7 Efficient Ways to Fix Mistakes Faster in the Linux Shell
Stop Rewriting Terminal Commands: 7 Efficient Ways to Fix Mistakes Faster in the Linux Shell
As a DevOps engineer or terminal power user, you probably live inside a terminal window more than any GUI. It’s fast, powerful, and flexible — but prone to human error. We all mistype, miss a flag, or forget sudo once in a while.
The good news? You don’t have to rewrite commands from scratch.
Here are 7 efficient and professional ways to correct previous commands in the Linux shell without wasting time or breaking your flow.
- Use Ctrl + R for Reverse History Search
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# just press
ctlr + r
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╭─ ~
╰─❯
bck-i-search: _
Start typing a part of the command, and it shows up interactively. Press Enter to execute it, or use the arrow keys to modify it.
Example: Want to re-run a Docker command? Just type docker after Ctrl + R.
- Use fc to Edit the Last Command Before Running It
The fc
command (short for “fix command”) is a hidden gem.
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fc
This opens your last command in your default terminal editor (vim, nano, etc.). You can correct it, save, and it will automatically run the fixed command. This is extremely useful for long and complex commands.
- Use
!!, !keyword
, or!-n
for Fast Reuse
!!
– Repeat the last commandsudo !!
– Repeat the last command with sudo!git
– Repeat the most recent command that started with git!-2
– Run the 2nd last command
These shortcuts are a huge time-saver once you build muscle memory.
- Use
history | grep <keyword>
to Search Manually
If you’re unsure where a past command is, this will help:
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history | grep docker
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❯ history | grep docker
103 docker ps
104 docker pull jenkins/jenkins
106 docker network create jenkins_bridge
107 docker volume create jenkins_home
108 docker run --help
117 https://get.docker.com/
118 curl https://get.docker.com/
210 docker ps
239 docker run --help
286 cd why-need-docker
316 docker run hello-world
329 docker ps
- Create Aliases and Functions to Avoid Repetition
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend to use this options if you change your terminal or work different environment frequently. Because Once you are being used to with these alias then you will face trouble when there is no alias in terminal. While I was learning terraform, I was using this alias option to make it shortly tf
. And you know what happens, I still type tf
in terminal It pops out from head automatically. But, still it may useful for some cases.
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alias k='kubectl'
alias dcu='docker-compose up -d'
restart_docker() {
docker-compose down && docker-compose up -d --build
}
Just put these things in your .bashrc/.zshrc...
file.
- You can use
echo
to preview before any dangerous command likerm
:
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echo rm -rf /you-dont-want-to-me-remove-right/*
It’s a good habit to avoid system failure.
- Using awesome tool like
zsh
plugins orthefuck
.
Yes, if you already using zsh
(z-shell), you can use zsh plugins like, fzf.
If you don’t want to use anything above. then go for this: thefuck
It’s a all in one solution. It will help to correct your commands, suggest the commands based on your typo.
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❯ dokcer ps
zsh: command not found: dokcer
❯ fuck
docker ps [enter/↑/↓/ctrl+c]
That’s all for today. Thanks!