Drag

You can use your mouse to drag icons and other objects on your computer screen. Dragging icons from your desktop or an open window to another folder will move the objects to the new folder. You can also drag icons to the Trash (Mac) or the Recycle Bin (Windows) if you want to delete them. Some word processing programs allow you to select text and drag the selected text to another place in the document. To select the text, you may have to "drag" the mouse over the text you want to select.

Dragging is an important technique for using today's graphical user interfaces (GUIs). In fact, there are many other things you can drag besides icons. For example, you can drag the top of windows to reposition them, you can drag the scroll bar in open documents or Web pages to scroll through them, and you can drag messages to different folders in your mail program. Other programs, such as video games and image-editing programs use dragging to reposition items on the screen.

To drag an item, first move the cursor over the item you want to drag. Then click and hold down the left mouse button to "grab" the item. Move the mouse to position the item where you want it. Let go of the mouse button once you have moved the item to "release" it. This technique is known as a "drag and drop."

Published: 2006