Repeat last isearch with all parameters

Question

Everyone knows you can repeat the last I-search with C-s C-s, but that doesn't preserve all the parameters from the last search. As a concrete example, I often use symbol I-search (M-s _), and typing M-s _ C-s is a fair bit cumbersome when going through a lot of matches.

It would be nice if C-s C-s could see if the last I-search was a symbol search and reactivate that. Similar things can of course be said for other I-search states, like regex searches (though that isn't quite as cumbersome to do manually to begin with).

Is there a way to do this with the existing I-search implementation, or will I have to write it myself?

Answer 1

Use M-s . for symbol search, and M-p and M-n for retrieving previous search strings (or if it is the first search, suggested search strings).

M-s . runs the command isearch-forward-symbol-at-point (found in global-map), which is an interactive byte-compiled Lisp function in isearch.el.

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When in minibuffer use M-p and M-n to retrieve previous search terms.

M-p runs the command isearch-ring-retreat (found in overriding-terminal-local-map), which is an interactive byte-compiled Lisp function in isearch.el.

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M-n runs the command isearch-ring-advance (found in overriding-terminal-local-map), which is an interactive byte-compiled Lisp function in isearch.el.

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You can use M-p and M-n almost always in the minibuffer to retrieve historical items. It works for simple search, as well as search and replace.