How to undo and redo on a Mac

Undo and redo for Mac: Easily fix errors

Accidentally deleted or entered the wrong content? The built-in undo and redo tools for macOS can easily solve this problem. This article will introduce Ctrl Z for Mac and how to easily undo and redo recent operations on files, notes, and images.

Whether you choose to remember the shortcut key combination or prefer to operate through the menu bar, we'll cover all the options and common use cases. Let's get started!

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How to Undo Action on Mac

Whether you moved something to the Trash and changed your mind, accidentally deleted what you were typing, or instead, typed the wrong content, the undo command on your Mac is the quickest way to correct the situation immediately.

To undo an action on your Mac, you can use the Undo shortcut key or use the menu bar. Let's take a look at these two options.

Undo shortcut key for Mac

Here is how to use the keyboard to undo operations. To undo the recent action, just press Command Z. If multiple operations need to be cancelled, you can repeat them multiple times.

How to use the Mac menu bar to undo operations

In addition to the keyboard undo shortcut keys, you can also find the Undo button in the menu bar of the application you are using.

How to undo the action in the menu bar of the application? Just find the Edit button and one of the first options is the Undo action. Click it to undo the most recent action.

Menu will usually tell you exactly what actions are being undo—unlock the closing tab, uncut crop, etc. You can undo multiple recent actions from this menu, just like using the keyboard to undo the shortcut key.

How to redo the operation on your Mac

After you undo the action, you may change your mind and want to know how to redo the action.

Redo shortcuts on Mac are a very useful tool that you will find more useful than you think.

Suppose you typed something into your browser search and then deleted the text using Undo, but then changed your mind and wanted to retrieve it. Use redo to retrieve text. Or another example. You deleted a file by dragging it to the Trash, changed your mind and used the Undo shortcut, but then realized that you really wanted to put the file in the Trash - just redo it.

Please scroll down to learn how to redo the action through the menu bar and keyboard shortcuts.

If you find yourself using the Undo or Redo feature to retrieve content saved in your clipboard, a better option might be to use the Clipboard Manager to track everything you copied and help you structure it.

Paste automatically stores everything you copied and allows you to manage it easily:

How to redo with keyboard shortcuts

Redoing keyboard shortcuts is similar to undoing, with one more button.

If you want to redo the last operation on your Mac, press Command Shift Z.

How to use the Mac menu bar to redo operations

You can also use the menu bar shortcut keys to redo—go to the Edit menu in the Mac menu bar and select the Redo option. It is usually located directly below the Undo option.

Find yourself performing the same sequence of operations on the device? Use a dedicated application to automate this process.

BetterTouchTool is an application for setting quick shortcuts, mouse gestures, Touch Bar widgets, remote triggers to automatically complete your most repetitive actions. Customize your sequences with this convenient assistant and simplify your workflow immediately.

Uncase locking on Mac without retype

I once forgot that the capitalization lock is turned on. Did you realize that you have made a mistake after typing one or two sentences? Fortunately, in many cases you can undo capital locks. The method is as follows.

If you typed all-caps in one of the default editing applications on your Mac, select the text you want to convert to lowercase and right-click it.

Next, go to the Convert menu option and select the action you want to perform – convert text to uppercase, lowercase, or initials.

Uncropped photos on Mac

Sometimes you edit the image, feel satisfied with the result, close the file, and forget about it. Then realize that you want to retrieve the original image? In this section, we will show you how to uncrop your photo on your Mac and other changes in your image.

Undo in Mac preview

With the Restore to feature, you can easily restore edited images on your Mac to one of its previous versions.

To undo the cropping or other changes of the image, simply open the file in the preview application, click File in the menu bar, and hover the cursor over Restore to. In the menu, you will be able to see "Last Save" and "Browse All Versions".

Click Last Save to automatically restore to the last saved version, or click Browse All Versions to view all versions of the images you can use to restore to.

You will see the current image on the left side of the screen and the previous version on the right side. Select the version you want and click Recover.

Undo in Mac Photos app

The undo feature also works well in most photo and video editing applications. In the Photos app built in Mac, you can easily undo changes to the file you are editing.

When working on photo files, just click the Edit menu option in the menu bar and select Undo.

If you are still in the editing tool, you will be able to see specific actions you are about to undo, such as undoing changes to black and white, undoing changes to light, undoing additions to retouch, and more. You can undo them one by one in the opposite order of execution.

You can also undo all changes performed throughout the session—just click Finish when editing the file, and then click Edit > Undo Edit. This way, you can undo all recent edits at once.

Incorrectly used undo? Don't worry, here's how to redo editing in your Mac's photos - go to Edit > Redo in the menu bar.

You can also use the system's default keyboard combination in the Photos app: Command Z is for undoing, and Command Shift Z is for redoing.

Revoke in Mac's memo

If you want to know how to undo certain actions in a memo, here is a quick guide.

The action in a undo memo on your Mac is as simple as other undo operations—just use the undo shortcut Command Z , or click the Edit button in the menu bar and select Undo Type.

To redo, use the general Mac redo shortcut Command Shift Z , or go through the menu bar again and select Redo Type.

How to undo file deletion

If you just drag and drop the file to the Trash, you can easily retrieve it using the simple undo shortcut key: Command Z.

If you make unwanted changes to your files or have emptied the trash, you can rely on Time Machine to help you retrieve your lost information.

Add a backup disk and check Automatic backup to make sure you have saved a backup of the historical version of the file:

Alternatively, you can use data sync applications such as Chronosync Express.

It allows you to back up individual files or folders, synchronize data between devices, schedule backups and synchronization, and synchronize with remote servers.

If you did not set up Time Machine or sync applications in advance and are looking for lost, damaged, or damaged file information on your hard drive, use Disk Drill.

Since deleting a file does not physically overwrite the information in the file on the hard drive, it is usually still possible to find the file on your computer.

Disk Drill helps you recover lost data by scanning your hard drive:

By the way, if you need to do the opposite - erase files from your hard drive in a difficult way (such as your bank or ID information), you may need to use a shredder. This tool rewrites existing files for safer deletion.

The very popular Mac cleaning tool CleanMyMac X has this feature built in, so you can simply open the application, drag and drop the files you want to crush, and then select the "Safe Delete" option:

*This feature is available in the MacPaw Store and Setapp versions of CleanMyMac X. Learn more here.

Final thoughts on undo operations on Mac

Undo and redo are simple basic macOS keyboard shortcuts that can help you browse work and tasks on your Mac faster. Save time and increase efficiency by using the shortcut keys described in this article, and be able to easily undo recent operations.

If you are interested in further optimizing your Mac experience, try some of the applications mentioned in this article - Paste, CleanMyMac X, Disk Drill, Chronosync Express, BetterTouchTool, and Craft. They are all available to you under the Setapp subscription.

Setapp is a subscription service that offers over 230 Mac and iPhone applications at a single monthly (or annual fee). Just pay once and use hundreds of times! Try Setapp now with our 7-day free trial. Use the application you want to see if Setapp is right for you.

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