{"id":59106,"date":"2023-09-11T15:01:28","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T07:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=59106"},"modified":"2023-09-12T17:15:07","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T09:15:07","slug":"linux-command-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-history\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use History Command in Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"

The history<\/code> Linux command is a handy tool that displays a list of all the commands that a user has previously executed in the terminal. This list is stored in a history file, and by using the history command, you can view this file, making it easier to recall and reuse past commands.<\/p>\n

This command is commonly used to track actions performed in the terminal, especially when troubleshooting or repeating complex command sequences. It can save time and effort by allowing users to quickly recall and rerun previous commands without having to type them out again. Some users also utilize the history to audit or review actions taken in the system, aiding in system administration and security.<\/p>\n

General syntax for history<\/code> command:<\/p>\n

\r\nhistory [OPTIONS...]\r\n<\/pre>\n
\n
1. Show used commands<\/h3>\n
history [number]<\/pre>\n
This command displays a limited number of previously executed commands.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
The history 5<\/code> command in Linux will display the last 5 commands that were executed in the terminal. Here\u2019s a sample output:<\/p>\n
  501  git status\r\n  502  cd \/var\/www\/html\r\n  503  ls -la\r\n  504  nano myfile.txt\r\n  505  history 5\r\n<\/pre>\n
Each line shows a command from the history, preceded by a unique number that represents the command\u2019s position in the history file. In this example, the last five commands that were run are shown, including the history 5<\/code> command itself.<\/p>\n
\n
2. Delete commands from history list<\/h3>\n
history -d [number]<\/pre>\n
Use the -d<\/code> option to delete commands from the history list.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Before deleting:<\/p>\n
1  ls\r\n2  cd Documents\/\r\n3  touch file.txt\r\n4  nano file.txt\r\n5  rm file.txt\r\n6  history<\/pre>\n
After running history -d 5<\/code>:<\/p>\n
1  ls\r\n2  cd Documents\/\r\n3  touch file.txt\r\n4  nano file.txt\r\n5  history\r\n<\/pre>\n
As you can see, the 5th command (rm file.txt<\/code>) has been removed from the history.<\/p>\n
\n
3. Search used command within history<\/h3>\n
history | grep [text]<\/pre>\n
The history | grep<\/code> command helps you find commands that match a text pattern.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
The history | grep cat<\/code> command in Linux will search through your command history and display all the lines that contain the word \u201ccat.\u201d The grep command filters the output of the history command to only show lines with the specified pattern, in this case, \u201ccat.\u201d Here\u2019s a sample output:<\/p>\n
  42  cat file.txt\r\n  73  cat \/etc\/passwd\r\n 100  cat documents\/note.txt | more\r\n 123  concatenate file1.txt file2.txt > combined.txt\r\n 150  cat logs\/error.log | grep \"ERROR\"\r\n<\/pre>\n
In this example, each line begins with a number representing the command\u2019s position in the history, followed by the command itself. It includes every instance where \u201ccat\u201d appears, whether it\u2019s the cat<\/code> command itself or just part of another word or command.<\/p>\n
\n
4. Clearing the history list<\/h3>\n
history -c<\/pre>\n
The -c (clear)<\/code> option is used to clear all commands from the history list.<\/p>\n
\n
5. Execute the command with event number<\/h3>\n
!number<\/pre>\n
This command allows you to execute commands with an event number from the history list. There is no need to write a complete command.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Suppose the 10th command in your history was ls -l<\/code>, which lists files in the current directory in long format. If you run !10<\/code>, the output might look something like this:<\/p>\n
total 24\r\ndrwxr-xr-x 5 user user 4096 Aug  6 10:00 Documents\r\ndrwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Aug  6 09:45 Downloads\r\ndrwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Aug  6 09:45 Music\r\ndrwxr-xr-x 2 user user 4096 Aug  6 09:45 Pictures\r\n<\/pre>\n
This output shows the contents of the current directory, just as if you had run the ls -l<\/code> command directly.<\/p>\n
\n
6. Write changes to bash_history file<\/h3>\n
history -w [filename]<\/pre>\n
Use this option to write all changes made in the current session to the bash_history<\/code> file.<\/p>\n
Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n
The history -w file.txt<\/code> command in Linux doesn\u2019t produce output in the terminal itself. Instead, it writes the current history of commands to a file named file.txt<\/code>.<\/p>\n
So, if you were to open file.txt<\/code>, you might see something like this:<\/p>\n
1 cd \/home\/user\/documents\r\n2 ls -la\r\n3 sudo apt-get update\r\n4 nano file.txt\r\n5 history -w file.txt\r\n<\/pre>\n
This file now contains the list of commands that were previously executed in the terminal, and you can view or edit it using any text editor.<\/p>\n
More Linux commands:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Directory Operations<\/td>\nrmdir<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 cd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 pwd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 exa<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ls<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
File Operations<\/td>\ncat<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 cp<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 dd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 less<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 touch<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ln<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 rename<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 more<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 head<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
File System Operations<\/td>\nchown<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 mkfs<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 locate<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Networking<\/td>\nping<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 curl<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 wget<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 iptables<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 mtr<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Search and Text Processing<\/td>\nfind<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 grep<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 sed<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 whatis<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 ripgrep<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 fd<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 tldr<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
System Information and Management<\/td>\nenv<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 history<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 top<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 who<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 htop<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 glances<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 lsof<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
User and Session Management<\/td>\nscreen<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 su<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 sudo<\/code><\/a> \u00b7 open<\/code><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Learn and master Linux’s history command to track and manage your terminal activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3397],"tags":[888,3316],"topic":[],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Use History Command in Linux - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn and master Linux's history command to track and manage your terminal activities.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Use History Command in Linux\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn and master Linux's history command to track and manage your terminal activities.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/linux-command-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hongkiatcom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-11T07:01:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-12T09:15:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hongkiat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hongkiat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hongkiat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-history\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-history\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hongkiat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cc686597d92f9086729e4bcc1577ba3\"},\"headline\":\"How to Use History Command in Linux\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-11T07:01:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-12T09:15:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-history\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":515,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Linux\",\"Linux Commands\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Desktop\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-history\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hongkiat.com\\\/blog\\\/linux-command-history\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Use History Command in Linux - 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