Undo and Redo Shortcuts in Excel for Mac (⌘Z, ⌘Y and ⇧⌘Z)
Undo is the one Excel shortcut nobody wants to lose. On a Mac the key changes from Ctrl to Command, and Redo has more than one option.
Quick answer: Press ⌘Z to undo in Excel for Mac. To redo, press ⌘Y or ⇧⌘Z. Microsoft's Mac shortcut list also accepts Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y. The Mac Excel Shortcuts app keeps your Windows muscle memory working across Excel's other shortcuts too.
Undo and redo shortcuts on Mac
| Action | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | ⌘Z |
| Redo | Ctrl+Y | ⌘Y |
| Undo from the ribbon | Quick Access Toolbar arrow | Undo arrow in the toolbar, to step back several actions |
Press ⌘Z repeatedly to step back through your recent actions one at a time. The Undo arrow in the toolbar lets you jump back several steps in one go, which is faster when you have made a run of edits.
What Excel cannot undo
Undo covers most edits, but some actions clear the history:
Closing the workbook clears the Undo list, so you cannot undo after reopening it.
Running a macro can clear the Undo list, because macros change the sheet in ways Excel does not track.
Actions that are not edits, such as switching sheets, are not on the Undo list at all.
If you are about to do something large, such as a Find and Replace across a sheet, save a copy first with ⇧⌘S.
When Undo is greyed out
You have just opened the file, so there is nothing to undo yet.
A macro ran and cleared the list.
You are in Protected View. Click Enable Editing first.
You are editing inside a cell. In that case ⌘Z undoes the typing in the cell; press Esc to cancel the edit entirely.
Repeat the last action
Windows users often use F4 or Ctrl+Y to repeat the last action. That is a separate job from redo on a Mac, and F4 has its own quirks because of the function-key setting. See F4 in Excel for Mac for the details.