history

Display command history with line numbers

$ history

$ history [20]

$ history -c

$ history -d [42]

$ history -a

$ history -r

$ history -w

$ ![42]

$ !!

history [n]
history -c
history -d offset
history [-anrw] [filename]
history -ps arg

history is a bash builtin command that displays or manipulates the command history list. The shell maintains a record of commands entered during a session, allowing quick access to previous commands.
Without arguments, history displays the numbered list of commands. With an integer argument n, it shows the last n entries. The history is loaded from HISTFILE at shell startup and can be written back with -w or automatically on exit.
History expansion allows re-executing previous commands: !! repeats the last command, !n executes command number n, !string executes the most recent command starting with string, and !?string matches any command containing string. Use Ctrl+r for interactive reverse search.

-c

Clear the history list

Delete the history entry at position offset

Delete the range of history entries between start and end

Append new history lines to the history file

Read history lines not already read from the file to current list

Read the history file and append contents to the history list

Write current history to the history file

Perform history substitution on args and display without storing

Add args to the end of the history list as a single entry

HISTFILE

File where history is saved (default: ~/.bash_history)

Number of commands kept in memory for current session

Number of commands kept in the history file

Format string for timestamps (strftime format)

Controls what is saved (ignorespace, ignoredups, erasedups)

Colon-separated patterns of commands to ignore

Commands starting with a space are not saved if HISTCONTROL contains ignorespace. The history is per-shell and not shared between concurrent sessions unless explicitly synchronized with -a and -r. History files can contain sensitive information like passwords accidentally typed on the command line. Use HISTIGNORE to exclude sensitive commands.

Command history originated in the C shell (csh) developed by Bill Joy in the late 1970s at Berkeley. The bash implementation builds on the GNU Readline library, which provides history manipulation and editing capabilities. The history command and expansion syntax became a standard feature in Unix shells, allowing users to efficiently reuse and modify previous commands.

bash(1), fc(1), readline(3)