Have you ever accidentally lost a email or a folder because while you were dragging and dropping you accidentally released the mouse button in the wrong place? Here’s a quick change in a Windows setting that will prevent this mistake.
The trick is to enable ClickLock which enables you to drag and drop without holding down the mouse button.
WARNING: This change affects drag-and-drop (and highlighting) everywhere in your Windows computer (and not just Outlook). It takes a little getting used to so you may want to consider Other Options listed at the end of this post.
How to enable ClickLock for your mouse:
- Click Start > Control Panel
- In the Control Panel, double-click on “Mouse“
- Under the Button tab, you will see a “ClickLock” group, tick the checkbox for “Turn on ClickLock“
- Click OK
How to drag and drop once ClickLock is enabled:
- Click on a Email/folder
- Drag the Email/Folder to where you want to move it (you do not have to hold the mouse click)
- To release the Email/Folder, click on the folder to which you want to move it
Other Options
If you’re still dragging and dropping emails when filing in Outlook, then this tip should help you to have less lost emails.
However it does affect how drag-and-drop and highlighting works in all of Windows. I am so used to the default way these things work that I preferred not to use this tip myself.
… plus I hardly use drag-and-drop inside Outlook. I do most of my email filing using a Outlook addin like QuickFile. This lets me file the majority of Outlook emails at the click of one button. If you’re not a QuickFile user, download a fully functional trial for yourself.
Hi.
Whenever I want to perform any drag and drop action I always try right-click dragging as then you get (1) cancel option (2) the option to copy or move, rather than letting Windows decide what you’re doing. Particularly important if you want to copy an item between folders on the same drive rather than move it as is the want of Windows.
Another tip that doesn’t involve you changing the way drag and drop works is to drag with the right mouse button instead of the left button. Then when you let go of the button at the destination folder, you will get a menu to Move, Copy or Cancel.
I think this is as quick, if not quicker, than using clicklock.
Plus it works in Outlook and Windows Explorer among other programs.