Drag and Drop not working

[gregeeh]

Hi all,

VMware Workstation 17.6.1, Windows 11.

With a W10 or W11 guest I cannot drag and drop from host to guest, however the reverse works. As does using Cut and Paste commands in both directions.

VM Tools is up to date as well.

Any ideas why I cannot drag and drop from host to guest?

TIA

[RajeevVCP4]

Try this

Open your VMware Workstation.
Select your Virtual Machine.
Click Edit Virtual Machine settings.
Click Option Tab and Select Guest Isolation.
Select "Enable drag and drop" and "Enable Copy and Paste" check mark.
Click Ok to apply the settings.

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Regard
Rajeev
VCIX-DCV, VCF Sr. Consultant
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[gregeeh]

Thanks for reply, but already enabled.

[RaSystemlord]

... since no reply ... Drag and Drop normally works, sometimes doesn't. It also can work between Desktops but not into another folder ... it depends.

Usually, after a reboot of VM computer, it works normally again. No idea, why this behavior.

You can of course use other methods: 
a) VMware sharing. It works, but even that requires a shutdown.
b) Normal operating system file sharing. You can configure that on a fly. If you have samba-stuff installed, it works from Linux VM just as well. Also, if you use NAT it is NOT limited to your Host. You can get into any computer in your host-computer-network for file sharing - like into a NAT device working as a fileserver in the Host network.

Depending on the use case, one of those 3 methods is the most convenient one.

[gregeeh]

Thanks, will try your suggestions.  Seems Drag and Drop is a bit of hit and miss.

[protons101]

Same thing happens to me, guest to host drag and drop works, but host to guest drag and drop doesn't work at all. My guest virtual machine is a linux machine and host is windows 10.
I am using Vmware workstation pro version 17.6.3
Can somebody help?

[RaSystemlord]

It sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. After a guest reboot, it usually works.

However, cut & paste, is more reliable and is not a bad way either.

For the actual functionality, you can also use the VMware Share -functionality. 

You can also always use the operating system file sharing functionality (Samba for Windows compatibility). That works always, if configured correctly. You may or may not want to know, that from a Guest, you can use this OS functionality to any computer in Host networking. Like a NAS device in the Host network, from Kubuntu Guest. I mean, even when you have a NAT networking Guest.

[protons101]

When you saying VMware share functionality, you mean shared folders?
And anyway, I don't want to use that or smb sharing, since drag and drop is much faster mechanism, and I prefer comfortability than the solutions you suggest.
cut and paste works, which is a workaround for now, but I hope that broadcom will fix this issue. (Do I need to send them an email or only writing here?)

[saman mohamadi]

Hi.

Find the file that starts with "VMWSU" Example "VMWSU_V1_0.DLL" from "C:\Windows\System32"
Right-click on the file and after "Properties", tab "Security", Edit, Add "Every one", and then Give "Full Control". And then try again.

[gregeeh]

Unfortunately there is no such file:

[saman mohamadi]

First download VMware-tools-10.2.5-8068406-x86_64.exe from this link: https://packages.vmware.com/tools/releases/10.2.5/windows/x64/ and install it in the Windows created in the virtual machine. If it doesn't work, search for "VMWSU" from "C:\Windows\System32" in the Windows created in the virtual machine.... Right-click on the file and after "Properties", tab "Security", Edit, Add "Every one", and then Give "Full Control". And then try again.

[protons101]

Hi mate, you wrote that you are using vmware workstation 17.6.1, but didn't wrote the vmware tools version you are using (if you installed it of course, because without it, nothing will work)
anyway, I suggest you to install the latest vmware tools available from here in the guest machine: https://packages.vmware.com/tools/releases/latest/windows/x64/
, since the chances the bugs are fixed there

[gregeeh]

Thanks for the reply, however same issue with new vmware tools.

[protons101]

what version of vmware tools are you using? also please paste the vmware.log file content after you are doing the action of draging and droping a file from host to guest (the log file is in the same directory of where the virtual machine is stored)

[gregeeh]

Version VMware-tools-12.5.1-24649672-x64

Uploaded Log.  Tried draging and dropping from guest to host and host to guest.  As stated guest to hosts works but not the reverse.

Attachment(s)

vmware.log   218 KB 1 version

[Jame Nathan]

I have the same problem in VMware Workstation 17 Pro version - 17.6.1 and VMware-tools-13.0.0. I have enabled "Enable drag and drop" and "Enable Copy and Paste" in Guest Isolation but still not working.

[RaSystemlord]

I'm not familiar with newer-version-specific-problems, but have you tried copy/paste instead of drag? Have you tried from Desktop to Desktop? If you try from or to network drive, it probably wouldn't work.

Other than that, it has always been a bit flaky, but up to version 17.5.2 that is what I always use - except when working with network drives that can be mounted like normally in Linux/Windows (if you use NAT).

[Marco Ricci]

Same problem here.

Windows 10 Host

Ubuntu 24.04 Guest

I can:

copy files from the host to the guest but not drag & drop,

can't:

drag and drop files from guest to host but copy files. 

As for folders, can neither copy and drag & drop between the two.

[Technogeezer]

By default, Ubuntu 24.04 uses Wayland as the graphics display protocol. Broadcom/VMware documents that drag/drop only works with X11 sessions.

Given that

• most of the major Linux distributions are now using Wayland as default (and some, like Fedora, don't even install the xorg server by default any more)
• GNOME is going to remove X11 support in a future release,  
• xorg is pretty much in maintenance mode - freedesktop.org (the home of xorg/X11) is focusing resources on Wayland
• And more importantly in my mind, X11 reportedly has underlying architectural issues that make it challenging to secure it. Reports I've read indicate that X11 was designed (remember the X Window System dates back the mid 1980's) under the assumption that the environment is trusted -- which is not a given in today's computing environment. 

I'd be hesitant to recommend dropping back to using X11 in the guest at this point in time. It's unclear if or when Broadcom is going to address upgrading drag/drop for Wayland. Until then, my recommendation would be to use alternate methods of host/guest file transfers, including copy/paste or shared folders.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[Ian Forbes]

It is likely we will have to change the drag and drop workflow for Wayland guests. This would likely mean popping up a window in the guest that allows the drag to continue in the guest after the drop occurs on the host. Essentially 2 DnD operations will be required, one from the host window to WS, then another from the vmtoolsd popup to your guest app. Wayland makes it difficult to do this transparently to the user.

[RaSystemlord]

Thanks Technogeezer for the background information!

As for folders - ZIP first and then copy has always been the best bet.

[Marco Ricci]

Thank you for the update Technogeezer.