microsoft / microsoft/PowerToys

Grab And Move suppresses standard drag & drop modifier for shortcut creation

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#47,510 4 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Issue-Bug Needs-Triage Product-Grab And Move
Dominant language
C
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Description

### Microsoft PowerToys version

0.99.1

### Installation method

PowerToys auto-update

### Area(s) with issue?

Grab And Move

### Steps to reproduce

1. Leave the Grab And Move modifier set to the default (Alt).
2. Start dragging a file or folder from File Explorer to the desktop or another File Explorer window.
3. Press Alt while dragging.
4. Instead of the tooltip showing that a link or shortcut will be created, it shows that either copy or move will happen, depending on whether the target is in the same partition or not.
5. When the item is dropped, the copy or move is performed.
6. It is still possible to right drag and drop and select Create shortcuts here from the context menu.
7. Change the Grab And Move modifier to Windows key.
8. Attempting to drag and drop a file with the Alt modifier to create a shortcut now works correctly.

### ✔️ Expected Behavior

When the Grab And Move modifier is set to Alt and Alt is pressed while a drag and drop operation is in progress, Grab And Move should ignore the Alt modifier and allow it to perform its traditional function for drag and drop.

### ❌ Actual Behavior

The Alt drag and drop modifier is suppressed preventing a shortcut from being created with drag and drop.

### Upload Bug Report ZIP-file

_No response_

### Additional Information

Windows 11

### Other Software

Windows File Explorer
xplorer²

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with Grab And Move's modifier handling during File Explorer drag-and-drop operations, using the reproduction steps to trace what happens when Alt is pressed. Done means Alt remains available for the standard shortcut-creation behavior while Grab And Move still works with its configured modifier; verify both Alt and Windows-key configurations against the reported steps.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
desktop, operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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