Most shells that have a command line editing feature support Emacs key bindings. (a tiny subset) Up Ctrl + P Down Ctrl + N Left Ctrl + B Right Ctrl + F Home Ctrl + A End Ctrl + E Delete Ctrl + D Alternatively, you could set up your shell to use vi command editing mode, by adding set -o vi to your shell startup file (e.g., ~/.bashrc ). Then, for example, you can Use Esc k Enter to re-execute the previous command (same as !! ). The minus key - also works as a "move up" command. Use Esc k k k k k k k k k k k k Enter or Esc 1 2 k Enter to re-execute the 12th previous command (same as !-12 ). Use Esc and a motion command (i.e., k , suitably repeated), and then edit the bash command line you find there. Remember, you will still be in vi command mode, so you will need to use a vi editing command (e.g., I...