# Undo and the safety net that is on by default

> Nothing is lost quietly: Delete goes to the Recycle Bin, an overwritten file is stashed, Ctrl+Z undoes a whole batch, a Flight Recorder shows where files went.

- Canonical: https://cwdio.com/features/undo-and-safety-net/
- Updated: 2026-08-15
- Product: Cwdio File Manager (cwdio) — https://cwdio.com

A file manager can move and delete your files, so cwdio's defaults are arranged so that a slip costs a
click, not a file: deletion goes to the Recycle Bin, an overwrite keeps the loser, a whole batch undoes
with <kbd>Ctrl+Z</kbd>, and a history remembers where everything went.

## What it does

- **Delete to the Recycle Bin.** <kbd>Del</kbd> and <kbd>F8</kbd> trash. A count-and-names confirmation is on by
  default and can be switched off; permanent delete (<kbd>Shift+Del</kbd>) is a separate, danger-styled
  confirmation that always appears and focuses Cancel.
- **The pre-overwrite stash.** When a copy or move overwrites a file, the file it replaces is moved aside
  instead of removed — same-volume, one rename. The Operations drawer shows *N kept* and offers *Restore
  overwritten files*. On by default (*Keep overwritten files*).
- **Undo a whole batch.** <kbd>Ctrl+Z</kbd> reverses the last operation as a unit — every item of a copy or
  move, every name of a bulk rename, a new folder tree, an overwrite, a hard-link replacement, an AI
  action. <kbd>Ctrl+Y</kbd> (or <kbd>Ctrl+Shift+Z</kbd>) redoes. Each undo entry carries both directions, so a
  swap or a rename cycle undoes as cleanly as it applied.
- **The Flight Recorder.** Tools ▸ Recent file events… lists every completed copy, move, rename and delete
  cwdio performed, newest first, filterable by name and by kind. <kbd>Enter</kbd> jumps the panel to where the
  file is now; a moved file offers *Move it back*, a renamed one *Rename it back*. Clear history wipes the
  log and touches no file.
- **Locked-file detection.** *What's locking this file?* names the processes, via the Windows Restart
  Manager, and can force-close one behind a two-step confirmation.
- **Atomic navigation.** A folder that refuses to list — an ejected drive, an admin-only folder — leaves
  the panel exactly as it was, cursor included; nothing you were looking at is blanked.

## How to use it

1. Work normally. Delete with <kbd>Del</kbd>; if the confirmation gets in your way, turn it off in
   Preferences ▸ Transfers — the Recycle Bin is still there.
2. Made a mistake? <kbd>Ctrl+Z</kbd>. Went too far? <kbd>Ctrl+Y</kbd>.
3. Overwrote the wrong version? Open the Operations drawer (<kbd>Ctrl+L</kbd>), find the row with the green
   *N kept* chip, *Restore overwritten files*.
4. Lost track of a file entirely? Tools ▸ Recent file events…, type part of its name, <kbd>Enter</kbd>.

## Where the safety net reaches

The queue is journaled, so an operation interrupted by a crash or a dropped drive resumes rather than
starting again, and every generic copy publishes its target with a single rename only after the bytes —
and, if you asked, the checksum — are complete. The Sync view's Mirror mode deletes target-only files to
the trash, the duplicate finder deletes checked copies to the trash, and the AI assistant's file changes
arrive as proposals that execute through the same queue, trash and undo as your own.

## What it deliberately does not do

- **Delete is not on the undo stack.** The Recycle Bin is the undo for a delete; Windows offers no
  restore handle cwdio could call reliably, so it does not pretend to. Tools ▸ Open Recycle Bin is the
  route back.
- The stash covers local overwrites. A copy onto an SFTP or FTP server, or into an archive, does not stash
  what it replaces.
- Undo does not remove a folder that a *Move to new folder* created — the files go back out; the empty
  folder stays.

## Related

- [Transfers and the queue](/features/transfers-and-queue/) — the journal, resume and per-file retry.
- [Duplicate finder](/features/duplicate-finder/) — deletes to the trash, hard-links undoably.
- [AI assistant](/features/ai-assistant/) — every change is a proposal, and every proposal is undoable.

## Frequently asked questions

**What can Ctrl+Z undo?** A whole batch at once: a copy, a move (each item returns to its own original folder), a single or bulk rename, a new folder, an overwrite (the replaced file comes back from the stash), a hard-link replacement in the duplicate finder, and anything the AI assistant did through the queue. Ctrl+Y redoes. Deletes are deliberately not on the undo stack — they go to the Recycle Bin, where Windows can restore them.

**What happens to a file I overwrite?** It is moved aside into a stash rather than removed — one kernel rename on the same volume, so it costs nothing. The Operations drawer shows a green “N kept” chip on the row and a Restore overwritten files button that moves them back; a restore stashes what it displaces, so nothing is lost in either direction. The stash is bounded (256 MB per entry, 1 GB total, 7 days) and prunes oldest-first. Keep overwritten files is on by default.

**Is Delete really safe?** Delete and F8 send files to the Recycle Bin, behind a confirmation you can turn off. Shift+Delete deletes permanently and always asks with a stronger, danger-styled dialog whose default button is Cancel. Tools ▸ Open Recycle Bin shows what you deleted; Tools ▸ Empty Recycle Bin is confirmed the same danger-styled way because it cannot be undone.

**A file will not move because something has it open. What now?** File ▸ What's locking this file? asks the Windows Restart Manager which processes hold it open and lists them; each can be force-closed behind a two-step confirmation that warns about unsaved work. The same query is one click away on any failed file in the Operations drawer.