Disable Ctrl+Z shortcut or clear undo history in Windows Explorer?
Solution 1
I wrote a program in C to disable both the Undo and Redo shortcuts, since both can lead to accidents.
The program can be found at http://purl.org/net/dweundo .
It has an installer which, if you want, adds a shortcut in the Start Menu 'Startup' folder, so the program starts when you log on.
Solution 2
I think you can have Autohotkey override an existing shortcut.
^z::
return
Will make Ctrl + z do nothing
Edit: This will apply everywhere. To apply in explorer only, try this:
#IfWinActive ahk_class ExploreWClass
^z::
#IfWinActive ahk_class CabinetWClass
^z::
return
#IfWinActive
Solution 3
The given scripts seems works correctly except for objects (files, folders, etc) placed on the Desktop.
Suppose, in fact, you have a folder named MyFolder
on your Desktop and you rename it to NewName
. Accidentally pressing CTRL+Z will cause you to lose the change reverting to MyFolder
.
I paste a new script release catching also Desktop:
#IfWinActive ahk_class ExploreWClass
^z::
#IfWinActive ahk_class CabinetWClass
^z::
return
#IfWinActive ahk_class Progman
^z::
return
#IfWinActive
Thank you for sharing this usefull autokey, unfortunately I lost a whole document due a stupid Windows feature/bug in correlation with accidental CTRL+Z shortcut :|.
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JustinStolle
I've been a web designer, database developer, and programmer in varying capacities since the mid '90s. I like to help others and appreciate the knowledge that others here have to share. My bio and work history are on Careers 2.0.
Updated on September 18, 2022Comments
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JustinStolle over 1 year
Is there any way to disable the CTRL+Z (Undo) shortcut in Windows Explorer? Alternatively, is there a way to have Windows Explorer "forget" its undo history?
The reason I ask is that you may have done some file operations in Explorer (copying, renaming, etc.), and perhaps you don't reboot for days or longer (choosing to hibernate instead). The problem is that if you accidentally hit CTRL+Z one or more times (often mistaking which application you have in the foreground; using a dual-monitor setup will increase that likelihood), you may be undoing something that was done ages ago without realizing what happened.
Even if you do realize what has happened, you may not remember what the last several operations were that you did potentially days ago. As far as I can tell, there is no "Redo" function in Windows Explorer to save you. I can imagine scenarios in which this mistake could cause lots of problems.
If the shortcut can be disabled, it would at least force you to use the
Edit > Undo
menu item before doing something stupid. Otherwise if the undo history could be periodically cleared, that would prevent some very old operations from being undone.Addendum: For those interested in implementing this, I created an AHK file that runs silently (the
#NoTrayIcon
option) from my Windows Startup folder. Besides some other useful shortcuts I incorporated, this is what it looks like:#NoTrayIcon SetTitleMatchMode RegEx return ; Disable Ctrl+Z shortcut in Windows Explorer ; #IfWinActive ahk_class ExploreWClass|CabinetWClass ^z::return #IfWinActive
If you prefer feedback instead of CTRL+Z simply doing nothing, play a default sound or use
MsgBox
to cause a dialog to appear.#IfWinActive ahk_class ExploreWClass|CabinetWClass ^z:: ;Uncomment the feedback option you prefer below ;SoundPlay *-1 ;MsgBox Ctrl+Z has been disabled. return #IfWinActive
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JustinStolle about 13 yearsThanks, this is a great little utility! I've edited your answer to include also the
ExploreWClass
as Explorer can run as either depending on how it is launched. The trailing#IfWinActive
should be used so the hotkey doesn't fall through to any commands in the script beneath it. -
JustinStolle over 10 yearsJust tried it out, works great so far! I like this solution much better.
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Eddie C. over 10 yearsThe script seems not working correctly on Windows 8.1. I'll post a code upgrade.
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Gras Double over 7 yearsThank you! Works in all cases I've tried, and very low memory footprint.
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Eddie C. over 7 yearsI agree that
dweundo
is the best. Me too I'm using that since discovered.