Swipe left on Gboard’s Backspace key to quickly delete an entire word/phrase. Google will show you what you just deleted in a suggestion strip to quickly restore it. To take it a step further, there’s a relatively easy way to access Gboard’s dedicated “undo” key for Android.
This tip was brought up in the following situations: Reddit thread About how underrated Apple’s shake and undo gesture is in iOS. On Android, apps like Google Docs and Keep have their own undo/redo functionality, but this is not a system-level feature.
Immediate workarounds for Gboard include adding a Japanese keyboard. If you write something and accidentally delete it, switch the language to Japanese and tap the key in the top left corner to bring it back.
This key has a fairly long memory, allowing you to undo actions even after you exit the app and return. It worked with Google Messages, Chrome, and other apps I tested.
- Open Gboard Settings > Language
- “Add keyboard”
- Search and select “Japanese”
- Select the first option in the carousel [12キー] and press “Done”
When you add another keyboard, a globe key appears to the left of the space bar. If you don’t like the way the bars shrink,[Gboard 設定]>[環境設定]>[言語切り替えキーを表示]Please switch. When turned off, you can use the system language/keyboard key in the bottom right corner of the screen or Gboard’s “Next Language” shortcut, which can be added to the top row.
It takes a bit of work to get this dedicated undo key, but a more ideal solution would be for Gboard to add its own undo button to the suggestion strip. Luckily, Google is working on just that, but it’s not yet available after it was discovered in July of this year.
![](https://9to5google.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/12/gboard-undo-button.jpg?quality=82&strip=all)
Gboard details:
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