Can't move links on Desktop

I drag-dropped some links from the Chrome Browser onto the Desktop. But now when I try to move them they create a file rather than being moved.

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Could someone tell me how to fix this. (And maybe why it is happening)

Solution 1:

It's a bug (bugzilla.gnome.org, bugs.launchpad.net. As far as I know there is no way to fix this (without fixing it in the Nautilus source code).

Solution 2:

The current 16.01 LTS ships with gnome 3.14.4, and this bug is fixed in 3.15.4 onwards.

Backup and proceed with caution with the following...

You can update your version of nautilus, as shown in this SO answer:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

After a reboot, this worked for me, but I ended up with huge icons. The previous preferences icon zoom menu option disappeared, but then I found this SO answer, which worked for me:

• open a file browser
• click the icon view button
• move the slider to the left

Note: Screen-shot credit to @Manje Brinkhuis

Solution 3:

A handy workaround I discovered:

R click and choose cut on the link icon you want to move. Then R click and choose paste on the desktop location to which you want to move it. When a popup comes up and says "Do you want to replace?", say yes!