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IslandSubstantial
User level: Level 1 (6 points)

macOS 27 Hot Corners: Show Desktop fails during drag-and-drop

Hello!

I just encountered the following behavior on Mac OS 27. Is this a known issue? I'm running on a MacBook Air M3.


Thanks in advance for your time


Description:

I believe there is a regression in macOS 27 involving Hot Corners and drag-and-drop.

I have a Hot Corner configured to Show Desktop. When I move the mouse into that Hot Corner normally, without dragging anything, it works correctly and shows the Desktop.

However, when I am actively dragging an image, URL, or other item and move the dragged item into the same Hot Corner, macOS does not perform the configured Show Desktop action. Instead, it triggers a Mission Control / overview of open windows.

This only happens while an item is being dragged.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. Open Safari or another application from which an image or link can be dragged.
  2. Configure a Hot Corner to Show Desktop.
  3. Move the mouse normally into the Hot Corner without dragging anything.
  4. Confirm that Show Desktop works correctly.
  5. Start dragging an image or URL.
  6. While continuing to hold the mouse button, move the dragged item into the Hot Corner.
  7. Instead of simply showing the Desktop, macOS triggers Mission Control / the window overview.

I have tested moving the Show Desktop Hot Corner from the top-left corner to the bottom-left corner, and the problem remains. Therefore, the problem does not appear to be specific to the physical corner.

My other Hot Corner is configured to show all windows/Mission Control, which makes the behavior particularly noticeable because the system appears to be invoking the window overview instead of the Show Desktop action.

Expected behavior:

The Hot Corner should perform its configured action regardless of whether the pointer is carrying a dragged item. In this case, moving a dragged image or link into a Hot Corner configured for Show Desktop should show the Desktop.

Actual behavior:

While dragging an image or link into the Show Desktop Hot Corner, macOS instead activates Mission Control / an overview of open windows.

Additional information:

  • The Hot Corner works correctly when nothing is being dragged.
  • The problem occurs specifically during drag-and-drop.
  • Moving the Hot Corner to a different corner does not resolve the problem.
  • The issue appears to be related to the interaction between drag-and-drop and Hot Corner/Mission Control behavior in macOS 27.


Posted on Sep 23, 2026 10:28 AM

2 replies

neuroanatomist
User level: Level 9 (72,871 points)

Sep 23, 2026 7:33 PM in response to IslandSubstantial

There have been many issues reported with Mission Control on macOS 27 Golden Gate, especially regarding the way Full Screen apps are handled. Some have been resolved by identifying and removing incompatible 3rd party extensions, others are bona fide bugs. 

 

There have been many issues reported with Mission Control and Spaces on macOS 27 Golden Gate, especially regarding the way Full Screen apps and app switching are handled. Some have been resolved by identifying and removing incompatible 3rd party extensions, others are bona fide bugs. 


A standard troubleshooting step is to see if the problem is present when you boot in safe mode. That process performs some system cleanup and clears caches, and also disables 3rd party extensions that may cause problems.

 

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support


I have not tried that to see if it corrects the issue, but it's likely not necessary. I don't have too many 3rd party extensions on my M4 Pro MBP running Golden Gate, and I see the issue you describe. Regardless of whether a Hot Corner is set to Mission Control or Desktop, when dragging an item along to the corner it behaves as if it's set to Mission Control.


Hot corner set to Desktop, item dragged to that corner, Mission Control triggered.



Behavior without an item being dragged is as expected. Seems like a clear and reproducible bug, to me. This does not occur on my M1 Pro MBP still on Tahoe.


Bugs can be reported to Apple here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

 

Reporting issues like this to Apple is the only way to get them fixed. They do prioritize bugs based on frequency of reports, so the more people who report it, the faster it will be addressed.


trikrich
User level: Level 1 (26 points)

Oct 14, 2026 12:22 AM in response to IslandSubstantial

Same problem here, except that in contrary to your case when I set the lower right corner to show the desktop and drag a file to this one, it works as expected.


That's in 27.0.1, I didn't try this in 27.0



Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256363607