Most of the work in Figma happens because undo lets you try something and back out of it a second later. The shortcut is muscle memory for anyone who designs all day, and Figma layers a few recovery tools on top of it for the moments when a single undo is not going to cut it. Here is how each one works and when to reach for it.
Undo your last action
Press Ctrl + Z on Windows or Cmd + Z on Mac. Each press steps back one action, so holding the keys and tapping them walks you backward through everything you have done in this session. The same command lives under Edit > Undo in the menu bar if you would rather click than type.
- Select nothing in particular, just make sure the canvas has focus.
- Press Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Cmd + Z (Mac).
- Keep tapping Z while holding the modifier to undo several actions in a row.
Redo what you just undid
Went one step too far back? Redo with Ctrl + Shift + Z on Windows or Cmd + Shift + Z on Mac. Undo and redo move along the same chain of actions, which means you can rock back and forth between two states until the canvas matches what you had in mind. You will also find Redo in the Edit menu next to Undo.
When undo runs out: Version History
Undo only reaches back through your current editing session. Close the file or come back the next morning and that chain resets, so the older states you might want are no longer one keypress away. Version History is where they live instead. Figma keeps automatic snapshots of the file as you work, and you can open them, look around, and bring an old one back.
Open Version History
- Open the file you want to recover work in.
- Go to the main menu in the top left, then choose File > Show version history.
- A timeline opens on the right side of the screen. Click any entry to preview the file exactly as it looked at that moment.
Previewing an old version does not change your current file. You are looking at a read-only copy until you decide to do something with it.
Restore or branch from an old version
Once you have found the version you want, hover over its entry in the timeline and open the options. Restore this version rolls the whole file back to that point and keeps everything that came after as later history, so nothing is actually thrown away. If you only want a few elements from the past, open the old version, copy what you need, and paste it back into the current file.
Name versions at the points that matter
Scrubbing through dozens of automatic snapshots to find the one good state is slow. Naming a version before a big change gives you a labeled bookmark to jump straight to.
- Reach a state you are happy with, such as a finished first draft or a client-approved screen.
- Open the main menu and choose File > Save to version history.
- Type a short, clear name like Before redesign or v1 sent to client and save.
Named versions show up in bold in the timeline, which makes them easy to spot among the automatic ones. The whole thing takes about ten seconds and it is worth doing at any milestone you would hate to lose.
A word on autosave
Figma saves continuously in the background, so there is no Save button to forget and no separate file to lose. Your work syncs to the cloud as you go. That covers crashes and closed laptops, but it does not protect you from a change you made on purpose and later regret, which is exactly the gap Version History fills.
Undo in a shared file
Undo only walks back your own recent actions, not the edits your teammates are making at the same time. If someone else changed something that needs reverting, undo will not touch it. Use Version History instead and roll the file back to a snapshot from before the change. Tell the room first, since restoring affects the file for everyone.
Takeaways
- Ctrl + Z / Cmd + Z to undo, Ctrl + Shift + Z / Cmd + Shift + Z to redo. These cover most of your work.
- Undo only spans the current session. For anything older, go to File > Show version history.
- Save a named version at every milestone so you have a clean point to return to.
- Autosave protects you from crashes, not from regret. Version History covers the rest.