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How To: Enable three finger drag in OS X El Capitan

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Having used OS X E Capitan for a few weeks, something I noticed is that Apple has disabled the three finger drag feature on MacBooks and Mac desktops when using a Magic Trackpad. This has also been moved to a different location within the settings app, which is a bit strange.

The first thing you need to do it go to Settings on your Mac. In the past, this could be altered by going to System Preferences > Trackpad. Now, Apple have moved it to System Preferences > Accessibility. Anyway, below is the step by step.

Step 1

Go to system Preferences from the  in the top left of the screen
Go to system Preferences from the  in the top left of the screen

Step 2

Click Accessibility within the System Preferences app
Click Accessibility within the System Preferences app

Screen Shot 2015-11-03 at 18.36.20

Step 3

Once in the Accessibility pane, click the "Trackpad Options..." button
Once in the Accessibility pane, click the “Trackpad Options…” button

Screen Shot 2015-11-03 at 18.36.28

Step 4

Tick the "Enable Dragging" box then open the drop down and click on "three finger drag"
Tick the “Enable Dragging” box then open the drop down and click on “three finger drag”

Screen Shot 2015-11-03 at 18.36.52

This is actually a really useful feature, it allows you to easily move windows in and out of view when using a MacBook. Thats all you need to do to reenable Three finger drag, hope this helps everyone.

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Alex has been running the interface for over ten years and covers topics from the latest electric cars, technology and hosts the podcasts from the site too.