How to roll back an action in Photoshop. How to Undo an Action in Photoshop CS6

When working with Photoshop, very often there is a need to undo erroneous actions. This is one of the advantages graphic programs And digital photography: you can not be afraid to make a mistake or go for a bold experiment. After all, there is always the opportunity to remove the consequences without prejudice to the original or the main work.

This publication will discuss how you can undo the last operation in Photoshop. You can do this in three ways:

1. Key combination
2. Menu Command
3. History usage

Let's consider them in more detail.

Every experienced user is familiar with this method of undoing the last actions, especially if he uses text editors. This is a system feature and is present by default in most programs. When you click on this combination, the last actions are sequentially canceled until the desired result is achieved.

In the case of Photoshop, this combination has its own peculiarities - it only works once. Let's take a small example. Using the Brush Tool, draw two dots. pressing ctrl+z leads to removal last point. Pressing again will not delete the first set point, but will only “delete the deleted one”, that is, it will return the second point to its place.

Method number 2. Menu command "Step back"

The second way to undo the last action in Photoshop is to use the menu command "Step back". This is a more convenient option because it allows you to undo the required number of incorrect actions.

Cancel is programmed by default 20 recent user actions. But this number can easily be increased with fine tuning.

To do this, you must sequentially go through the points.

Then in subparagraph "Action History" the required parameter value is set. The interval available to the user is 1-1000 .

This method of undoing the last user actions in Photoshop is convenient for those who like to experiment with the various features that the program provides. This menu command is also useful for beginners when mastering Photoshop.

It is also convenient to use the combination CTRL+ALT+Z, which is assigned to this team by the developers.

It is worth noting that Photoshop also provides a function to return the undo of the last action. It is invoked via the menu command "Step forward".

Method number 3. Using the history palette

On the main window of Photoshop there is additional window "Story". It records all user actions taken while working with an image or photo. Each of them is displayed as a separate line. It contains a thumbnail and the name of the function or tool used.


If you do not have such a window on the main screen, then you can display it by selecting "Window - History".

By default, Photoshop displays a history of 20 user operations in the palette window. This parameter, as mentioned above, can be easily changed in the range 1-1000 using the menu "Editing - Preferences - Performance".

Using "History" is very simple. It is enough to click on the required line in this window and the program will return to this state. In this case, all subsequent actions will be highlighted in gray.

If you change the selected state, for example, use a different tool, then all subsequent actions highlighted in gray will be deleted.

Thus, you can undo or select any previous action in Photoshop.

Good day, dear friends. Imagine that you are concentrating on some project in Photoshop. And here you are already finishing, completed all the effects, drew and processed everything, and even . And then you notice that the final image shows a sickly flaw that suddenly caught your eye. Panic, the layers are merged. What to do? How to retouch? A few hours of hard work!

In fact, I hasten to reassure you. There is nothing wrong with this. You can go back one or several actions back, up to a certain point. And today I would like to tell you how to cancel last action in photoshop and don't worry if you screwed up.

So let's go!

Cancellation using hotkeys

The easiest way to go back a certain number of steps is to use keyboard shortcuts.

To undo the last action, press the key combination "CTRL+Z". But this bundle only works with one last action, i.e. you can only go back one step. And if you press these keys again, you will return to where you started.

To undo multiple steps, you need to press the combination "ALT+CTRL+Z". Then each press of this combination will undo the previous action until you return to the desired step, when everything was still fine. Very fast and convenient.

Going Back Using the History Palette

Consider another way to undo actions, namely the History window. What is convenient this way? The fact that you see what actions when you performed. Thus, you immediately choose which step to return to. Well, in general, let's look at practice.


This is how you can easily and conveniently return to some previous state of work. In addition, "History" allows you to see how much the image has changed compared to the original after editing. To do this, just go back to the topmost step. Looked? Now go back to the last step again.

So how do you get back? Useful thing? Still would. This is a must to know. And by the way, if you really want to know Photoshop well, then be sure to check out video course on working with him. The lessons are just amazing, no water and everything is told in human language. Highly recommend.

Well, I'm finishing my today's lesson and I hope you liked it. And you, in turn, do not forget to subscribe to my blog updates and tell your friends, then everything will be cool. Well, we will see you in other articles. Bye bye!

Sincerely, Dmitry Kostin.

