DRAG&DROP TO TASKBAR FEATURE AND UAC


Alan Smithee

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Windows 11 22H2 22621.2215
Hello to all,

I have an administrator account and I disabled UAC and changed the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\Enable LUA from 1 to 0, so I can modify registry keys without "access denied" or "error while deleting key" messages, move/delete an item without "you'll need to provide administrator permission" pop-up or download files in all locations (C:\Windows\system32 or C:\Programs) without warnings such as "you don't have permission to save in this location".

But setting LUA key from 1 to 0 also disables the new drag and drop to taskbar function introduced in windows 11 22H2. To bring back this function I must revert LUA key from 0 to 1, but this operation restores in the same time all the above security limitations.

There is a way to enable both drag'n'drop to taskbar and maintain full admnistrator control when modyfing registry keys or moving/deleting a folder or downloading a file in a system path getting rid in the same time of all that security, access or permission warnings?

Thank you
 
Windows Build/Version
WINDOWS 11 22H2 version 22621.819

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 22H2 22621.2215Intel Core i7-11800H64 GBIntel Tiger Lake-H - GT1 Integrated Graphics ...
OS
Windows 11 22H2 22621.2215
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
HP OMEN 17''
CPU
Intel Core i7-11800H
Motherboard
HP 88F7 - Intel HM570 (Tiger Lake PCH-H) chipset
Memory
64 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Tiger Lake-H - GT1 Integrated Graphics [Hewlett-Packard] + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
Crucial nvme (CT2000P5PSSD8+CT2000P3SSD8) with Intel RST WMD controller
Update 22H2 allows drag and drop to taskbar.
 

My Computers My Computers

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (Build 26100.4770)Intel Core 9 Ultra 285K64G (4x16) DDR5 Corsair RGB Dominator Platinu...Radeon (XFX Mercury) RX 9070XT OC (with Magne...
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  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (Build 26100.4061)Intel Core i9-9900K32gig (4 x 8) Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4...Radeon XFX Merc 7900XT (20gig)
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (Build 26100.4061)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Xtreme
    Memory
    32gig (4 x 8) Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 3600Mhz (B-Die)
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon XFX Merc 7900XT (20gig)
    Sound Card
    Onboard
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    24-Inch NEC PA242W
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    PSU
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    Phantek Enthoo Luxe
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    Logitech Keys
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    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1TB Download. 512mb Upload
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
    Other Info
    Backup System
setting LUA key from 1 to 0 also disables the new drag and drop to taskbar function introduced in windows 11 22H2. To bring back this function I must revert LUA key from 0 to 1, but this operation restores in the same time all the above security limitations.
Welcome to Eleven Forum Alan.

To be able to drag and drop to the taskbar try using what I used in 21H2 to provide the missing function before MS put it back in 22H2.

 

My Computers My Computers

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics
    OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to lid hinges starting to break up this laptop has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.

    I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.

    Info for 2021-2026:
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.
  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.

    In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
    Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
    In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
    Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.

    Also running Insider Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
  • My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR was a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (1st gen) type 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device. This has now been sold. It has been replaced by my System Eight.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, 1920x1080 touchscreen, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine. As its new home has an existing digital licence for Pro I've been able to upgrade the migrated OS from Home to Pro.

    My SYSTEM EIGHT is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (5th gen) type 20LN, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, a supported device for Windows 11. Currently running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds as native boot vhdx.
Welcome to Eleven Forum Alan.

To be able to drag and drop to the taskbar try using what I used in 21H2 to provide the missing function before MS put it back in 22H2.

