Running mutt with no arguments will make Mutt attempt to read your spool
mailbox. However, it is possible to read other mailboxes and
to send messages from the command line as well.
-a attach a file to a message
-b specify a blind carbon-copy (BCC) address
-c specify a carbon-copy (Cc) address
-e specify a config command to be run after initilization files are read
-f specify a mailbox to load
-F specify an alternate file to read initialization commands
-h print help on command line options
-H specify a draft file from which to read a header and body
-i specify a file to include in a message composition
-m specify a default mailbox type
-n do not read the system Muttrc
-p recall a postponed message
-R open mailbox in read-only mode
-s specify a subject (enclose in quotes if it contains spaces)
-v show version number and compile-time definitions
-x simulate the mailx(1) compose mode
-y show a menu containing the files specified by the mailboxes command
-z exit immediately if there are no messages in the mailbox
-Z open the first folder with new message,exit immediately if none
To read messages in a mailbox
mutt [ -nz ] [ -F muttrc ] [ -m type ] [ -f mailbox ]
To compose a new message
mutt [ -n ] [ -F muttrc ] [ -a file ] [ -c address ] [ -i filename ] [ -s subject ] address [ address ... ]
Mutt also supports a ``batch'' mode to send prepared messages. Simply redirect input from the file you wish to send. For example,
mutt -s "data set for run #2" professor@bigschool.edu
< ~/run2.dat
This command will send a message to ``professor@bigschool.edu'' with a subject of ``data set for run #2''. In the body of the message will be the contents of the file ``~/run2.dat''.
The following are the commands understood by mutt.
account-hook pattern command
alias key address [ , address, ... ]
unalias [ * | key ... ]
alternative_order mimetype [ mimetype ... ]
auto_view mimetype [ mimetype ... ]
bind map key function
charset-hook alias charset
color object foreground background [ regexp ]
uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ]
exec function [ function ... ]
fcc-hook pattern mailbox
fcc-save-hook pattern mailbox
folder-hook pattern command
hdr_order header [ header ... ]
unhdr_order header [ header ... ]
iconv-hook charset local-charset
ignore pattern [ pattern ... ]
unignore pattern [ pattern ... ]
lists address [ address ... ]
unlists address [ address ... ]
macro menu key sequence [ description ]
mailboxes filename [ filename ... ]
mbox-hook pattern mailbox
message-hook pattern command
mono object attribute [ regexp ]
unmono index pattern [ pattern ... ]
my_hdr string
unmy_hdr field [ field ... ]
pgp-hook pattern key-id
push string
reset variable [variable ... ]
save-hook regexp filename
score pattern value
unscore pattern [ pattern ... ]
send-hook regexp command
set [no|inv]variable[=value] [ variable ... ]
unset variable [variable ... ]
source filename
subscribe address [ address ... ]
unsubscribe address [ address ... ]
toggle variable [variable ... ]
unhook hook-typeType: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
If set to yes, when composing messages and no subject is given at the subject prompt, composition will be aborted. If set to no, composing messages with no subject given at the subject prompt will never be aborted.
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If set to yes, composition will automatically abort after editing the message body if no changes are made to the file (this check only happens after the first edit of the file). When set to no, composition will never be aborted.
Type: path
Default: "~/.muttrc"
The default file in which to save aliases created by the `` create-alias'' function.
Note: Mutt will not automatically source this file; you must explicitly use the `` source'' command for it to be executed.
Type: string
Default: "%4n %2f %t %-10a %r"
Specifies the format of the data displayed for the `alias' menu. The following printf(3)-style sequences are available:
alias name
flags - currently, a "d" for an alias marked for deletion
index number
address which alias expands to
character which indicates if the alias is tagged for inclusion
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either Quoted- Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in rich text messages) are to be interpreted. Messages containing these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will be colored accordingly. Note that this may override your color choices, and even present a security problem, since a message could include a line like "[-- PGP output follows ..." and give it the same color as your attachment color.
Type: regular expression
Default: ""
A regexp that allows you to specify alternate addresses where you receive mail. This affects Mutt's idea about messages from you and addressed to you.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, an arrow (``->'') will be used to indicate the current entry in menus instead of hiliting the whole line. On slow network or modem links this will make response faster because there is less that has to be redrawn on the screen when moving to the next or previous entries in the menu.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will use plain ASCII characters when displaying thread and attachment trees, instead of the default ACS characters.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipients before editing an outgoing message.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients before editing the body of an outgoing message.