Adobe's graphics editor called Photoshop has been the favorite of photographers and graphic designers for almost a decade. Here, in electronic environment, you can correct any of your mistakes and go back a few steps, which is difficult to translate on paper. In this article, you will learn all the nuances of undoing actions in Photoshop.

How to quickly undo an action in Photoshop

If you need to roll back one or three actions, then you can do this using Photoshop's hotkeys. These are special combinations of buttons that you need to remember, as they significantly reduce the time spent working with the program and make it much easier.

Completely undo your last action: CTRL + ALT + Z. This will take you one step back in your edit.

Another method: CTRL + Z. It works quite differently. You roll back the action, but if you press this key combination again, the last step will take effect again. This is very handy when you're not sure if you want to undo your last action. By pressing several times on CTRL and Z you can see both options and choose the best one.

If you roll back the changes in this way and do not return them by clicking on the combination again, then the rollback will remain in effect.


How to undo an action in Photoshop through the "History" tab

If you have to rollback changes in editing many steps back, then it is better to immediately go to the “History” tab. Setting up its display is quite simple.

Go to the “Window” or “Window” section. Select "History" or "History".


A small window with the same name will immediately appear on the screen.


As soon as you start editing the photo, more and more new lines with the name of the tools will begin to appear in the “History”. For example, if you took a brush and painted some area, the item “Brush” will appear in the history.


To undo several actions at once, simply click on the edit period to which you want to roll back the changes. So you can navigate through the story and select any point.


Also in the history tab with settings is available, where you can slightly change the appearance of this window. Click on the three bars in the upper right corner. Then select the “History Options” section.


How to increase the size of a story in Photoshop

It often happens that the story suddenly ends at the right place. You need to undo the changes, but these lines are no longer there. To do this, you need to increase the memory cache for history consumption.

Open the “Edit” or “Editing” tab, then go to “Preferences”. Another window pops up in which you need to click on “General” or “General”. It all depends on the language of your program.


In the window that appears, go to the “Perfomance” tab, in which you will find the section labeled “History States”. By default, it has a value of “50”, change it to the maximum available “1000” by simply dragging the slider to the right.

Now your history is hard to fill: it will store your every action, and you can undo any step.

Try to remember the hot keys and this method to make it easier to navigate in the editor.


For everyone who has ever encountered the need for image processing, the program is known Adobe Photoshop. This is a photo application that offers a wide range of editing features. The editor has many features, so it's not always clear to beginners how to reverse an action.

How to use keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop to undo an action

How to undo an action in photoshop cs6 or cs5? One of the most important and useful features Photoshop is a return action on the keyboard that allows you to step back in processing. This can be done in several ways, but the simplest is a combination of hot keys. With their help, you can cancel the change that was made in the program, you need to remember a simple key combination - Ctrl + Z. If you click it again, the undone changes will be reverted back.

How to deselect in photoshop

Some program tools require selection of a certain area on the layer. It is not always possible to draw a contour or section of a photo correctly the first time, so you need to know how to remove a selection from a picture. Options for solving the problem:

  1. The easiest option is through the Ctrl+D key sequence. After clicking them, the frame will disappear. If you hold them again, the outline of the entire layer will appear.
  2. Many tools deselect when clicked right click mouse over any area of ​​the image. The only nuance is Quick Selection» will react correctly if you press inside the area.
  3. You can use context menu, to do this, right-click on the image and find the "Deselect" section in the list. IN different versions programs and even tools, the location of this item may differ (somewhere in the first place, and somewhere in the middle).
  4. Another option is to go to the "Select" menu item, which is located on the control panel, click "Deselect".

How to undo the last action in photoshop

When making a random mistake or getting an unexpected result, it will be useful to know how to undo an action in Photoshop cs5 or cs6. To do this, you can use the hotkey command or the program menu. To revert the latest changes:

  1. From the Photoshop main menu, click on the "Edit" section. A menu will pop up, you need to press the line that starts with "Undo" and ends with the name of the applied tool or edit. This helps to understand what will be changed.
  2. The Ctrl+Z key sequence will take you back a step, deleting the last use of the tool.
  3. In the right column, find the section called "History" (in the Russian version "History"). All transactions you have made (usually the last 20) will be displayed here. Click on the penultimate line, this will return your work in Photoshop to the state of the step back. Sometimes this window or tab is disabled, you can enable the display through the menu settings working area.

