# Your Command History

PowerShell remembers the commands you type, so the up arrow, Ctrl+R, Get-History and the prediction list bring back a long command instead of making you type it again.

Apprentice · PowerShell · Operating System · Updated November 10, 2026

## After this lesson you can

- Bring back an earlier command with the up arrow, Ctrl+R, or Get-History and Invoke-History
- Reuse a command from the predictions PSReadLine shows as you type

## Key takeaways

- The up arrow brings back your last command, ready to change or run again. Press it again for the one before.
- Ctrl+R searches your history as you type a few letters of a command you ran before.
- Get-History lists this window's commands with numbers, and Invoke-History runs one again by its number.
- PSReadLine saves your history in a file, so the up arrow, Ctrl+R and its gray predictions remember earlier windows too.

Ten minutes ago you typed a long command that went three folders deep and read a file, and now you need it again. Typing it a second time is slow, and every letter is another chance for a typo. You never have to: PowerShell remembers what you type. Experienced people seem fast at the terminal mostly because they almost never type the same command twice.

This lesson uses the `trip` folder from *Where Am I? Get-Location and Paths*.

## The up arrow

Press the **up arrow** and your last command appears at the prompt, as if you'd typed it a moment ago. Press it again for the one before, and the **down arrow** to come back. The command isn't run until you press Enter, so you can change it first: bring back `Get-Content itinerary.txt`, change `itinerary` to `packing-list`, and press Enter. **Esc** clears the line if you change your mind.

When the screen fills up, `Clear-Host` (or **Ctrl+L**) clears it. Your history stays.

## Searching your history: Ctrl+R

Twenty presses of the up arrow is no fun. Press **Ctrl+R** instead, and type a few letters from anywhere in the command, such as `trail`. PowerShell shows the newest command you ran with those letters in it:

```text
bck-i-search: trail
```

That's a *backward incremental search*: backward because it starts from your newest command, incremental because it narrows with every letter you type. Press **Ctrl+R** again for an older match, and **Enter** to run the one shown.

## The numbered list: Get-History

`Get-History` lists the commands you've typed in this window, each with a number, its **Id**:

```powershell
Set-Location ~\terminal-practice\trip
Get-ChildItem -Name
Get-Content itinerary.txt
Get-History
```

```text
  Id     Duration CommandLine
  --     -------- -----------
   1        0.025 Set-Location ~\terminal-practice\trip
   2        0.008 Get-ChildItem -Name
   3        0.005 Get-Content itinerary.txt
```

Duration is how many seconds each command took, so your numbers will differ. `Invoke-History` runs one again by its Id. It prints the command first, then runs it:

```powershell
Invoke-History 3
```

```text
Get-Content itinerary.txt
Day 1: the beach. Swim, build a sandcastle, watch the sunset from the pier.
Day 2: the old town. The market in the morning, the clock tower at noon.
Day 3: the mountains. Hike to the summit, stop at the waterfall on the way.
```

The history now ends with `Get-Content itinerary.txt` again, not with `Invoke-History 3`: it remembers the command that really ran. The short names are `h` for `Get-History` and `r` for `Invoke-History`.

## Predictions: history that types for you

The up arrow and Ctrl+R come from **PSReadLine**, the part of PowerShell 7 that reads what you type at the prompt. It does one more thing: as you type, it suggests a whole command from your history in gray after the cursor. Type `Get-Con`, and the rest of `Get-Content itinerary.txt` appears in gray. Press the **right arrow** to accept it, or keep typing to ignore it.

Press **F2** to switch to a list of several predictions under the prompt, then pick one with the up and down arrows. Press F2 again to go back to the gray line.

![Windows Terminal running PowerShell 7, with Get-Con typed at the prompt and the F2 list of predictions from history underneath it](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/TODO)

`Get-History` knows only this window, but PSReadLine saves every command to a file, so the up arrow, Ctrl+R and predictions remember yesterday's windows too. This shows where that file is:

```powershell
(Get-PSReadLineOption).HistorySavePath
```

```text
C:\Users\Sam\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadLine\ConsoleHost_history.txt
```

Because it's a file of everything you type, never type a password at the prompt as part of a command.

**On a Mac or Linux** it all works the same, and the file is in your home folder's `.local/share/powershell/PSReadLine` folder. Windows PowerShell 5.1 has the up arrow, Ctrl+R and `Get-History` (without Duration), but no predictions.

## Try it in the terminal

[Terminal Quest: The Lighthouse, goals 10 to 11](https://www.ask-codey.com/games/terminal-quest/lighthouse/powershell/step): played right on the lesson page.

You're at the top of the tower. Look at your own logbook of commands, then light the lamp before the ships arrive.

## Check yourself

2 questions to try on the lesson page.

## So what

Your history is a record of everything that worked. Reusing it, with the up arrow, a search or a prediction, is faster than typing and makes far fewer typos.

## Key terms

- [Get-History](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/get-history)
- [PSReadLine](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/psreadline)

## Cheat sheets

- [Your Command History](https://www.ask-codey.com/cheat-sheets/powershell-command-history-cheat-sheet)

## Related

- [Moving Around: Set-Location, .. and Tab](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-moving-around)
- [Reading Files: Get-Content](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-reading-files)

Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-command-history