How to Merge and Split Stacks in Edge Drop

To merge items in Edge Drop, drag one image or file card onto another: they combine into a single stack you can drag out in one go. To split a stack, click it to expand it, then click the minus button (Ungroup from collection) next to the item you want to take out. Stacks hold up to 10 items, and only images and files can be stacked; text and links can't.

What can be stacked

Merging combines the cards into one item. It doesn't create a copy of the files: file cards are references to the original files on disk, and screenshots are stored PNG images, exactly as before the merge.

The 10-item limit

A stack you build by merging holds at most 10 items; Edge Drop refuses a merge that would go over. If you drag more than 10 files from Explorer onto the shelf, Edge Drop splits them into several stacks of up to 10 and tells you how many it made.

One exception: if you select more than 10 files in Explorer and press Ctrl+C, Edge Drop records that copy as a single bundle of all of them, because it captures the copy as it arrived.

How to merge cards into a stack

1. Open the shelf by moving the cursor to its screen edge or pressing Alt+C.
2. Press and hold on an image or file card.
3. Drag it onto another image or file card and release.

The two become one stack. Repeat to add more, up to 10. You can also open a card's preview flyout and drop another item onto the flyout to add it there; using the preview flyout covers the flyout.

Copying several files at once in Explorer creates a bundle automatically, so you don't need to merge those.

How to split or ungroup a stack

1. Click the stack to expand it. Its items are listed one per row.
2. Next to the item you want to separate, click the minus button (Ungroup from collection). It becomes its own card.

Or drag the item instead: with the stack expanded, drag an item out toward the shelf's screen edge. A coral bar appears; drop the item on it to make it a separate card.

When only one image is left in an image collection, Edge Drop turns it back into a normal image card. To break a stack up completely, ungroup its items one at a time.

Using a stack

• Drag the whole stack (collapsed) into Explorer, an email or a chat app to drop every file at once. Dragging items out of Edge Drop explains what each app receives.
• Drag one item from the expanded stack to drop just that file.
• Pick a few in the preview flyout with multi-select, then use Copy Selected or Paste Selected.
• Pin the stack with its pin icon to keep a reusable set, such as a logo pack, out of reach of clears and the history limit.

Under the filter tabs, an image collection appears under Images; any stack containing a non-image file appears under Files. In search, file stacks match by any file name inside them, while image stacks are hidden because images have no text to search.

Merging text clips

Edge Drop can't merge text or links into one card, and Windows has no built-in way to merge two clipboard entries either. To combine two pieces of text:

1. Open Notepad or any text editor.
2. Paste the first piece, then the second (click each one on the Edge Drop shelf, or pick them from Win+V).
3. Select everything and press Ctrl+C.

The combined text is now a single clip, and Edge Drop records it like any other copy.

Without Edge Drop: grouping and ungrouping files in Explorer

On the Windows clipboard, a multi-file copy is one list. Copying anything else replaces the whole list, and there's no way to remove one file from it. To build or change a set with Explorer alone:

• Merge: move or copy the files into one folder, select them all and press Ctrl+C once. Copying multiple files and pasting them elsewhere has the steps.
• Split: select only the file you need and copy it again. The new copy replaces the old list, so reselect the others later if you still need them.

Windows clipboard history (Win+V) doesn't store files, so it can't hold a file set for later. Dragging several files as one stack compares other ways to keep a set together.

FAQ

Can I change the stack size limit?

No. The 10-item limit for merges is fixed and there's no setting for it.

Why won't Edge Drop let me merge two cards?

Either one of them is text or a link, or the stack would go over 10 items. Text, link and colour cards can't be stacked at all.

Does ungrouping delete anything?

No. The item becomes a separate card in your history. Nothing is deleted from the stack's other items or from the files on disk.

Related reading

• How to Drag Files and Images Out of Edge Drop
• How to Drag and Drop Multiple Files at Once in Windows
• How to Filter Edge Drop by Text, Links, Images and Files
• Why Old Copied Files Won't Paste or Drag Into Explorer

Sources

• Using the clipboard (Microsoft Support) — Windows clipboard history stores text, HTML and bitmaps, not files.

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How to Install Guide · First 10 Minutes Guide · Drag & Drop Guide · Edge Drop vs Win+V · Support