Undo
A quick way to reverse what you just did, which often replaces an "Are you sure?" question.
SPECIMEN · LIVE DEMO
Definition
What it is
Undo lets people reverse their last action: an "Undo" link in the toast after deleting, or Ctrl+Z in an editor. It makes people braver, because mistakes are cheap.
A common pattern is to do the action immediately and offer undo for a few seconds, instead of interrupting with a confirmation modal every time. Confirmations are still right for big, irreversible actions like deleting an account.
Undo needs the app to remember the previous state, so mention it early; it's harder to add later.
Say it like a builder
How to ask for it
Vague
“People delete things by accident.”
Why it works
The weak prompt might get a confirmation popup on every delete; "undo" names a faster pattern and the prompt sets the time window.
In the wild
You've seen this in
- G"Message sent · Undo" in Gmail
- SArchiving a conversation in Slack
- GCtrl+Z in Google Docs
Usage note