Type: string
Default: "iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"
[mutt-ja] This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding schemes for messages without character encoding indication. Header field values and message body content without character encoding indication would be assumed that they are written in one of this list. By default, all the header fields and message body without any charset indication are assumed to be in "us-ascii".
For example, Japanese users might prefer this:
set assumed_charset="iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"
However, only the first content is valid for the message body. This variable is valid only if $strict_mime is unset.
Type: string
Default: "%u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s] "
This variable describes the format of the `attachment' menu. The following printf-style sequences are understood:
deleted flag
description
MIME content-transfer-encoding
filename
disposition (I=inline, A=attachment)
major MIME type
MIME subtype
attachment number
size
tagged flag
unlink (=to delete) flag
right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"
pad to the end of the line with character "X"
Type: string
Default: "\n"
The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving, printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If this variable is unset, when operating (saving, printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments, Mutt will concatenate the attachments and will operate on them as a single attachment. The `` $attach_sep'' separator is added after each attachment. When set, Mutt will operate on the attachments one by one.
Type: string
Default: "On %d, %n wrote:"
This is the string that will precede a message which has been included in a reply. For a full listing of defined printf()-like sequences see the section on `` $index_format''.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set along with `` $edit_headers'', Mutt will skip the initial send-menu and allow you to immediately begin editing the body of your message. The send-menu may still be accessed once you have finished editing the body of your message.
Also see `` $fast_reply''.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, functions in the index menu which affect a message will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any). When unset, you must first use the tag-prefix function (default: ";") to make the next function apply to all tagged messages.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is set, mutt will beep when an error occurs.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, mutt will beep whenever it prints a message notifying you of new mail. This is independent of the setting of the `` $beep'' variable.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is set, mutt will include Delivered-To headers when bouncing messages. Postfix users may wish to unset this variable.
Type: string
Default: "euc-jp"
Character set your terminal uses to display and enter textual data.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.
When set, Mutt will check for new mail delivered while the mailbox is open. Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can take quite some time since it involves scanning the directory and checking each file to see if it has already been looked at. If check_new is unset, no check for new mail is performed while the mailbox is open.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, Mutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any unread messages.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, Mutt will jump to the next unread message, if any, when the current thread is uncollapsed.
Type: string
Default: "-- Mutt: Compose [Approx. msg size: %l Atts: %a]%>-"
Controls the format of the status line displayed in the \fCompose menu. This string is similar to `` $status_format'', but has its own set of printf()-like sequences:
total number of attachments
local hostname
approximate size (in bytes) of the current message
Mutt version string
See the text describing the `` $status_format'' option for more information on how to set `` $compose_format''.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when appending messages to an existing mailbox.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages to a mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.
Type: number
Default: 30
Causes Mutt to timeout a network connection (for IMAP or POP) after this many seconds if the connection is not able to be established. A negative value causes Mutt to wait indefinitely for the connection to succeed.
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not copies of your outgoing messages will be saved for later references. Also see `` $record'', `` $save_name'', `` $force_name'' and `` fcc-hook''.
Type: boolean
Default: no
[mutt-ja] When this variable is set, Mutt will add the following RFC-2047-encoded MIME parameter to Content-Type header field as filename for attachment: name="=?iso-2022-jp?B?GyRCO244MxsoQi50eHQ=?="
Note: this use of RFC 2047's encoding is explicitly prohibited by the standard. You may set this variable only if a mailer of recipients can not parse RFC 2231 parameters. This variable is valid only if $strict_mime is unset.
Type: string
Default: "!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z"
This variable controls the format of the date printed by the ``%d'' sequence in `` $index_format''. This is passed to the strftime call to process the date. See the man page for strftime(3) for the proper syntax.
Unless the first character in the string is a bang (``!''), the month and week day names are expanded according to the locale specified in the variable `` $locale''. If the first character in the string is a bang, the bang is discarded, and the month and week day names in the rest of the string are expanded in the C locale (that is in US English).
Type: string
Default: "~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)"
This variable controls how send-hooks, message-hooks, save-hooks, and fcc-hooks will be interpreted if they are specified with only a simple regexp, instead of a matching pattern. The hooks are expanded when they are declared, so a hook will be interpreted according to the value of this variable at the time the hook is declared. The default value matches if the message is either from a user matching the regular expression given, or if it is from you (if the from address matches `` $alternates'') and is to or cc'ed to a user matching the given regular expression.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing or synchronizing a mailbox. If set to yes, messages marked for deleting will automatically be purged without prompting. If set to no, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If this option is set, mutt will untag messages when marking them for deletion. This applies when you either explicitly delete a message, or when you save it to another folder.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If this option is set, mutt's revattach menu will not show the subparts of individual messages in a digest. To see these subparts, press 'v' on that menu.
