How to use the argument from previous command

Have you ever typed an command which required you to type the entire path to a location in an argument and now you wanted to use the same argument again in another command?

A very simple example is when you opened a file to edit, and now you want to move the file again to a location:

vim path/to/my/complex/location
mv path/to/my/complex/location path/to/my/

Ideally all of our terminals are now capable of auto complete, but when you have deep directory structure, you would need to prese <Tab> for each level to autocomplete. Rather you could use some shell features to refer to the arguments of previous command.

• !$ last argument from previous command.
• !^ first argument from the previous command. analogues to !:1
• !* all the arguemnts from previous command
• !:2 second argument from previous command.
• !! entire last command. useful if you forgot to use sudo and don’t want to type the command again.

Less used :

• !:2-3 second to third arguments
• !:2-$ second to last arguments
• !:2* second to last arguments
• !:2- second to next to last arguments
• !:0 the command
• !! repeat the previous line

Run the following command to read more :

$ man  -P 'less -p ^HISTORY\ EXPANSION' bash

Reference