Learn Bash: Remove Commands From Your History Aug 11th, 2011 • Permalink Occasionally I type a password or other sensitive information into a shell prompt. Using bash history, the command can be removed. # say we start with an empty bash command history bash-3.2$ history 1 history # enter a command that requires a password bash-3.2$ sudo rm -i some_file Password: # accidentally ^C and type your password # into the prompt and hit enter bash-3.2$ secret_password bash: secret_password: command not found # your password is now there for all to # see in your bash history bash-3.2$ history 1 history 2 sudo rm -i some_file 3 secret_password 4 history # first option to fix it, delete the numbered entry from # history and write to your ~/.bash_history file bash-3.2$ history -d 3 bash-3.2$ history -w # entry 3 will be removed entirely from your command history bash-3.2$ history 1 history 2 sudo rm -i some_file 3 history 4 history -d 3 5 history -w 6 history # the second option is to clear the entire history # and write the changes to disk bash-3.2$ history -c bash-3.2$ history -w # it's now pretty obvious that your history has been # scrubbed clean, but at least your password is history! bash-3.2$ history 1 history -w 2 history