Master the Linux History Command: View, Edit, and Manage Your Shell Commands

history: View and Manipulate Command History

Feature Description

The history command displays previously executed commands and allows operations such as appending and deleting entries.

Command Syntax

history [options]

Option Meanings

-c

: Clear the current command history. -a: Append the current session's history to the history file. -r: Read the history file into the current session's memory buffer. -w: Write the current buffer to the history file. -d: Delete the command at the specified index from the history list. -n: Append new lines from the history file that have not yet been read.

Reference Examples

Example 1: Using History Commands

!!

– Execute the previous command. !3 – Execute the command numbered 3. !-2 – Execute the second-to-last command. !6 /test – Execute command 6 and append /test to it. !if – Execute the most recent command starting with if.

Example 2: Searching History Commands

↑

– View the previous command. ↓ – View the next command. Ctrl+r – Incrementally search history by typing a keyword. Alt+p – Search for commands matching the typed characters.

Example 3: Common Commands

// (1) Show full history (shows number and command)
history

// (2) Show the last 5 commands
history 5

// (3) Write the current history buffer to the history file immediately
history -w

// (4) Clear the history list
history -c

Notes

The history is stored in memory and automatically saved or loaded when the shell exits or logs in. The number of stored commands is controlled by the HISTSIZE environment variable (default 1000).

When the terminal is closed, the history list is written to ~/.bash_history .

If the HISTTIMEFORMAT variable is set, its value is used as a format string for strftime(3) to prepend timestamps to each displayed entry; otherwise, no timestamps are shown.