How to drag-&-drop between apps on iPhone and iPad

by Jonny Evans · August 28, 2021

“So that’s how it’s done!!”

Starting in iOS 15 it’s possible to drag-&-drop such items as selected text, documents or images between apps on iPhone as well as on iPad. It’s very simple, once you get the hang of it:

How to drag-&-drop between apps on iPhone and iPad

Once you’ve installed the latest version of the operating system on your device this should work. The following example lets you drag-&-drop an image from Photos into Messages, because we think almost everybody has and uses these apps. You aren’t confined to these apps and should find the same tip works to take items between any pair of apps, including assets saved in Files.

To drag-&-drop an image from Photos to Messages:

This is one of those tips that sounds a little complex to explain but is dead easy to achieve once you’ve done it once or twice.

Open Photos.
Place your finger on the image you choose and drag your finger across the screen.
The thumbnail of the image will begin to float above the library, but don’t let go.
Now use another finger or your other hand to leave Photos and tap on Messages to open the app.
Keep the finger you used to select the image on the screen as you do.
Open a Message and drag your image finger into the text entry box to write a message.
Wait for a green circle with a + sign in it show up on the thumbnail. It means you can now lift your finger and the photo will be dropped into your message.

You’ll also find this useful to pop images into Tweets, or drag files from Files into Mail messages.

More things to learn

You’ll find hundreds of additional ideas here in the Tips section, but for recent improvements please take few moments to explore the many other improvements coming to your Apple devices with iOS 15, iPad OS 15 and macOS Monterey: