Try binding the <UP> and <DOWN> keys (or whatever keys you want) in you ~/.inputrc to the readline commands "history-search-backward" and "history-search-forwar

Try binding the <UP> and <DOWN> keys (or whatever keys you want) in you ~/.inputrc to the readline commands "history-search-backward" and "history-search-forward". See bash(1) in the READLINE section details. Instead of simply scrolling through your recent bash history when you press <UP> (which still works the same when your prompt is empty), it filters out any command that don't match the partial command you've already typed. For example, typing "cp " and then pressing up will find the last "cp" command that I typed.