Should I drop my seedlings to separate them? 4 horticulturist-recommended ways to separate seedlings safely to avoid killing them, and what to never do

Trays of seedlings and potted up plants in an apartment.

I have recently seen gardeners on social media showing a gardening ‘hack’ of dropping clumps of seedlings to separate them for potting up. Can this ever be a sensible way to handle young plants and what other less risky options exist to separate seedlings?

Let’s start with the issue. Seedlings are very delicate and dropping clumps of them, even if not from a great height, risks damaging their fragile stems and roots. It appears many gardeners agree, as many responses to the videos were people saying they would be scared attempting to separate seedlings this way.