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Can't Drag & Drop GIFs/JPGs to Desktop

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Using a Mac Mini - with Safari I can drag & drop GIFs from Giphy, Google Images and other sites; but I can't do that with FF (my preferred browser). Firefox will not let me do that - the dragged file is incomplete or non-functional. Is there a setting I need to change?

Using a Mac Mini - with Safari I can drag & drop GIFs from Giphy, Google Images and other sites; but I can't do that with FF (my preferred browser). Firefox will not let me do that - the dragged file is incomplete or non-functional. Is there a setting I need to change?

All Replies (6)

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There have been bugs related to dragging images reported in the past, but these should have been fixed.

  • bug 1358755 - NEW - Cannot save image by drag and drop to other than Finder/Desktop [54]
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The drag and drop issues seems to appear with Giphy and Google Images - and, frustratingly, it doesn't happen all the time.

Oh well, I'll just live with it or use Safari if I need something from either of those sites.

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Hi, try : SAFE MODE if goes away it is your Extensions or AV/Firewall

In Firefox Safe mode these changes are effective:

  • all extensions are disabled (about:addons)
  • default theme is used (no persona)
  • userChrome.css and userContent.css are ignored (chrome folder)
  • default toolbar layout is used (file: localstore-safe.rdf)
  • Javascript JIT compilers are disabled (prefs: javascript.options.*jit)
  • hardware acceleration is disabled (Options > Advanced > General)
  • plugins are not affected
  • preferences are not affected

TEST''''is issue still there ?

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I tried using Safe Mode with Google Images (GIF), and it allowed me to drag and drop. But then I tried in regular mode, with the same GIF, and that also worked. I don't think it made any difference -- the drag and drop process seems to work (or not) virtually at random. I'll just live with it or use Safari.

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Does it happen reproducible with a specific GIF image or is that even working randomly?

Note that some GIF images can be animated GIFs or GIFV files that are MP4 files. It is possible that the MIME type the server sends also makes a difference.

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Usually, if I'm using Google Images, I select "Animated" type. But even with Giphy, it's iffy (sorry, I couldn't help myself).

I appreciated your taking an interest, but it's probably not worth your time and effort.

The puzzling part is that this issue does not come up with Safari (which is not my browser of choice).

Who am I to fathom the mysteries of bits and bytes.