Everyone makes mistakes. It's part of life. The trick is learning from them and, when possible, finding a way to fix them. With iOS, you can do exactly that.
We're talking about iPhone mistakes here — spelling errors, typos, accidental deletions, or even archiving an email you didn't mean to. iOS has multiple built-in undo features that can reverse these actions instantly, and most people don't know they exist.
How you use them depends on which method you're most comfortable with, which usually means the one you'll actually remember. All of them work effectively. Here's how to never curse a typo again.
1. Shake to undo
If you make a mistake when you’re performing an action on your iPhone, the easiest way to rectify it is to give your iPhone a shake. You don’t have to do it too rigorously, a gentle shake will suffice.
It’ll undo mistakes when typing, allow you to remove items you’ve just pasted, retrieve accidental deletions and so much more. Once your shake has been registered, you’ll be prompted to confirm the action.
But what if it’s not working or if you would rather not use this method? You can turn it on and off if you open the Settings app, select Accessibility, tap Touch and toggle Shake to Undo.
2. Use three fingers
If you’re self-conscious about shaking your iPhone, you can use a more discreet three-finger swipe instead. It’s pretty simple.
Place three fingers on the iPhone’s screen then either swipe them to the left to undo an action or swipe them to the right to redo an action.
3. Activate a menu
It’s also worth pointing out that some apps have a built-in undo option which usually looks like a curved arrow so it’s worth looking out for it. To enable this, just tap the Undo button if you see it.
You can also tap on the screen with three fingers to call up a small toolbar at the top of the screen that has Undo/Redo buttons. Select either undo or redo.
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