snippetbashTip

history — Manage command-line history. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#i

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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Problem

How to use the history command: Manage command-line history. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#index-history>.

Solution

history — Manage command-line history. More information: <https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#index-history>.

Display the commands history list with line numbers:

history

Display the last 20 commands (in Zsh it displays all commands starting from the 20th):

history 20

Display history with timestamps in different formats (only available in Zsh):

history -{{d|f|i|E}}

[c]lear the commands history list:

history -c

Over[w]rite history file with history of current Bash shell (often combined with history -c to purge history):

history -w

[d]elete the history entry at the specified offset:

history -d {{offset}}

Add a command to history without running it:

history -s {{command}}

Run a command without adding it to history by adding a leading space:

<Space>{{command}}

Code Snippets

Display the commands history list with line numbers

history

Display the last 20 commands (in Zsh it displays all commands starting from the 20th)

history 20

Display history with timestamps in different formats (only available in Zsh)

history -{{d|f|i|E}}

[c]lear the commands history list

history -c

Over[w]rite history file with history of current Bash shell (often combined with `history -c` to purge history)

history -w

Context

tldr-pages: common/history

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