Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are fixing an annoying behavior when dragging and dropping files

  • Thread starter ForgottenSeer 85179
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ForgottenSeer 85179

Thread author
For a very long time, web browsers have had a feature that can occasionally be frustrating. Dragging and dropping a file to a browser tab will open the file in the tab. This is fine if it’s intended, but it can be aggravating if you were trying to drop a file into an upload box and then you’re suddenly navigated away from the page. Thankfully, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are solving this problem.


The big issue with this behavior is that there’s no warning of what action will happen. You could be trying to drop something into a box to upload a file to a webpage or simply drop a file accidentally while dragging it across the screen. Either way, the page will navigate to the local file without warning, potentially causing you to lose your progress on a form or data.

Microsoft Edge developer Eric Lawrence detailed a change coming to Edge and Chrome that solves this problem. By default, the browser will no longer open the file in the current tab if you drop it on the page. Instead, it will open the file in a new tab. However, you can still open a file in the current tab if you drop it on the tab itself at the top of the browser.

Users can easily lose work if they drag/drop a file or URL into a tab that does not consume the dropped data (e.g. as a file upload). Rather than navigating the current tab (blowing away whatever was in it), instead open the dropped URL in a new foreground tab.

The change is present in Chromium version 85.0.4163.0. Google has already included this behavior change in the latest Chrome Canary update, and it will be coming to Microsoft’s Chromium-based Edge browser soon. Keep an eye out for the updated functionality in stable updates soon.

Source 1: Twitter | Source 2: Chromium
 
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ForgottenSeer 85179

Thread author
Never experienced this bug.
I get it some times. Just hold a tab and move it outside of other tabs.
It's too easy so I can't wait for the fix.

Firefox has that too but it's not so fast/ smooth so user's don't get the problem easily or maybe never
 

SeriousHoax

Level 47
Well-known
Mar 16, 2019
3,630
Glad that they are fixing it. Same happens sometimes in Firefox but it's site specific for me. On some sites it never happens and on some sites it always happens. Hopefully Chromium doing this will inspire Firefox to fix to do the same.
 
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