What does the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Z do?

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If you typed something wrong, deleted by mistake, or did some other accidental action in Windows, you probably want to use Ctrl + Z at some point. This is what it does.

It’s the Undo shortcut

If you press Ctrl + Z in Windows 10 or Windows 11, it will undo your previous action in most applications. This is useful when you make an input mistake or delete some content and want to fix it quickly. The shortcut also works in File Explorer when renaming files and performing other actions.

To undo on Windows, press Ctrl + Z on your keyboard.
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You can also often perform Undo from a menu command in an app, such as Edit > Undo in apps with a traditional menu bar at the top.

The Ctrl + Z Undo shortcut originated in Windows with version 3.1 in 1992, borrowed from the Apple Macintosh (where is Command + Z instead?). The Mac borrowed the Command + Z shortcut from Apple Lisa (1983), which (along with the cut/copy/paste shortcuts) was created by Larry Tesler as Apple + Z for the Lisa keyboard layout at the time.

Before Windows 3.1, early versions of Windows supported an alternate undo shortcut, Alt + Backspace, which can still be used in many Windows applications today, but may not be universally supported by all applications.

RELATED: How to undo (and redo) on a Windows PC

You can also redo

After pressing Ctrl + Z to undo, you can go back to the previous state (before Undo) in many applications by performing a “Redo”. To do this, press Ctrl + Y, or select “Redo” from a menu.

To redo some Windows applications, press Ctrl + Y on your keyboard.
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Good luck and happy editing!

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