How to change default File or Folder Drag & Drop behavior in Windows 10

Windows 10 has two default actions when you drag and drop a file or folder into a new destination in File Explorer; Copy or Move, depending on the target. In this post, we will show you how to change default File or Folder Drag and Drop behavior on Windows 10 using a simple registry hack.

Change default File or Folder Drag and Drop behavior

By default, Windows copies anything you Drag and Drop to a directory on a different drive and moves it if you drag and drop it to another folder on the current drive.

To force Windows 10 into changing the behavior to either copy or move, regardless of whether you’re dragging items onto the same or different drives, you will need to edit two registry entries. Follow the guideline outlined below.

Since this is a Registry operation, it is recommended that you back up the registry or create a system restore point as necessary precautionary measures. Once done, you can proceed as follows:

Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
In the Run dialog box, type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
Navigate or jump to the registry hive location below:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*

At the location, right-click the * folder on the left pane.
Then choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name the value DefaultDropEffect.

Now, you’re going to modify that value to either always copy or always move files and folders as the default drop behavior. There are four values you can use that have different effects. While we’re only interested in two of the actions, they are as follows:

Default action (0): Let Windows decide whether to copy or move files and folders when you drag and drop it into place.
Always copy (1): A copy of the file or folder will always be placed in the destination.
Always move (2): The file or folder will move to the destination.
Always create a shortcut (4): A link to the original file or folder will always be placed in the destination.

Now, double-click the newly created DefaultDropEffect value to edit its properties.

In the properties window, enter either a 1 or 2 in the Value data field, depending on whether you always want to copy or move files or folders. For this example, we will use 1 to always copy files or folders.

Click OK to apply changes.

Next, navigate or jump to the registry path below:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects

At the location, on the left pane, right-click the AllFilesystemObjects folder.
Then choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name the new DWORD DefaultDropEffect.
Now, double-click the newly created DefaultDropEffect value to edit its properties.
In the properties window, input 1 in the Value data field.
Click OK to save changes.