Microsoft rarely comes up with an interesting UX experiment for Windows 11 because it fears backlash, but it still moved ahead with a feature called “Drag Tray,” which sounded like a neat idea on paper until it started getting in the way of drag-and-drop.

I’ve mostly run into Drag Tray accidentally, and Microsoft has now decided to remove the feature from Windows 11 based on user feedback. A replacement is being considered, but it won’t be anything like the current Drag Tray experience.

If you don’t recognize “Drag Tray” by name, try dragging a file on the desktop toward the top of the screen, and you’ll see a Share tray that lets you send the file via WhatsApp, Outlook, or other apps.

That thing is called Drag Tray, and it’s being rolled back in an upcoming Windows update until Microsoft comes up with a replacement. But what went wrong with Drag Tray? A lot, if you ask me. I’d call it a poor implementation rather than a terrible idea because it did make sense if it actually made sharing easier when you intended to share something.

The problem with Drag Tray is that it can get in the way of normal drag-and-drop actions. The floating tray takes up a lot of space and can show up almost immediately when you start dragging a file toward the top of the screen.

Microsoft recently tried to improve the behaviour by making Drag Tray a bit smaller and less intrusive, but that still didn’t connect with users.

Drag Tray can be a hell of a ride if you have dozens of folders on the desktop and like to organize a bunch of files. You’d normally drag files from File Explorer and drop them into one of the folders on the desktop. Or you might be dragging and dropping files within a maximized File Explorer window, and that’s when Drag Tray can suddenly show up.

This can make it difficult to reorganize desktop files or File Explorer folders, and we’ve had numerous reports where Drag Tray shows up when you actually don’t want to share anything.

For example, watch the video below, where dragging a file to a folder on the desktop triggers Drag Tray and blocks you from reorganizing your files.

In theory, Drag Tray is supposed to make sharing files easier than right-clicking a file and clicking Share, which does essentially the same thing. Microsoft hoped a drag-and-drop experience would be more productive, but in some situations, it ended up being counterproductive.

It’s clearly not designed for power users who like to reorganize their desktop all the time. At the same time, I think it was a great idea for those with a touchscreen, as you could simply hold a file and drag it to the top of the screen to share it via WhatsApp, for example.

Microsoft says it’s removing Drag Tray from Windows 11

In a support document, Microsoft said it has begun removing Drag Tray from Windows 11, and testers in the Windows Insider Program will see the change first. For everyone else, it’ll likely show up in the coming weeks or months.

Microsoft may not have given up on the idea of making file sharing easier, though. The company says a “replacement” experience is being considered, so Drag Tray itself is going away, but Microsoft is still exploring another way to improve sharing.

“Thank you to Insiders who have provided feedback about the Drag Tray experience. Based on feedback, we’re removing the experience in this build,” Microsoft explained in updated release notes.

“We’re continuing to explore improvements in this area and look forward to sharing more about a future replacement experience in a later update.”

How to disable the Drag Tray feature in Windows 11

Microsoft will be removing Drag Tray in a future release, but if you can’t wait, you can manually disable the feature.

Just open Settings, go to System > Nearby sharing, and you’ll find the toggle to turn off Drag Tray.

Now, if you set the toggle to “Off,” Windows will stop annoying you with Drag Tray until it’s fully removed from the OS. Remember that the feature is turned on by default, and you need to disable manually until it’s fully removed.

What about you? Do you think Drag Tray was a good idea? Let me know in the comments below.

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