In early August 2026 many Google Photos users on Android phones found that the drag-to-select gesture had stopped working. Long-pressing a photo still switched the app into multi-select mode, but sliding a finger across the grid from there simply scrolled the view up and down instead of ticking each photo it passed over.
The regression forced affected users to tap every item individually, which makes bulk operations (deleting, sharing, moving to an album) considerably slower. It was reported on Pixel, Samsung Galaxy and OnePlus handsets but was not universal — some devices on the same models were unaffected, and reporters noted the gesture kept working on tablets, which pointed to an unintended bug in a specific build/rollout rather than a deliberate removal. Google confirmed on 11 August 2026 that a fix was rolling out, and the feature was reported restored the following day.
Note: an essentially identical drag-to-select regression hit Google Photos on Android once before, in November–December 2019. This report covers the August 2026 occurrence, which is the one matching a current search for the bug.
Steps to reproduce:
- Open Google Photos on an affected Android phone.
- Open the main photo grid (Photos tab) or an album.
- Long-press a photo to enter multi-select mode.
- Without lifting your finger, drag it across neighbouring photos.
- Observe that the grid scrolls instead of selecting the photos your finger passes over — only the originally long-pressed item stays selected.
Workaround: Tap each photo individually to build the selection. Sources also indicate the gesture continued to work on tablets, so a tablet running the same account could be used for large bulk selections in the meantime.
Severity: Medium (vendor-confirmed regression that degrades a widely used convenience gesture and makes bulk selection tedious, but causes no crash, data loss or loss of core functionality, and a manual workaround exists)
First seen: Late July 2026 (reports escalated to Google on 31 July 2026; widely reported from 8 August 2026)
Affected product: Google Photos
Affected platforms: Android phones (reported on Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy and OnePlus devices); tablets and iOS reported unaffected
Affected versions: Unknown — no source published the affected Google Photos app version numbers; the builds in circulation between roughly late July and 11 August 2026 were affected, and not all devices on those builds showed the bug
Fixed versions: Unknown version number; fix rolled out via Play Store update on 11–12 August 2026
Links:
- https://9to5google.com/2019/11/26/google-photos-missing-gesture-bug/ (26 November 2019 — earlier, near-identical occurrence)
- https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/12/10/bug-in-google-photos-removes-tap-and-drag-gesture-for-multiple-selection/ (10 December 2019 — earlier occurrence, marked fixed)
- https://www.androidauthority.com/google-photos-drag-to-select-missing-3696148/ (8 August 2026)
- https://www.gizchina.com/google-2/google-photos-just-lost-a-feature-you-never-think-about (10 August 2026)
- https://sammyguru.com/google-photo-drag-to-select-not-working/ (10 August 2026)
- https://www.reddit.com/r/googlephotos/comments/1vaokaj/dragselect_multiple_photos_stopped_working_on_my/ (August 2026)
- https://www.androidauthority.com/google-photos-drag-to-select-fix-3697101/ (11 August 2026 — Google confirms fix rolling out)
- https://www.androidauthority.com/google-photos-drag-to-select-fixed-3697467/ (12 August 2026 — fix confirmed live)