Retrieving typed commands with DOSKEY

There's a handy DOS utility called DOSKEY in MS-DOS 5 and above, which allows you to keep a history of typed commands in DOS. It also saves the administrator time typing commands that have recently been issued.

If you need to run a command you issued previously you can simple navigate through this history of commands and re-run the command. You can do this by using the up and down arrow keys to move one command at a time, page up and page down keys to go to the start or end of the history, or start typing and press F8 to search your previously typed commands.

To see a list of the commands DOSKEY has a history for use the /History switch.

E.g.

c:\>DOSKEY /History

To clear the history of DOSKEY press or reinstall DOSKEY using the /Reinstall switch.

For an extentive list of switches and examples see the Microsoft documentation on DOSKEY.