Three finger drag on a Mac, and how it fits with other gestures
Three finger drag moves windows without clicking, but it claims three finger swipes. How to turn it on, what it changes, and how to keep both.
Three finger drag lets you move a window or select text by sliding three fingers, no click needed. Many people cannot live without it.
Turning it on
- Open System Settings, Accessibility, Pointer Control.
- Click Trackpad Options.
- Turn on Use trackpad for dragging and choose Three Finger Drag.
What it changes
Three fingers now mean drag. So macOS moves Mission Control and Space switching to four fingers. Anything else that used three finger swipes needs to move too.
Keeping both
ClutterFreeMac notices three finger drag is on and uses four finger swipes for moving along the strip, so a drag is never mistaken for a swipe. If macOS also uses four fingers for Spaces, Settings, Navigation shows how to change one of them.
Questions
Why did my three finger swipe stop working?
Turning on three finger drag moves Mission Control and Space switching to four fingers.
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