# Drag and drop

Move work items between columns to update their grouping field, or reorder them within a column to set their rank. All changes sync to Jira in real time.

## Moving between columns

Drag an work item card horizontally to move it to a different column. When you drop the card:

- BetterBoard updates the grouping field in Jira (e.g. Status changes if grouped by status, Assignee changes if grouped by assignee)
- The card animates to its new position
- If the update fails (permissions, workflow restrictions), the card returns to its original position and an error message is shown

> **Note**
>
> When a column has more than one field option mapped to it, dropping an work item into that column assigns the **first option in the list**. You can reorder the field options in Display settings → Columns to change which option is applied by default.

## Moving between Assets groups

When the board is grouped by an Assets field, dragging to another object group
updates that field in Jira. A single-object field is replaced; for a
multiple-object field, BetterBoard adds the destination and removes the source
while preserving unrelated objects. Dropping in **No value** clears a
single-object field or removes only the source object from a multiple-object
field. If Jira rejects the update, the card returns to its previous placement.

See [Assets fields](/betterboard/shape-the-board/field-types/#assets) for the full
behavior and limitations.

## Reordering within a column

Drag an work item card vertically within a column to change its rank position. This is manual rank mode:

1. Enable manual rank in **Display** settings → **Order by** → **Manual rank**
2. Drag cards up or down within a column
3. Positions are saved automatically

> **Note**
>
> Manual rank positions sync to Jira's native ranking field. Reranking in BetterBoard also reranks the work item in Jira's backlog and other board views that respect rank.

## Drag affordance

Cards show a grab cursor on hover. On touch devices, long-press an work item card to activate drag mode, then drag to the target position.

## Column drop zones

When dragging, each column highlights as a valid drop target. Drop zones:

- At the top of a column: places the work item first
- At the bottom: places it last
- Between two work items: inserts between them

## Limitations

- **Workflow restrictions**: Moving an work item to a status that requires a specific transition condition will fail if the condition isn't met
- **Permission restrictions**: You must have edit permission on the work item to move it
- **Epic work items**: Some field updates aren't available for Epic work item types in team-managed spaces
- **Read-only fields**: Fields configured as read-only in Jira's field configuration can't be updated via drag