Love Me Undo!

The estimated reading time for this post is 3 minutes

Happy Valentine’s Day, dear readers! If you’ve ever made a mistake in life, in love or anywhere else, you probably wished you had an “Undo” button. How handy would it be if you could erase the mistakes of your past? Well, in the tech world you can undo your mistakes, sometimes quite easily. Here’s how:

Undo Typing

If you have ever regretted deleting something you typed, then you should know about the Undo command for typing:

Control + z = Undo on Windows

Command + z = Undo on Mac

Very handy if you change your mind or accidentally have deleted your typing.

If you have an Android phone, check to see if there is a Control key. If there is, you can use Control + z to Undo the typing on your phone.

The iPhone has a nifty feature that allows you to undo your typing by shaking the phone. This Undo command erases what you last typed. You can also bring back the typing you erased by shaking it again. I love this Undo feature because I am terrible at typing on the iPhone’s virtual keyboard.

Undo File Deletion

Have you ever deleted a family picture, a favorite song file or a document, only to be gripped by panic when you realize that you deleted the wrong one? Worry no more, tech has you covered.

In Windows, go to your Desktop (the screen you see when your computer is on with no files open) and find the Recycle Bin. Right click on it and choose Explore. A screen will open showing you the files you have deleted. Either Select All or right click on the file you want and then click Restore. Voila! Your file is back as if you never deleted it.

On a Mac, find the Trash Can on the bottom Tool Bar, click on it to open the Trash window, find the file you want to restore and drag it onto your Desktop. The file is now restored.

Undo System Restore – Windows

What if you get yourself into a bigger mess with your Windows computer, perhaps by downloading a file with a virus or partially downloading a software file, and your computer crashes or starts acting strangely? Windows has a nifty feature called System Restore that has saved me from these mistakes in the past.

At regular intervals, Windows takes a virtual snapshot of your system and saves it on your hard drive so if something goes wrong you can do a System Restore and go back to a time before the problem occurred.  You might lose about a day’s worth of saved data, but that’s better than a total crash.

The process involves quite a few steps, which are different depending on which version of Windows you use (Windows 7, Vista, XP), so make sure you check out a site that walks you through the steps if you need a System Restore. Lifehacker: System Restore.

Undo Time Machine – Mac

Mac computers have a restore option called Time Machine. Time Machine is different from System Restore on Windows computers in that Time Machine takes virtual snapshots of your system and saves them on an external hard drive. You need to set up Time Machine, it isn’t automatic like Windows System Restore, so make sure to check out this link if you have a Mac computer: GigaOm: Time Machine

Undo Emails

Your email has a Trash folder where emails go when you delete them. Having second thoughts about deleting that chain email promising you fame and fortune if you only forward it to 100 of your closest friends? Go to the Trash folder and move it back to your Inbox.

Gmail takes Undo a step farther with a feature that allows you to retrieve sent emails. If you’re ever regretted sending a nasty email to your boyfriend, husband and/or boss merely seconds before receiving a marriage proposal, diamond necklace and/or promotion, this feature is for you!

In Gmail, find Settings in the upper right corner of your screen. Click on it, then in the next screen click on Labs at the top. Find Undo Send and enable it. Click the Save Changes button and you’re all set. Note that it only holds the email for a few seconds before sending it out, so make sure you change your mind quickly!

Summary

Undoing mistakes in the tech world is much easier than in the real world. You just have to know how. Or you could stop making mistakes in the first place, whichever is easier for you!

* Photo by dps