Keyboard Shortcuts: Undo or the "Whoops" Key

If you're anything like me, you make a lot of mistakes.  And you hit a lot of wrong keys.  Often, you realize you are hitting the wrong key as you feel your finger make contact, too late to take it back.

Luckily, because this is computing, not life, you CAN take it back.  Did you know there is an "Undo" command that works in most Windows applications? To access it, all you need to do is press CTRL+Z.

CTRL+Z is probably my MOST used key combination.  No kidding.  I must use it at least a dozen and a half times a day.  I've used it twice while typing this post.

Certain Windows programs (and most Office applications) support a multi-level UNDO.  That means you may use CTRL+Z to go back several actions.  Depending on what you are doing, it may undo typing, formatting, or even inserting content.  Unfortunately, it does not act as an "unsend" command yet.  And in many applications, the UNDO command will be unavailable immediately after a save.  (And unfortunately, it will not undo the save command either.)

Again, this works in 99% of the Windows applications and most browser based applications.  It works most anywhere you can type.  Its specific behavior depends on the application, but CTRL+Z will always perform an undo.

I wish LIFE had a CTRL+Z command sometimes!