diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 7a310c0..c3604b6 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
  "minspan",
  "parse_duration",
+ "rand",
  "regex",
  "reqwest",
  "rmp-serde",
diff --git a/atuin-client/Cargo.toml b/atuin-client/Cargo.toml
index 770d774..42e3cf6 100644
--- a/atuin-client/Cargo.toml
+++ b/atuin-client/Cargo.toml
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ serde_json = { workspace = true }
 parse_duration = "2.1.1"
 async-trait = { workspace = true }
 itertools = { workspace = true }
+rand = { workspace = true }
 shellexpand = "2"
 sqlx = { workspace = true, features = ["sqlite"] }
 minspan = "0.1.1"
diff --git a/atuin-client/src/database.rs b/atuin-client/src/database.rs
index f7c063c..22bd588 100644
--- a/atuin-client/src/database.rs
+++ b/atuin-client/src/database.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use chrono::{prelude::*, Utc};
 use fs_err as fs;
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use lazy_static::lazy_static;
+use rand::{distributions::Alphanumeric, Rng};
 use regex::Regex;
 use sql_builder::{esc, quote, SqlBuilder, SqlName};
 use sqlx::{
@@ -460,6 +461,8 @@ impl Database for Sqlite {
                 .map(|after| sql.and_where_gt("timestamp", quote(after.timestamp_nanos())))
         });
 
+        sql.and_where_is_null("deleted_at");
+
         let query = sql.sql().expect("bug in search query. please report");
 
         let res = sqlx::query(&query)
@@ -519,7 +522,11 @@ impl Database for Sqlite {
     // but the time that the system marks it as deleted
     async fn delete(&self, mut h: History) -> Result<()> {
         let now = chrono::Utc::now();
-        h.command = String::from(""); // blank it
+        h.command = rand::thread_rng()
+            .sample_iter(&Alphanumeric)
+            .take(32)
+            .map(char::from)
+            .collect(); // overwrite with random string
         h.deleted_at = Some(now); // delete it
 
         self.update(&h).await?; // save it