Type: boolean
Default: no
[mutt-ja] If set, prefix in Subject: field generated by some mailing lists (something like "Subject: [foo-ML:0012] real-subject") can be deleted when displaying in index-mode and editing in message reply. Deletion pattern can be configured by $delete_regexp variable.
Type: regular expression
Default: "^(\[[A-Za-z0-9_.: \-]*\][ ]*)"
[mutt-ja] A regular expression used in $delete_prefix function.
Type: path
Default: ""
When set, specifies a command used to filter messages. When a message is viewed it is passed as standard input to $display_filter, and the filtered message is read from the standard output.
Type: path
Default: "/usr/local/bin/mutt_dotlock"
Contains the path of the mutt_dotlock (8) binary to be used by mutt.
Type: string
Default: ""
Note: you should not enable this unless you are using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater.
This variable sets the request for when notification is returned. The string consists of a comma separated list (no spaces!) of one or more of the following: never, to never request notification, failure, to request notification on transmission failure, delay, to be notified of message delays, success, to be notified of successful transmission.
Example: set dsn_notify="failure,delay"
Type: string
Default: ""
Note: you should not enable this unless you are using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater.
This variable controls how much of your message is returned in DSN messages. It may be set to either hdrs to return just the message header, or full to return the full message.
Example: set dsn_return=hdrs
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether mutt, when sorting by threads, threads messages with the same message-id together. If it is set, it will indicate that it thinks they are duplicates of each other with an equals sign in the thread diagram.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing messages along with the body of your message.
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable specifies which editor is used by mutt. It defaults to the value of the EDITOR or VISUAL environment variable, or to the string "vi".
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will quoted-printable encode messages when they contain the string "From " in the beginning of a line. Useful to avoid the tampering certain mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will try to derive the message's envelope sender from the "From:" header. Note that this information is passed to sendmail command using the "-f" command line switch, so don't set this option if you are using that switch in $sendmail yourself, or if the sendmail on your machine doesn't support that command line switch.
Type: string
Default: "~"
Escape character to use for functions in the builtin editor.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the initial prompt for recipients and subject are skipped when replying to messages, and the initial prompt for subject is skipped when forwarding messages.
Note: this variable has no effect when the `` $autoedit'' variable is set.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not attachments on outgoing messages are saved along with the main body of your message.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and unsigned, even when the actual message is encrypted and/or signed.
Type: string
Default: "iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"
[mutt-ja] This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding schemes for text file attatchments. If unset, $charset value will be used instead. For example, the following configuration would work for Japanese text handling:
set file_charset="iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"
Note: "iso-2022-*" must be put at the head of the value as shown above if included.
Type: path
Default: "~/Mail"
Specifies the default location of your mailboxes. A `+' or `=' at the beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value of this variable. Note that if you change this variable from the default value you need to make sure that the assignment occurs before you use `+' or `=' for any other variables since expansion takes place during the `set' command.
Type: string
Default: "%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f"
This variable allows you to customize the file browser display to your personal taste. This string is similar to `` $index_format'', but has its own set of printf()-like sequences:
current file number
date/time folder was last modified
filename
file permissions
group name (or numeric gid, if missing)
number of hard links
N if folder has new mail, blank otherwise
size in bytes
* if the file is tagged, blank otherwise
owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)
right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"
pad to the end of the line with character "X"
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether or not the Mail-Followup-To header field is generated when sending mail. When set, Mutt will generate this field when you are replying to a known mailing list, specified with the ``subscribe'' or `` lists'' commands.
This field has two purposes. First, preventing you from receiving duplicate copies of replies to messages which you send to mailing lists. Second, ensuring that you do get a reply separately for any messages sent to known lists to which you are not subscribed. The header will contain only the list's address for subscribed lists, and both the list address and your own email address for unsubscribed lists. Without this header, a group reply to your message sent to a subscribed list will be sent to both the list and your address, resulting in two copies of the same email for you.
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable is similar to `` $save_name'', except that Mutt will store a copy of your outgoing message by the username of the address you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.
