MacFilter

September 8, 2008 8:00 PM

Why can't I pick up and drag my Mac's desktop folders smoothly? Often they don't move at all, or they snap back as if on rubber bands when I move and drop them.

Specifics: I have a MacBook from 2006 with Mac OS X 10.4.8. I am using a 1024 x 640 setting for the display.

The problem is minor but it makes tidying up the desktop (manually) rather difficult.

posted by bad grammar to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Open the View menu and select Show View Options then click the drop down Arrange By: bar and deselect "snap to grid". Does that help?
posted by Science! at 8:10 PM on September 8, 2008

You can get to the View menu easily by control-clicking on the desktop as well (also same a right-clicking, if you have a special mouse).
posted by iamkimiam at 10:27 PM on September 8, 2008

It may be unnecessary to add, but you're gonna want to set Arrange by: to none. Any of the other options will continue snapping to grid, in the selected order

(I use "kind" myself, with ~100px icons, but I think I'm alone in doing so among my Mac-using friends. There are so many philosophies of desktop use...)
posted by mumkin at 12:07 AM on September 9, 2008

Okay, I have turned off "snap to grid" and now I can pick up and drop the folders easily. Thank you.
posted by bad grammar at 5:05 PM on September 9, 2008