Thank you Bree but this is a workaround, not a solution. I mean, it is possible to have the Windows 11 22H2 drag and drop working with UAC completely turned off, i.e. without security warnings when downloading a file or changing a registry protected key? In my previous laptop I have windows 7 and drag drop working perfectly with UAC totally disabled. I I think is a question of group policy user account settings (see this Unable to drag/drop a file to terminal with UAC turned off · Issue #11668 · microsoft/terminal or this old thread How to enable drag and drop between normal & UAC elevated privileges applications). I changed some group policy settings but no result.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 22H2 22621.2215Intel Core i7-11800H64 GBIntel Tiger Lake-H - GT1 Integrated Graphics ...
OS
Windows 11 22H2 22621.2215
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
HP OMEN 17''
CPU
Intel Core i7-11800H
Motherboard
HP 88F7 - Intel HM570 (Tiger Lake PCH-H) chipset
Memory
64 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Tiger Lake-H - GT1 Integrated Graphics [Hewlett-Packard] + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
Crucial nvme (CT2000P5PSSD8+CT2000P3SSD8) with Intel RST WMD controller
this is a workaround, not a solution. I mean, it is possible to have the Windows 11 22H2 drag and drop working with UAC completely turned off...? ... In my previous laptop I have windows 7 and drag drop working perfectly with UAC totally disabled.
I suspect not, this is only a minor workaround that does nothing else except its stated job. It worked well for me throughout the duration of 21H2.

The reason why I suspect its not possible (or at least, known if it's possible or not) is that from XP though 7, 8 and 10 the taskbar of each new OS seems to be a steady development based on the code of the previous OS. For Windows 11 that code was thrown out and a new taskbar written from scratch. It has taken a year and public demand to write new code for drag and drop. It's interaction with UAC is unknown, and I suspect you are one of the very few to question it.

(see this... or this old thread.... I changed some group policy settings but no result.
Nothing in either of those threads is relevant to the new Windows 11 taskbar's code, they are both dealing with the taskbar in Windows 10 and earlier.
 

My Computers My Computers

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics
    OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to lid hinges starting to break up this laptop has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.

    I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.

    Info for 2021-2026:
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.
  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.

    In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
    Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
    In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
    Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.

    Also running Insider Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
  • My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR was a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (1st gen) type 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device. This has now been sold. It has been replaced by my System Eight.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, 1920x1080 touchscreen, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine. As its new home has an existing digital licence for Pro I've been able to upgrade the migrated OS from Home to Pro.

    My SYSTEM EIGHT is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (5th gen) type 20LN, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, a supported device for Windows 11. Currently running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds as native boot vhdx.
I suspect not, this is only a minor workaround that does nothing else except its stated job. It worked well for me throughout the duration of 21H2.

The reason why I suspect its not possible (or at least, known if it's possible or not) is that from XP though 7, 8 and 10 the taskbar of each new OS seems to be a steady development based on the code of the previous OS. For Windows 11 that code was thrown out and a new taskbar written from scratch. It has taken a year and public demand to write new code for drag and drop. It's interaction with UAC is unknown, and I suspect you are one of the very few to question it.


Nothing in either of those threads is relevant to the new Windows 11 taskbar's code, they are both dealing with the taskbar in Windows 10 and earlier.
Thank you for the answer, Bree. At the end I decided to enable LUA to have the drag'n'drop function without further attempt to resolve the issue. But I still think that this is a problem related to security options that are not accurately configured (maybe I messed up something there) in my laptop.
An example: gpedit.msc > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options > disable User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode disables LUA warnings changing registry key to 0 but also drag and drop function. Enabling Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode makes drag'n'drop working again but also restores all security limitations, such as shield icons in remove/delete context menu or impossibility to save downloaded files in C:\ root and protected subfolders.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 22H2 22621.2215Intel Core i7-11800H64 GBIntel Tiger Lake-H - GT1 Integrated Graphics ...
OS
Windows 11 22H2 22621.2215
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
HP OMEN 17''
CPU
Intel Core i7-11800H
Motherboard
HP 88F7 - Intel HM570 (Tiger Lake PCH-H) chipset
Memory
64 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Tiger Lake-H - GT1 Integrated Graphics [Hewlett-Packard] + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
Screen Resolution
2560x1440
Hard Drives
Crucial nvme (CT2000P5PSSD8+CT2000P3SSD8) with Intel RST WMD controller

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