BASH_HISTORY, Bash History File (.bash_history)

The BASH_HISTORY System file format

Files with the very long extension of BASH_HISTORY are created by Bash. Bash is a shell program based on Unix. Bash is not used by Windows, but other operating systems, namely Mac OS X and Linux. The BASH_HISTORY file stores, as the name already suggests, a history of data and commands entered using the command prompt of Bash. That way, the history allows you to recall all previously executed prompts.

Technical details of BASH_HISTORY files

What’s peculiar about BASH_HISTORY files is that they have no actual file name. The only way they can be found on your computer is as “.bash_history”. Additionally, the files are usually hidden and can thus not be seen by most users of the respective operating system.

More information about the BASH_HISTORY file format

File extension	.bash_history
File category	System
Associated programs	Apple Terminal (Mac) GNU Bash (Mac & Linux)
Useful links	More about the Bash Unix shell
Developer	The GNU Project