How to take a step back in photoshop

The Ctrl+Z hotkey combination only helps with the last change, but has no way to go back more than one step. To do this, use the combination Ctrl + Alt + Z. With repeated pressing, you can erase the last edits on the file for the required number of steps back. If you need to revert to an earlier document state, you can use another method:

  • in the main menu, go to the "Edit" section;
  • find the "Step Backward" section;
  • press as many times as needed.

How to Undo Multiple Actions in Photoshop

In some cases, the return needs to be done more than one step. This can come in handy if you have made several changes in contrast, palettes, performed color correction, added brightness, but the end result did not satisfy you. I don’t want to reload the picture, especially if the necessary adjustments have already been made. You can use options on how to go back a few steps:

  1. To sequentially undo several edits, you need to find the “Edit” section in the main menu and click the “Step Backward” item as many times as necessary. Press the item as many times as you want to erase the edits.
  2. Exactly the same effect as described in the paragraph above can be achieved by pressing the hot keys Ctrl+Alt+Z. Edits will disappear in the reverse order they were applied. Only those that were added to the image will be deleted, and the choice of brushes and colors will remain the same.
  3. To go back a few steps in one click, it is better to use the "History" tab. Find this menu on the right of the program's workspace (in the English version it is signed "History"). By default, this list contains the last 20 changes, select the required restore point and click on it. If it was thrown too far, then click the line below and the program will restore the state. This option helps you remove or revert any required edits.

Video: Undoing an Action in Photoshop

For anyone who has ever encountered the need for image processing, the Adobe Photoshop program is known. This is a photo application that offers a wide range of editing features. The editor has many features, so it's not always clear to beginners how to reverse an action.

How to use keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop to undo an action

How to undo an action in photoshop cs6 or cs5? One of the most important and useful features of Photoshop is the return action on the keyboard, which allows you to take a step back during processing. This can be done in several ways, but the simplest is a combination of hot keys. With their help, you can cancel the change that was made in the program, you need to remember a simple key combination - Ctrl + Z. If you click it again, the undone changes will be reverted back.

How to deselect in photoshop

Some program tools require selection of a certain area on the layer. It is not always possible to draw a contour or section of a photo correctly the first time, so you need to know how to remove a selection from a picture. Options for solving the problem:

  1. The easiest option is through the Ctrl+D key sequence. After clicking them, the frame will disappear. If you hold them again, the outline of the entire layer will appear.
  2. Many tools deselect when you right-click anywhere in an image. The only caveat - "Quick Selection" will react correctly if you click inside the area.
  3. You can use the context menu, for this, right-click on the image and find the "Deselect" section in the list. In different versions of the program and even tools, the location of this item may differ (somewhere in the first place, and somewhere in the middle).
  4. Another option is to go to the "Select" menu item, which is located on the control panel, click "Deselect".

How to undo the last action in photoshop

When making a random mistake or getting an unexpected result, it will be useful to know how to undo an action in Photoshop cs5 or cs6. To do this, you can use the hotkey command or the program menu. To revert the latest changes:

  1. From the Photoshop main menu, click on the "Edit" section. A menu will pop up, you need to press the line that starts with "Undo" and ends with the name of the applied tool or edit. This helps to understand what will be changed.
  2. The Ctrl+Z key sequence will take you back a step, deleting the last use of the tool.
  3. In the right column, find the section called "History" (in the Russian version "History"). All transactions you have made (usually the last 20) will be displayed here. Click on the penultimate line, this will return your work in Photoshop to the state of the step back. Sometimes this window or tab is disabled, you can enable the display through the workspace menu settings.

How to take a step back in photoshop

The Ctrl+Z hotkey combination only helps with the last change, but has no way to go back more than one step. To do this, use the combination Ctrl + Alt + Z. With repeated pressing, you can erase the last edits on the file for the required number of steps back. If you need to revert to an earlier document state, you can use another method:

  • in the main menu, go to the "Edit" section;
  • find the "Step Backward" section;
  • press as many times as needed.

