a good method for importing. The whole point is to try to have as rock-solid a workflow as possible, where nothing ever gets unlinked, lost, or disconnected.

I'm having the exact same issue in DVR 19.1.4 and for some reason it has started recently, because I clearly remember drag-n-dropping files on to the timeline from the windows explorer (folders). I have no idea what happened. I know that Win11 updated a few days ago and one could say - yes, it's the OS updates to blame, but Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Word, Excel, Powerpoint - all have the drag and drop working perfectly. Can anyone advise on that? I tried setting it Run as Admin in the Properties > Compatibility and turning this option off. Tried to run DVR as administrator via the right mouse button command. I also checked the permissions - all of them are on for Resolve and the files. This bug drives me crazy...

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Update. Managed to fix this one.
If you have the same issue (for an unknown reason to DVR only) do the following:

Win + R, type regedit, press Enter. Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Find EnableLUA and set it to 0 (then restart).