Also see the `` $record'' variable.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain when forwarding a message. The message header is also RFC2047 decoded. This variable is only used, if `` $mime_forward'' is unset, otherwise `` $mime_forward_decode'' is used instead.
Type: string
Default: "[%a: %s]"
This variable controls the default subject when forwarding a message. It uses the same format sequences as the `` $index_format'' variable.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set forwarded messages included in the main body of the message (when `` $mime_forward'' is unset) will be quoted using `` $indent_string''.
Type: e-mail address
Default: ""
When set, this variable contains a default from address. It can be overridden using my_hdr (including from send-hooks) and `` $reverse_name''.
Defaults to the EMAIL environment variable's content.
Type: regular expression
Default: "^[^,]*"
A regular expression used by mutt to parse the GECOS field of a password entry when expanding the alias. By default the regular expression is set to "^[^,]*" which will return the string up to the first "," encountered. If the GECOS field contains a string like "lastname, firstname" then you should set the gecos_mask=".*".
This can be useful if you see the following behavior: you address a e-mail to user ID stevef whose full name is Steve Franklin. If mutt expands stevef to "Franklin" stevef@foo.bar then you should set the gecos_mask to a regular expression that will match the whole name so mutt will expand "Franklin" to "Franklin, Steve".
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, the header fields normally added by the `` my_hdr'' command are not created. This variable must be unset before composing a new message or replying in order to take effect. If set, the user defined header fields are added to every new message.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, this variable causes Mutt to include the header of the message you are replying to into the edit buffer. The `` $weed'' setting applies.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, help lines describing the bindings for the major functions provided by each menu are displayed on the first line of the screen.
Note: The binding will not be displayed correctly if the function is bound to a sequence rather than a single keystroke. Also, the help line may not be updated if a binding is changed while Mutt is running. Since this variable is primarily aimed at new users, neither of these should present a major problem.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will skip the host name part of `` $hostname'' variable when adding the domain part to addresses. This variable does not affect the generation of Message-IDs, and it will not lead to the cut-off of first-level domains.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages in the thread tree.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are hidden by limiting, in the thread tree.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages at the top of threads in the thread tree. Note that when $hide_limited is set, this option will have no effect.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are hidden by limiting, at the top of threads in the thread tree.Note that when $hide_missing is set, this option will have no effect.
Type: number
Default: 10
This variable controls the size (in number of strings remembered) of the string history buffer. The buffer is cleared each time the variable is set.
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header is honored when group-replying to a message.
Type: string
Default: ""
Specifies the hostname to use after the ``@'' in local e-mail addresses. This overrides the compile time definition obtained from /etc/resolv.conf.
Type: boolean
Default: no
Affects the behaviour of the reply function when replying to messages from mailing lists. When set, if the ``Reply-To:'' field is set to the same value as the ``To:'' field, Mutt assumes that the ``Reply-To:'' field was set by the mailing list to automate responses to the list, and will ignore this field. To direct a response to the mailing list when this option is set, use the list-reply function; group-reply will reply to both the sender and the list.
Type: string
Default: ""
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt may attempt to use to log in to an IMAP server, in the order mutt should try them. Authentication methods are either 'login' or the right side of an IMAP 'AUTH=xxx' capability string, eg 'digest-md5', 'gssapi' or 'cram-md5'. This parameter is case-insensitive. If this parameter is unset (the default) mutt will try all available methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.
Example: set imap_authenticators="gssapi:cram-md5:login"
Note: Mutt will only fall back to other authentication methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is available but authentication fails, mutt will not connect to the IMAP server.
Type: string
Default: "/."
This contains the list of characters which you would like to treat as folder separators for displaying IMAP paths. In particular it helps in using the '=' shortcut for your folder variable.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If this variable is set, Mutt will always use SSL when connecting to IMAP servers.
Type: string
Default: ""
You normally want to see your personal folders alongside your INBOX in the IMAP browser. If you see something else, you may set this variable to the IMAP path to your folders.
Type: number
Default: 900
This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds that mutt will wait before polling open IMAP connections, to prevent the server from closing them before mutt has finished with them. The default is well within the RFC-specified minimum amount of time (30 minutes) before a server is allowed to do this, but in practice the RFC does get violated every now and then. Reduce this number if you find yourself getting disconnected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will look for only subscribed folders or all folders. This can be toggled in the IMAP browser with the toggle-subscribed command.
