How To Drag And Drop Files On iPhone In iOS 15

drag and drop files on iPhone

Drag and drop files on iPhone.


Starting with iOS 15 you can drag and drop files across apps on iPhone! All that you have to do is long-press on an image, text or any other file. navigate to the desired app, while still holding your finger glued to the screen. Release the hold when the image thumbnail hovers over the desired location.

How To Drag And Drop Files On iPhone

drag and drop photo on iphone
In iOS 15 you can cross-app drag and drop one or multiple files. This works the same for all apps:

  • Long-press a document until it hovers out of its place. If the quick-actions menu is displayed, continue to hold and start dragging the thumbnail around until you clearly see that the file has been detached.
  • Use a second finger to swipe out of the current app. Open the destination app from the Home Screen, Spotlight Search or App Switcher.
  • When in position, let go of the thumbnail and allow it to drop in the new location.
  • Important: Drag and drop on iPhone always duplicates the file in question. It never moves it from a location to another!

iPhone Drag And Drop Screenshots

Check out the print-screens embedded below and have a better understanding about how to to drag and drop files across apps:

2. How to Drag & Drop text from Safari to Messages

how to drag and drop text to Messages

2. How to Drag & Drop a document from Files to Mail

drag and drop documents on iphone

How To Drag And Drop Multiple Files On iPhone

how to drag and drop multiple photos on iphone
Some apps allow you to drag and drop multiple items at once. For example the Photos app.

How To:

  • Start dragging an image with a single finger.
  • Select additional pictures by tapping them with another finger. This will cause the selected files to group together. They are stacked below the initial dragged item.
  • Next, exit the current app and open the destination app.
  • Finally, allow the grouped items to drop to the desired location.
  • Drag And Drop Not Working On iPhone?

    drag and drop not working on iphone
    At the time, of writing dragging and dropping works only with built-in iOS apps like Messages, Mail, Notes and more. Third-party apps like Gmail, Facbook Messenger or WhatsApp aren’t supporting drag & drop on iPhone yet.
    How to tell if an iOS 15 app supports drag and drop? A green ‘+’ icon is displayed in the top-right corner of the dragged item’s thumbnail when dropping is supported. If the icon is missing it means that the file won’t be accepted by the destination app.
    Tip: Not all compatible apps support all file types. So, you might not be able to drag and drop a zipped file into Messages, for example. If you drop an item in an app that can’t handle drag & drop, nothing happens, the thumbnail disappears in vain.

    Conclusion: iOS 11 first introduced the cross-app drag and drop feature for the iPad. Four years later we finally have it extended to the iPhone. What’s your take on this? Are you welcoming this new addition? Do you plan to use it? Have we left something out? Use the comments section and share your feedback!

    Related: Other iOS 15 new features that you should check out are:
    – How to add Text from Camera and share info even more faster and convenient.
    – How to get EXIT Metadata for images in the Photos app.
    – How to Filter Notifications with Focus!