Microsoft experiments with ‘Drag Tray’ — share menu appears when dragging a file in Windows 11

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Sharing from File Explorer to your phone or email is as easy as drag-and-drop.

Windows 11 Share Drag Tray
(Image credit: phantomofearth / X)

Microsoft is experimenting with a ‘Drag Tray’ that appears when you drag a file in File Explorer, making it easier to share via email or Phone Link. X (formerly Twitter) user phantomofearth discovered this hidden functionality in Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4805.

However, this feature is not included in Microsoft’s release notes, so it’s likely something that’s not available to all users. You can also try this for yourself by running ViVeTool, typing in “/enable /id:45624564,53397005”, and then reboot your PC.

This feature is similar to sharing files and folders on Android and iOS, where you tap share and then a slide menu will open showing you your share options. As more people, especially the younger generation, are getting smartphones as their first computer, Microsoft is likely trying to make the experience of the operating system feel similar. That way, users can easily hop between smartphones, tablets, and laptops or desktops without feeling that they have to learn a completely new user interface and way of doing day-to-day things.

Aside from this hidden feature, Microsoft has added written and shortcut instructions to the Snap Menu which arrived with Windows 7. Even though Snap has been around for over 16 years now, it seems that not all Windows users are familiar with it.

So, adding instructional text and icons will help those who are new to PCs or are transferring from macOS, and could even spawn some power users as they discover the keyboard shortcuts that will make their workflow more efficient.

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Snap Layout Windows 11 Insider Preview
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Hopefully, the ‘Drag Tray’ will make it to the general release of Windows 11. However, while we appreciate Microsoft adding new features with every release of Windows 11, it’s still quite a buggy operating system, and the release of 24H2 hasn't done much to assure those watching from previous OS versions.

This is likely why many people are still not upgrading from Windows 10 despite its coming end of life this October. The company has recently released another Insider Build that addressed some basic issues, like mouse stuttering and auto HDR issues, but it will likely take a few more weeks before these fixes hit the mainstream release channel.

Jowi Morales
Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    Even though Snap has been around for over 16 years now, it seems that not all Windows users are familiar with it.

    To me it's really annoying in its default setup of suggesting what to snap around it and such, once those options are disabled to make it so it just snaps to the sides (side by side) or corners (4 windows), snap is quite useful, except that it does not like to memorize where windows are at so when they are re-opened it aligns it a few pixels off.

    Maybe if you used an ultrawide or multiple monitors it may be more useful, but that's a vast minority of people.
    Reply
  • Li Ken-un
    Alvar Miles Udell said:
    it does not like to memorize where windows are at so when they are re-opened it aligns it a few pixels off.
    This annoys me to no end. Just about anything can disturb the desired window’s size and positioning:
    Plugging in another display or switching displays (even if it’s the same aspect ratio)
    Monitor turned off and back on or computer waking up from sleep
    A Windows updateWhat’s worse, sometimes the windows gradually get smaller and smaller after each auto-resize. There isn’t an easy way to reset all the sizes and positions back to their defaults (or what you had manually set before) other than painstakingly moving everything back into place. Every application has its own method of persisting its windows’ positions and sizes.
    Reply
  • Giroro
    More slowly-animated popup ads for one drive and upsells to other annoying un-removable data-stealing Microsoft apps, which literally everyone hates?

    Sure man, that will fix windows 11's atrocious ~30% market share. Why TF Not?

    Make sure all the app logos are blue and similarly-shaped too. Just do it. Do it harder. Give the people responsible for making your desktop ecosystem utterly untouchable another 3 promotions and a super-duper yacht. Nobody cares anymore.
    Reply
  • gdmaclew
    Oh c'mon Microsoft. Stop fiddling with these useless features and fix Outlook, you know, the New Outlook.
    Horrible piece of software missing tons of features.
    It feels like beta software.
    Reply