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Feature · Move & protect

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.

Default shortcut: Ctrl+Z · Ctrl+Y · Del · Shift+Del Updated 15 August 2026 View as Markdown

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 Ctrl+Z, and a history remembers where everything went.

What it does

  • Delete to the Recycle Bin. Del and F8 trash. A count-and-names confirmation is on by default and can be switched off; permanent delete (Shift+Del) 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. Ctrl+Z 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. Ctrl+Y (or Ctrl+Shift+Z) 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. Enter 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 Del; if the confirmation gets in your way, turn it off in Preferences ▸ Transfers — the Recycle Bin is still there.
  2. Made a mistake? Ctrl+Z. Went too far? Ctrl+Y.
  3. Overwrote the wrong version? Open the Operations drawer (Ctrl+L), 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, Enter.

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.

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.