One of the beauties of creating digital art with Procreate is the ability to erase or undo your work without a rubber eraser or whiteout. Not a trace of the mistake or change of mind is left, as if it never occurred. 

If you’ve been trying to figure out how to undo in Procreate, rest assured that the function is incredibly easy and fast, no matter what level your drawing skills. You’ll love being able to alter your work this way without the need to interrupt your overall creative flow. 

Procreate Undo Explained

The undo function in Procreate lets you reverse one or multiple actions in seconds, and without having to open any menus or sidebars. This is especially helpful as you learn to use Procreate. Once you determine and incorporate your preferred method, you’ll find yourself undoing mistakes without even thinking about it. 

Depending on your work style, you can choose from the different ways Procreate offers for undoing actions. The simplest ways are essentially shortcuts, and will blend easily into your creative process. 

3 Easy Ways to Undo in Procreate

Gestures in Procreate are simple movements that become second nature once you do them enough. However, in some cases, you may want the undo function to require a tiny bit more time and come with a little more control. Learn these three methods so that you can use whichever one suits your individual Procreate project ideas

Before undoing, understand that an “action” is any mark or stroke you make without lifting your stylus from the screen. If you’ve lifted repeatedly to make dots, each dot is a separate action. If, on the other hand, you’ve drawn an entire person without lifting your stylus once, that entire person is one action. If you really love what you’ve done and want to reduce the chance of undoing it by accident, lift your stylus.  

Also, know that you can only undo actions from your current Procreate session. So, if you leave the project and go back to your gallery, or exit Procreate completely, everything you’ve done is permanent to the file. Make certain you’re happy with your project before leaving it for something else.  

You can also redo on Procreate any actions you’ve undone. The actions will be redone in the opposite order they were undone. For example, if you undo three actions, and then begin redoing them, the last one you undid will be the first one redone. 

Tapping

As the fastest method, tapping is how you’d address a small mistake immediately after making it. This is essentially the undo shortcut in Procreate. 

Undo

With two fingers, perhaps your pointer and middle fingers on your drawing hand will be easiest, simply tap the screen once, quickly. This will reverse the last action you took and nothing more.  

Redo

With three fingers on your drawing hand, perhaps your pointer, middle and ring fingers, tap the screen once, quickly. The last action you undid will reappear.  

Tapping and Holding 

If you want to undo a series of actions and don’t need the control of tapping for each individual one, you can hold your fingers down to rapidly undo multiple actions at a time. Just be mindful that, once the undoing begins, it will go fast and might undo more than you intended. 

Undo

With two fingers on your drawing hand, tap your screen and hold your fingers down. After a slight delay, your actions will be undone beginning with the last one you completed. Procreate will undo up to 250 actions at a time.  

Redo

With three fingers on your drawing hand, tap your screen and hold your fingers down. After a slight delay, your actions will be redone beginning with the last one you undid. Procreate will undo up to 250 actions at a time. 

Using the Arrow Icon

Although this method takes slightly longer than the tapping or tapping and holding, it is harder to do by mistake. If you’re worried that the tapping methods are too easy for you to do unintentionally, make the Procreate undo button your go-to and it will become a habit.  

You’ll find the undo and redo arrows toward the bottom of the left navigation bar on your project screen. 

Undo

Look to the navigation bar on the left-hand side of your screen, and tap the arrow pointing left. Tap it once to undo each action, beginning with the last one you completed.  

Redo

Look to the navigation bar on the left-hand side of your screen, and tap the arrow pointing right. Tap it once to undo each action, beginning with the last one you completed.  

Can You Undo Multiple Steps in Procreate?

It is possible to undo multiple actions in Procreate, and you have a couple of options for how to control the process. Whether you prefer to tap the screen with your two fingers or use the undo arrows at the bottom of the left navigation bar, you can undo up to 250 actions in a live project. 

Repeated Tapping

Either with two fingers on the project screen itself or the undo (left pointing) arrow in the left navigation bar, tap repeatedly to undo multiple actions one at a time. This way, you can keep track of what’s being undone and easily stop when you’re happy with the progress.  

Tap and Hold

Say you know you want to undo the last several actions, up to as many as 250. Tapping the screen or undo arrow for each one will take a while and might get annoying. So, tap the screen with two fingers on your drawing hand and hold them there. Allow for a brief delay, and then watch your recent actions undo themselves in reverse.    

Can You Undo in Procreate After Closing the Program?

The short answer is no. If you’re trying to find out how to undo in Procreate after closing a project, you won’t find an official answer. Once you leave or close out of the file you won’t be able to undo or redo actions. 

However, you can do a few things to give yourself access to earlier versions of your work: 

  • Back up old versions in the cloud, and go back to them if you don’t like your newer versions.
  • Create new layers as you work, and select the unmerged layers that you don’t want included in the final project.   

Learn to Use Procreate Like a Pro

The Procreate undo function might not be obvious right away, but it’s so easy to learn and incorporate with your work, whether you’re doing work for a client or making your own planner stickers. Whether you prefer to tap, tap and hold or use the arrow icon, you can retain full control while altering actions efficiently.

Mastering Procreate tools allows you to work better and more quickly. Learn everything you need to know in Skillshare’s Procreate Hub, as well as the numerous top-notch classes from our excellent instructors. Learn to use Procreate brushes and other tools at your own pace. From the beginner stage to advanced levels, you’ll be using Procreate like a pro in no time! 

  

Written By
Katie Mitchell

Katie Mitchell

Katie lives in Michigan with her husband, kids and pets. She enjoys cooking, travel and live music.

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