Bash history expansion cheatsheet

Often I forget the precise letter incantation for a particular bash history expansion shortcut and the bash manual page is crying out for a tabular form of these history expansions. So I decided to make one here for quick reference.

Event Designators (Line entry in history list)

Shortcut	Purpose	Example
!	Start a history substitution	!
!n	Refer to command n in history	!5
!-n	Refer to current command minus n	!-5
!!	Refer to previous command	!!
!string	Refer to the most recent command starting with “string”	!ls
!?string?	Refer to the most recent command containing “string”	!?ls?
!#	The entire command line type so far	echo !# back at ya

Word Designators - Word Inside Particular History Entry

Start with a “:” to select word

Designator	Purpose	Example	Comments
0	Zeroth word; the command word	!:0
n	The nth word	!:5	For the 5th word
^	The first argument i.e., word 1	!:^	Or just “!^” seems to work
$	Last argument	!:$	!$ also seems to work
%	Last match from ?string? search	!%	Need to have performed ?bla? search first
x-y	A range of words	!:1-3	Abbr. to “!:-3” will start search from 0
*	All words but zeroth	!*	I.e., all arguments
x*	All words from x to end
x-	All words to end except last word

Word Modifiers

After the optional word designator, you may use one more more modifiers prefixed with “:”

Note: this list is not exhaustive, see manual page for full list

Modifier	Purpose	Example
h	Remove file name leaving only directory (head)	!^:h
t	Remove directory leaving only file (tail)	!^:t
r	Remove trailling suffix of form .xxx, leaving only base name	!^:r
e	Remove all but trailing suffix	!^:e
s/old/new/	Replace old for new in event line. Any deliminator can be used in place of /. “&” means previous word in new substitution	!^:s/old.txt/new.txt/
&	Repeat the previous substitution	!^:&
g	Apply changes over whole line in conjunction with :s	!^:sg/old/new/