Type: string
Default: ""
Specifies the password for your IMAP account. If unset, Mutt will prompt you for your password when you invoke the fetch-mail function. Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your muttrc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for new mail. Mutt will only check for new mail over existing IMAP connections. This is useful if you don't want to be prompted to user/password pairs on mutt invocation, or if opening the connection is slow.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, mutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read whenever you fetch a message from the server. This is generally a good thing, but can make closing an IMAP folder somewhat slower. This option exists to appease spead freaks.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will display warning messages from the IMAP server as error messages. Since these messages are often harmless, or generated due to configuration problems on the server which are out of the users' hands, you may wish to suppress them at some point.
Type: string
Default: ""
Your login name on the IMAP server.
This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set to ``yes'', mutt will look for a mailcap entry with the copiousoutput flag set for every MIME attachment it doesn't have an internal viewer defined for. If such an entry is found, mutt will use the viewer defined in that entry to convert the body part to text form.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are replying to is included in your reply.
Type: string
Default: "> "
Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a message to which you are replying. You are strongly encouraged not to change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanatical netizens.
Type: string
Default: "%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%4l) %s"
This variable allows you to customize the message index display to your personal taste.
``Format strings'' are similar to the strings used in the ``C'' function printf to format output (see the man page for more detail). The following sequences are defined in Mutt:
address of the author
filename of the original message folder (think mailBox)
the list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder name (%b).
number of characters (bytes) in the message
current message number
date and time of the message in the format specified by ``date_format'' converted to sender's time zone
date and time of the message in the format specified by ``date_format'' converted to the local time zone
current message number in thread
number of messages in current thread
entire From: line (address + real name)
author name, or recipient name if the message is from you
message-id of the current message
number of lines in the message
If an address in the To or CC header field matches an address defined by the users ``lists'' command, this displays "To <list-name>", otherwise the same as %F.
total number of message in the mailbox
number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.
message score
author's real name (or address if missing)
(_O_riginal save folder) Where mutt would formerly have stashed the message: list name or recipient name if no list
subject of the message
status of the message (N/D/d/!/r/*)
`to:' field (recipients)
the appropriate character from the $to_chars string
user (login) name of the author
first name of the author, or the recipient if the message is from you
`x-label:' field, if present
`x-label' field, if present, and (1) not at part of a thread tree, (2) at the top of a thread, or (3) `x-label' is different from preceding message's `x-label'.
message status flags
the date and time of the message is converted to sender's time zone, and ``fmt'' is expanded by the library function ``strftime''; a leading bang disables locales
the date and time of the message is converted to the local time zone, and ``fmt'' is expanded by the library function ``strftime''; a leading bang disables locales
the local date and time when the message was received. ``fmt'' is expanded by the library function ``strftime''; a leading bang disables locales
the current local time. ``fmt'' is expanded by the library function ``strftime''; a leading bang disables locales.
right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"
pad to the end of the line with character "X"
See also: `` $to_chars''.
Type: path
Default: "/usr/bin/ispell"
How to invoke ispell (GNU's spell-checking software).
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, read messages marked as flagged will not be moved from your spool mailbox to your `` $mbox'' mailbox, or as a result of a `` mbox-hook'' command.
Type: string
Default: "C"
The locale used by strftime(3) to format dates. Legal values are the strings your system accepts for the locale variable LC_TIME.
Type: number
Default: 5
This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look for new mail.
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable specifies which files to consult when attempting to display MIME bodies not directly supported by Mutt.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, mutt will restrict possible characters in mailcap % expandos to a well-defined set of safe characters. This is the safe setting, but we are not sure it doesn't break some more advanced MIME stuff.
DON'T CHANGE THIS SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, messages marked as deleted will be saved with the maildir (T)rashed flag instead of unlinked. NOTE: this only applies to maildir-style mailboxes. Setting it will have no effect on other mailbox types.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether or not Mutt makes the distinction between new messages and old unread messages. By default, Mutt will mark new messages as old if you exit a mailbox without reading them. The next time you start Mutt, the messages will show up with an "O" next to them in the index menu, indicating that they are old. In order to make Mutt treat all unread messages as new only, you can unset this variable.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the display of wrapped lines in the internal pager. If set, a ``+'' marker is displayed at the beginning of wrapped lines. Also see the `` $smart_wrap'' variable.
Type: regular expression
Default: "!^\.[^.]"