How to Undo Multiple Actions in Photoshop

In some cases, the return needs to be done more than one step. This can come in handy if you have made several changes in contrast, palettes, performed color correction, added brightness, but the end result did not satisfy you. I don’t want to reload the picture, especially if the necessary adjustments have already been made. You can use options on how to go back a few steps:

  1. To sequentially undo several edits, you need to find the “Edit” section in the main menu and click the “Step Backward” item as many times as necessary. Press the item as many times as you want to erase the edits.
  2. Exactly the same effect as described in the paragraph above can be achieved by pressing the hot keys Ctrl+Alt+Z. Edits will disappear in the reverse order they were applied. Only those that were added to the image will be deleted, and the choice of brushes and colors will remain the same.
  3. To go back a few steps in one click, it is better to use the "History" tab. Find this menu on the right of the program's workspace (in the English version it is signed "History"). By default, this list contains the last 20 changes, select the required restore point and click on it. If it was thrown too far, then click the line below and the program will restore the state. This option helps you remove or revert any required edits.

During large-scale work with digital images in the raster graphics editor Adobe Photoshop, you have to perform many different actions. Naturally, not all of them are successful and some have to be canceled, returning to the previous image states. Simple and familiar to automatic operation for experienced users, the operation can cause serious difficulties for those who take the first steps in mastering this wonderful program in every sense.

How to undo the last action in Photoshop
Decide this task possible in two ways.

  1. The easiest way to quickly undo the last action in Photoshop is to use hotkeys ctrl + Z on Windows cmd + Z in MacOS. Single use of the specified key combination will undo the last action. The next press, unlike most other programs, will return the last undone action. In order to undo the penultimate and earlier actions, after ctrl + Z keyboard shortcut must be pressed ctrl + alt + Z. It will be possible to cancel until the sequence is stored in Photoshop's memory committed actions.

  2. Using the history window. This is a more visual way, which consists in using the history of actions in Photoshop. If windows Story is not in your toolbar, then activate it through the main menu along the path WindowStory. In the history window, in chronological order, the use of various tools will be reflected and in order to delete the last one, select the line of the event and click on the trash can icon to delete / cancel it.

By default, Photoshop is set to undo (rollback) the last 20 actions. When working with the program, situations may arise when you need to undo a larger number of actions, and there will be no set limit on the number of rollbacks.

Therefore, it makes sense to increase this indicator to at least 100. You can do this from the main menu by following the path EditingSettingsPerformance. In the performance window that opens, change the value of the indicator Action History. After that, it makes sense to increase the amount of memory allocated for Photoshop by 10 ... 20%, depending on the total amount random access memory on your computer and the nature of its spending.

1 way- Ctrl+Z

I think almost everyone who works with text documents on the computer. This is the standard system command, which undoes the previous action. It works in almost any program and editor.

There is an important difference in Photoshop. If in text editor, we can press this combination even to infinity and we will watch how we go back step by step, then in Photoshop you can press it only once.

Thus, this combination cancels only one wrong action, and pressing again returns everything to its place. And so on in a circle to infinity.

2 way- Step back

Yes, I started with a little disappointment, because Ctrl + Z is already so “driven into the hand” that it will be hard to get used to at first. But what if you need to undo not only the last action, but also, say, the last 10?

In this case, you will have to retrain yourself to another similar combination - Ctrl + Alt + Z. Or use the menu command Editing - Step back.

There is also a command on the contrary - Step forward, which will return what you returned back. 🙂


By default, Photoshop remembers the last 20 actions that you have performed, that is, the combination Ctrl + Alt + Z can be pressed 20 times. . But this can easily be changed in Photoshop's settings. To do this, open .

On the menu Action History You can set any value between 1 and 1000.

3 way- History palette

If you are a novice user of Photoshop, then for a start I recommend reading more about what palettes are in Photoshop and what the History palette is in particular.

In short, the History palette displays all of your photo manipulations and displays each of them on a separate line. It looks like this:


In this example, I have used the brush tool many times. Each of these usages is displayed as a separate entry, labeled with the name of the instrument, and displayed with an individual thumbnail.

Easy to use palette- click a certain action in this story and photoshop will return to the state when this action was performed. Everything that stands after began to be seen in a pale gray color. While you have done nothing, you can choose another action from among the pale gray ones, but if you return and apply, for example, another tool, then at that moment the entire pale gray history is erased.

To open it, check the box in the menu Window - History.

As in previous method, by default, the History palette displays the last 20 actions. In settings Editing - Preferences - Performance it can be changed.

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