Undo on a Mac: the Ctrl+Z shortcut is Command-Z

Why it happens

On a Mac, the Command key (⌘) does the job Ctrl does on a Windows PC. So Ctrl+Z becomes Command-Z, and Control-Z usually does nothing. Undo works the same way in almost every app, including Finder.

How to fix it

1. Hold Command, the key with ⌘ on it beside the space bar, and press Z. Your last change is reversed.

2. Keep pressing Command-Z to step back through earlier changes, one at a time.

3. Prefer the mouse? Open the Edit menu at the top of the screen and choose Undo. The menu also tells you what will be undone.

   Edit›Undo

4. Went back too far? Press Shift-Command-Z, or choose Edit and then Redo.

   Edit›Redo

Still not fixed?

1. Moved, renamed or binned a file by mistake? Click the Finder window and press Command-Z straight away. For something deleted earlier, open the Trash, Control-click the file and choose Put Back.

   Finder›Trash›Put Back

2. If Undo is greyed out, there's nothing left to undo in that app. In apps like Pages and TextEdit, open the File menu, choose Revert To and then Browse All Versions to pick an older copy.

   File›Revert To›Browse All Versions…

3. If you emptied the Trash, the file can only come back from a backup such as Time Machine.

4. If Command-Z does nothing in any app, the Command key may be faulty. Try the Command key on the other side, or another keyboard, and contact Apple Support or a repair shop if only one keyboard fails.