One single mistake and everything is gone. Regardless of how focused you are while working on your mac, mistakes happen. But it’s not something that should stop you from achieving what you have in your mind.
However, it does get nerve-wracking when you have to stop what you are doing and figure out how to undo it on mac or any other similar command. Therefore, it is important for a Mac user to be familiar with common keyboard shortcuts, so that you don’t have to break your flow.
For instance, whether you are a professional or an amateur writer who writes 90 wpm – there are likely chances of you making typos and mistakes. Sometimes, while editing, you may delete an important chunk by mistake, and if you don’t know how to undo your previous action, it can not only break your flow but is heartbreaking.
To avoid these kinds of mishaps, this article will help you in learning how to undo on mac, redo, and repeat through keyboard shortcuts. If you are someone who is not well versed with this, then hang in tight.
How to undo on mac while using Keyboard shortcuts
In cases where you mistakenly remove a statement or do an errant keystroke, keyboard shortcuts are always a lifesaver.
If you are using Microsoft Word on Mac, you can recover over 100 words that you haven’t saved. In addition, you can also recover the following by using a simple single shortcut.
- Changes in the dialog box i.e. editing font size
- Element reformations i.e. alteration in fonts
- Any corrections done automatically i.e. corrected misspelled words
As a Mac user, all you need to do is press ⌘ +Z. A single command keystroke can also do the job but if you want to recover multiple items, ⌘ +Z is a good option to recover your desired items.
But is it possible to edit a saved document? Microsoft Word allows you to undo actions up to 100 undoable attempts. Once done with the editing of your saved document, save it again to the desired place.
Just in-case if you are a window user, replace (⌘) it with ‘Ctrl’, i.e. press Ctrl+Z to undo an action.
How to access Quick Access Toolbar in MS Word
It can be tedious to use the shortcut strokes again and again continuously. Here you can use the quick access toolbar to make changes to your document.
The quick access bar is located in the top left corner of your Word document. An undo icon is a bent arrow aiming to the left.
Adding shortcuts to the quick access toolbar
An undo left-facing arrow is present at the top left corner of the document by default, but if you cannot find it placed over there, adding it on the quick access tab can be done just in a snap.
Just adhere to the simple steps and you will be good to go.
- Navigate to the quick access toolbar and look for the arrow facing downwards with a dropdown menu. Once clicked, a list of options will appear where you can find the shortcuts you can add to the quick access toolbar.
- Make sure that the list has a checkmark on the Undo option.
- If the list does not contain the Undo option, select ‘more commands’ option to explore what you can do to add multiple options at the same time – especially the undo shortcut.
- Once you select more commands, a dialog box will appear. Here you will see a ‘Choose command’ option to show the list of options.
- Click on it and choose ‘All commands’ from the dropdown list.
- Once you select ‘All commands’ look for the undo option to select it and put a checkmark on it to keep it accessible on the quick access toolbar.
- Select the Undo option, add and press OK to add it as an option.
- To undo the last action now press the left-faced arrow once, click on the small arrow attached beside the curved arrow to see a list of actions that you want to undo.
- It’s done, it’s that simple.
How to Redo with keyboard shortcuts in MS Word
There’s always a possibility that you mistakenly remove an important statement that you would want to reinstate and make changes to it. It is one of the common things that must be handy when needed.
To save your time, on Mac press ⌘ +Y, and in case if you have a windows based machine on press a combination of Ctrl+Y.
- A redo action is used to duplicate the last action you made. Plus, it can also help you if you need to add the same action again and again. Actions can be a column or row on a table, a line, or a shape. In other words, the redo action can be used as a repetitive action.
Adding redo shortcut on the quick access toolbar
A redo/repeat icon is set on the quick access toolbar by default. If not, apply the same steps mentioned above to add the undo option on the quick access toolbar. This is how you can add and use the redo/repeat option and use it when needed.
Other shortcuts used for the same action:
Fortunately, we have other options as well to undo the last action, which is a combination of Alt + Backspace. Once pressed, the last action will be undone on mac. You can even select the actions that you want and revert.
Another interesting method to undo the last action is to go to the main menu and select undo. This is interesting because there are many other options that you may come across with the list and may want to add to your daily use. Plus, on mac, you can also use F4 to undo an action that you want to retain but removed accidentally.
Macbooks have launched a feature that if you have saved a file wrongly you can undo it just using the shortcut.
