Shake to Undo is one of Apple’s most underrated features on the iPhone

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Something I always forget about the iPhone is that anytime I mess up typing something, shaking the phone automatically deletes whatever was typed. This is a feature that was introduced way back in 2009 and for whatever reason, I keep forgetting that it exists. A special thanks to Joe who kindly reminded me of this feature, again.  

Shake to Undo is exactly what it sounds like. If you’re typing something on your iPhone keyboard and mess up whatever it is you’re trying to get out, shake the iPhone and you’ll be prompted with a window that asks to “Undo Typing.” Tapping Undo will delete whatever it is you typed. Go ahead and try it out, I’ll wait. 

See, how cool is that? Did you also forget you could do this on iPhone? Don’t feel bad if you did, you’re not the only one. There’s a whole army of folks that have no clue this is a thing that exists. 

Now, maybe you don’t want this enabled on your iPhone and want to turn it off. Apple has Shake to Undo enabled by default. If you want to turn it off, it shouldn’t take you more than 30 seconds.

Here’s how to turn Shake to Undo off: 

Head on over to Settings

Tap “Accessibility“

Tap “Touch“

Toggle off Shake to Undo

Done, you have now turned off Shake to Undo. I don’t see why you would want to turn it off because in most cases, you’re just going to forget it’s even there, but hey, to each its own. We all have our own reasons.

You have more options for deleting text on your iPhone or iPad

If physically shaking your phone to undo whatever you typed sounds like a silly idea (it absolutely is, there’s no way around it), there’s another cool feature you could do in place of it. Ready to have your mind blown? 

Back when Apple released iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, the company added new hand gestures that offered an alternative solution to Shake to Undo.

By swiping three fingers from right to left on your iPhone or iPad, it automatically deletes what you typed without having to click on an “Undo” prompt. Swiping three fingers from left to right will redo those changes. 

I don’t know why it takes me so long to learn new things like this, but hey, now I know and knowledge is power. Hopefully, this post serves as a subtle reminder for the rest of you.

If not, carry on and let me know if there are any other cool things I’m missing out on in the comment section below. 

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Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.