By Kavita Mistry 
Microsoft offers the drag-and-drop functionality in Windows to simplify moving items between apps and folders. Although convenient, the feature has a huge limitation: you can’t temporarily hold the items you want to move to another location. This means you need to move back and forth between the locations until you’ve finished moving all the items, which can feel like a tedious act, especially if you need to move items between multiple locations quite frequently.
Enter Dropshelf, a simple app that makes moving items on your Windows PC easier. Let’s explore Dropshelf and see how to use it to improve your drag-and-drop experience on your Windows PC.
What Is Dropshelf?
Dropshelf is an app that enhances the drag-and-drop functionality on your Windows PC so you can move items between multiple locations quickly and efficiently. It does this by giving you a shelf where you can temporarily stash all the items you want to move from different locations, after which you can navigate to your desired destination folder and drop all the items from the shelf there.
A shelf in Dropshelf can store anything from document files, images, videos, and folders to web images, URLs, and text snippets. You can even save a shelf you’re currently populating—if you get interrupted mid-way—to pick up where you left off later.
Dropshelf is highly customizable. So, you can personalize the appearance of the shelf and change its behavior, among other things, per your preference. Some of those actions would require upgrading to Dropshelf Pro, though, which is a one-time purchase that costs $3.99 (~ Rs 219).
How to Use Dropshelf to Drag and Drop Items on Your Windows PC
Getting started with Dropshelf is easy. First, head to the Dropshelf page on the Microsoft Store and click the Install button to begin installing the app on your PC.
Once installed, launch Dropshelf. You’ll now get an overview of how to navigate the app. Click the arrow buttons to go to the next or previous screen. Close the window when you’re done.
Now, if you want to move or copy files or folders around, it’s easy. Open File Explorer and go to the folder with the items you want to move. Select the items as you normally do, drag them away slightly, shake the cursor using the touchpad or mouse until you see the shelf (a tiny window) next to the cursor, and drop them onto the shelf. You need to wait 3 seconds for the shelf to appear on the free version of the app.
Alternatively, you can also create a new shelf using a keyboard shortcut. Simply press the Windows+Shift+Z shortcut on your keyboard, and it’ll bring up a new shelf. You can then select and drag the items you want to move onto the shelf.
Dropshelf also lets you move the shelf around to improve its accessibility. Click the horizontal bar at the top of the shelf and drag the shelf to your preferred location on the screen.
If you want to move items from other locations on your PC, too, navigate to them and add items inside them to the shelf like you did previously. Alternatively, you can create a separate shelf. You can do this like you did the first time—by shaking the cursor or using a keyboard shortcut (Windows+Shift+X). Or, you may do it by clicking the Dropshelf icon in the system tray, right-clicking on its icon, and selecting New Shelf. If you want to open a new shelf with items in your clipboard, choose the New Shelf from Clipboard option instead.
To check your shelf items, click the X Items button, where X is the number of items your shelf currently holds. This will open another window on the screen showing all the items on your shelf, along with a few buttons.
From here, you can click the list view or the grid view icon in the top-right corner to toggle between the two views. Use the list view to see details about the items on your shelf, like their file size, and the grid view to view their thumbnails for easier identification.
At any point, if you want to remove an item from the shelf, right-click on it and select Remove from Shelf. You can also select multiple items and remove them in one go.
There’s also a settings button (gear icon) on the shelf window. Click it to access the shelf properties and a few of its advanced options. You won’t see any of these until you upgrade to Dropshelf Pro. Click the arrow icon again to close the preview window.
Finally, with all the items you want to move added to the shelf, dropping them off is easy. Head to the folder where you want to move or copy all the items. Click and drag the items from the shelf into the folder, and Dropshelf will move them while clearing them off the shelf simultaneously. You can retain items on the shelf if you need them later. Just press the Shift key while dragging them off the shelf. (You can change this behavior. We’ll see how later in the guide.)
Alternatively, you can drop select items from the shelf. This can be useful when you want to move a few items to one place and the others to another. To do this, click the downward-pointing arrow on the shelf to reveal all your shelf items. Click and drag the items you want to drop into the folder.
Besides files and folders, you can drag and drop other items (web images, text snippets, URLs) between multiple locations with Dropshelf. The best part is that Dropshelf lets you stash different kinds of items together on a shelf, so you don’t need to create separate shelves for each kind.
For example, let’s say you want to paste a few images from a website into an app like Slack. Rather than downloading the images first and manually uploading them in a Slack conversation, you can just drag and drop them with Dropshelf.
Open the website in your preferred browser. Select the image you want to share via Slack, shake the cursor to invoke the shelf, and drop it off into it. Repeat it until you’ve added all the images you want to share to the shelf. Then, go to the Slack app, select and drag the images from the shelf, and drop them into the app.
How to Configure Dropshelf on Your PC
Dropshelf lets you customize the app’s appearance and behavior according to your preference. Here are a few things you can consider configuring on your PC.
Change the Default Drag-and-Drop Behavior
Dropshelf’s default drag-and-drop behavior is to move items from the shelf. This means when you drag and drop items from the shelf, it moves them out while clearing the shelf. Sure, you can use the Shift key to copy the items instead. But if you generally prefer this behavior, you can configure Dropshelf accordingly.
Go to Dropshelf settings by right-clicking its icon in the system tray and selecting Settings. Under Appearance and Behavior, toggle on the Copy Items to Destination option.
Configure the Shelf Shortcut
If you find the default shortcuts to create new shelves inconvenient, you can change them to something simpler. In the Dropshelf settings, scroll down to the Shortcut section and click the pen icon next to the New Shelf Shortcut. Press the new key combination and hit Save.
You can also change the shortcut for the New Shelf from Clipboard action.
Prevent Dropshelf From Closing Shelf When It’s Emptied
Dropshelf automatically closes a shelf once you’ve emptied it. This isn’t ideal when you want to use the same shelf again, especially if you’re on the free plan, as this would mean you’ll have to open a new shelf again, meaning you’d have to wait for 3 seconds again.
To change this behavior, go to Dropshelf settings and scroll down to the Shelf Preferences section. Here, toggle off the Close Shelf When Emptied option.
Prevent the Mouse Trigger in Specific Apps
Shaking the mouse cursor opens up a shelf. Although it’s convenient, sometimes, you may accidentally trigger it inside other apps. Luckily, you can exclude Dropshelf from activating a shelf inside such apps.
In Dropshelf settings, scroll down to the Shortcut section. Then, click the arrow next to Excluded Apps and type the name of the app you want to exclude in the window below.
You can configure several other aspects of Dropshelf per your preference. Head to the settings to check them all out and decide for yourself.
Drag and Drop Items on Windows Effortlessly
Dropshelf can significantly improve the drag-and-drop experience on Windows. It’s a valuable tool, particularly for those who need to move multiple files, text snippets, and more on their PC frequently. If that sounds like you, give Dropshelf a shot. Upgrade to Dropshelf Pro if you want a seamless experience and want to unlock all its features.