The taskbar drag and drop feature in Windows 11 is now available to testers.

One of the most contentious changes in Windows 11 is the redesigned taskbar. Many customers have expressed dissatisfaction with the redesigned taskbar, which lacks fairly basic capabilities such as drag & drop. The good news is that Microsoft is listening to user comments and has fixed the majority of the taskbar issues in the Sun Valley 2 update.

As you are certainly aware (and despise), Windows 11 does not allow you to drag and drop files to the taskbar in order to open them in your preferred applications quickly. You also can’t create shortcuts by dragging and dropping programs to the taskbar.

As we reported exclusively last year, the firm has been internally debating support for this functionality for about six months. Microsoft has finally implemented drag and drops capability for the taskbar in Windows 11 Build 22557, allowing users to drag and drop files across app windows.

The Windows 11 taskbar now supports drag and drop

Drag and drop files such as photos or text between program windows are now possible with Windows 11 Build 22557. To begin, choose and hold a file pinned to the desktop or File Explorer, then drag it to one of the open apps in the taskbar by hovering over icons.

This will bring their windows to the foreground, and apps will be able to duplicate the material you dragged. For example, by hovering over the Outlook icon on the taskbar, you can drag an image from the desktop and put it on the Outlook attachment page.

Furthermore, drag and drop support opens up additional possibilities for customization. To build quick shortcuts, drag apps from the Start menu’s All apps list and drop them over the taskbar. Similarly, you may drag and drop files to the desktop using the “Show desktop” function, which shows in the taskbar’s left corner.

Microsoft is now testing the functionality in a preview release from the Dev Channel, which is an early build that allows users to test out new features before they are rolled out to customers worldwide.

Other enhancements to the taskbar

Microsoft is adding support for a new privacy feature that will inform users when a window is shared as part of its efforts to improve the taskbar. This is achievable thanks to a new visual indicator that will appear over the app icon during the Teams meeting to indicate which window is being shared.

The new Taskbar feature is especially beneficial when you have many apps open or multiple monitors.

As you may have observed, Microsoft released a significant February 2022 update for Windows 11 stable releases that included support for a few taskbar features and more. Microsoft will probably include drag and drop support and other modifications in an upcoming cumulative update for Windows 11 version 21H2.

Original Article