I’m new to Linux and Fedora, coming from macOS. I’ve been setting things up to get comfortable with Linux, I’ve been able to customize a few things, extensions and all, and feel quite grateful for all the work that has been to offer an open source alternative!
I’m struggling here and there with a few things though. I’m running my first command lines with Fedora (following tutorials), trying to get fractional scaling right (well, font scaling, because fractional scaling hasn’t proved efficient with blurring)… and now, drag and drop.
Simply put: I can’t manage to drag and drop a file to an app (from any folder, be it Downloads or Documents): Firefox, Thunderbird, WhatsApp or whatever app I have, be it installed in Flatpak or RPM, or yet launched through an AppImage (e.g. Notion). Sorry to bother if it’s a noob or 101 question! (I’ll be happy to have an easy workaround if it is so!)
I’ve checked a few threads here and there on Reddit, Fedora forums, and tried some of the mentioned solutions, but I’m back to square one. (Not to mention that the posts are usually aimed at Flatpak apps, while I have issues with any type of apps.)
I’ve installedFlatseal, gave X11 and Wayland windows management to all apps + access to my user and /home files (I also tried toggling access to System files). I closed my apps, did a restart, but it didn’t work.
I uninstalled Flatseal and reinstalled it via RPM. Didn’t change anything either. (Note: It seems it has worked for 1 file on Notion, but then stopped working. But I can’t even remember if that was a dream or it really happened. )
I’ve seen a CLI to modify permissions , but can’t find it again. And as far as I remember, it was aimed at Flatpak apps only.
When I use the file importer within the app (e.g. file attachment function in Thunderbird, WhatsApp or else), it works . But (and this is a big but for me), when I navigate through my files, I can’t use keyboard shortcuts to go back and forth across folders for some reason, and it’s not as intuitive for me, so it feels quite cumbersome.
Is there anything else I can try or do to be able to drag and drop files without using the file importer?
Gnome does not have a “Desktop” per say. If you are trying to place an app on it to drag or move onto another that’s not possible without some workarounds.
The desktop paradigm on Gnome is different. Here is an example of “drag and drop” on Gnome 46 without Plugins.
In this example i have both applications on the same workspace. The Blender Folder is going to my Google drive and the proper prompt comes up from the browser.
Gnome’s paradigm is different in that Gnome expects you to have Infinite Workspaces for your apps, so having them full screen or maximized is expected behavior.
If this is not pertinent to your question please reply, so I can futher help.
Future Edit:
Here are 2 videos on how the Gnome Desktop Environment works, and what you should expect.
Thank you for your kind answer!
That’s already good, drag and drop does work with Google Drive on Firefox! I can reproduce your steps.
It doesn’t work though with WhatsApp, Thunderbird and other apps I use daily.
If I understand what you say correctly, it is not meant to work by default, but there are plugins (or maybe CLI) that can make it work. Is that correct?
Would changing from GNOME to another system change anything? Moving to X11, KDE or whatever else (I’m not familiar with)?
Hi @hamrheadcorvette!
I eventually figured out what created the bug.
When I want to drag and drop a file to another window, I figured out I need to have both windows side by side, so I can see the little + by the cursor to add the file to the other app. If I use the app or the window switcher, it doesn’t work.
Both windows also need to be on the same workspace apparently.
As for Thunderbird, I have allowed File access permissions, and it works.
P.S.: All of this works thanks to Flatseal, on which I have activated X11 and Wayland window management for all apps.
So, Snapping to the window Vertically is pretty cool, but honestly not practicle in Gnome because of how you should be using Gnome.
It allows for dragging and Dropping, but that’s not a practicle use case for a Desktop Shell with No Desktop ! I mostly only use it when I have a PATH I don’t want to type. I drag the directory or the file itself into the terminal.
For something like a Dropbox or a Google Drive, I can see some practicallity to this use case, but they also have a dialogue box to use for that. So I don’t ever do this on Gnome.
)
Is there anything else I can try or do to be able to drag and drop files without using the file importer?
