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Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 6:41 am
by Mikael Palsio
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.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:10 pm
by Peter Chamberlain
What is the file format?
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:21 pm
by Mikael Palsio
Peter Chamberlain wrote: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.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Jun 05, 2019 1:41 pm
by Mikael Palsio
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.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Tue Mar 10, 2020 7:30 pm
by Jaw327
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
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Tue Mar 10, 2020 8:12 pm
by roger.magnusson
Why would one want to run Resolve as an administrator? There's nothing in the app that requires it as far as I know.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:37 pm
by cuddlestorm
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!
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Tue Feb 23, 2021 3:25 pm
by Leandro Martin
Same problem here. Anyone found a solution?
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:21 am
by Uli Plank
My solution was switching to MacOS.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:32 am
by Leandro Martin
fixed it: the resolve.exe was "running as administrator". not sure why that happened, but removing it works.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:12 pm
by Charles Bennett
I've always run Resolve as Administrator and never had problems with drag and drop.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Fri Feb 18, 2022 2:26 pm
by JoramboMoves-YouTube
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!
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Fri Feb 18, 2022 2:34 pm
by Jim Simon
JoramboMoves-YouTube wrote: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.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Fri Feb 18, 2022 3:38 pm
by JoramboMoves-YouTube
> 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!
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Sat Feb 19, 2022 1:03 am
by Uli Plank
Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Tue Mar 01, 2022 10:56 pm
by Lee Reichel
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.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Mar 02, 2022 12:38 am
by Uli Plank
Still works in 17.4.4 on a Mac.
Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Fri Mar 04, 2022 1:37 am
by Lee Reichel
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.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Fri Mar 04, 2022 2:02 am
by Uli Plank
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?
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Fri Mar 04, 2022 1:59 pm
by Lee Reichel
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.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Fri Mar 04, 2022 2:31 pm
by Uli Plank
That's normal behaviour, not only in DR.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Sat May 27, 2023 3:46 pm
by rifaterdemsahin
Lee Reichel wrote: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.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
did you resolve your issue ... i have a similar one.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Sat May 27, 2023 8:05 pm
by Steve Alexander
It has never occurred to me to drag files from a File Open dialog. I would drag them from an Explorer window, I suppose.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Sat May 27, 2023 10:33 pm
by rifaterdemsahin
after upgrading the davinci and updating the windows
I cant drag and drop.
I have tried restarting the explorer nothing happened.!
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Fri Jun 09, 2023 8:58 am
by rifaterdemsahin
error resolved after fresh windows reinstall
i should have used DISM and sfcscan /now > hindsight
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Jul 24, 2024 9:27 pm
by moddex
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.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Thu Jul 25, 2024 7:24 am
by Marc Wielage
moddex wrote: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.
Re: Drag and Dropping Media Doesn't Work

Posted:
Wed Apr 30, 2025 10:56 am
by AndrewTheGreat
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...
--------------------
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).