A regular expression used in the file browser, optionally preceded by the not operator ``!''. Only files whose names match this mask will be shown. The match is always case-sensitive.
Type: path
Default: "~/mbox"
This specifies the folder into which read mail in your `` $spoolfile'' folder will be appended.
Type: folder magic
Default: mbox
The default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be any of mbox, MMDF, MH and Maildir.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If unset, Mutt will remove your address from the list of recipients when replying to a message.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, menus will be scrolled up or down one line when you attempt to move across a screen boundary. If unset, the screen is cleared and the next or previous page of the menu is displayed (useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, forces Mutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit (bit 8) set as if the user had pressed the ESC key and whatever key remains after having the high bit removed. For example, if the key pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf4, then this is treated as if the user had pressed ESC then ``x''. This is because the result of removing the high bit from ``0xf4'' is ``0x74'', which is the ASCII character ``x''.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When unset, mutt will mimic mh's behaviour and rename deleted messages to ,<old file name> in mh folders instead of really deleting them. If the variable is set, the message files will simply be deleted.
Type: string
Default: "flagged"
The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.
Type: string
Default: "replied"
The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.
Type: string
Default: "unseen"
The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.
Type: path
Default: ""
[mutt-ja] If set, folder detection routine considers any subdirectory under "mh_path" directory as an MH folder even if no other MH folder marker (like "cur" subdirectory for MAILDIR folder, or .mh_sequences for MH folder) is found in this directory AND no subdirectory exists beneath this directory. Useful to decrease "xxx is not a mailbox." error for those who are using some other semi-MH-compatible mailer or dealing with MH folder by one's own shell script.
Type: quadoption
Default: no
When set, the message you are forwarding will be attached as a separate MIME part instead of included in the main body of the message. This is useful for forwarding MIME messages so the receiver can properly view the message as it was delivered to you. If you like to switch between MIME and not MIME from mail to mail, set this variable to ask-no or ask-yes.
Also see `` $forward_decode'' and `` $mime_forward_decode''.
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain when forwarding a message while `` $mime_forward'' is set. Otherwise `` $forward_decode'' is used instead.
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from the recvattach menu, attachments which cannot be decoded in a reasonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if this option is set.
Type: string
Default: "%4n %c %-16s %a"
This variable describes the format of a remailer line on the mixmaster chain selection screen. The following printf-like sequences are supported:
The running number on the menu.
Remailer capabilities.
The remailer's short name.
The remailer's e-mail address.
Type: path
Default: "mixmaster"
This variable contains the path to the Mixmaster binary on your system. It is used with various sets of parameters to gather the list of known remailers, and to finally send a message through the mixmaster chain.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-no
Controls whether you will be asked to confirm moving read messages from your spool mailbox to your `` $mbox'' mailbox, or as a result of a `` mbox-hook'' command.
Type: string
Default: "%s"
This is the string displayed in the ``attachment'' menu for attachments of type message/rfc822. For a full listing of defined escape sequences see the section on `` $index_format''.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
[mutt-ja] Mutt will generate Message-ID: field by itself when set(default). Unset to let MTA generate Message-ID: field.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
[mutt-ja] Use $from value instead of $hostname for Message-ID: generation. Uniqueness of Message-ID: increases (especially for dialup-users).
Type: path
Default: "builtin"
This variable specifies which pager you would like to use to view messages. builtin means to use the builtin pager, otherwise this variable should specify the pathname of the external pager you would like to use.
Using an external pager may have some disadvantages: Additional keystrokes are necessary because you can't call mutt functions directly from the pager, and screen resizes cause lines longer than the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable controls the number of lines of context that are given when displaying the next or previous page in the internal pager. By default, Mutt will display the line after the last one on the screen at the top of the next page (0 lines of context).
Type: string
Default: "-%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n %s"
This variable controls the format of the one-line message ``status'' displayed before each message in either the internal or an external pager. The valid sequences are listed in the `` $index_format'' section.
Type: number
Default: 0
Determines the number of lines of a mini-index which is shown when in the pager. The current message, unless near the top or bottom of the folder, will be roughly one third of the way down this mini-index, giving the reader the context of a few messages before and after the message. This is useful, for example, to determine how many messages remain to be read in the current thread. One of the lines is reserved for the status bar from the index, so a pager_index_lines of 6 will only show 5 lines of the actual index. A value of 0 results in no index being shown. If the number of messages in the current folder is less than pager_index_lines, then the index will only use as many lines as it needs.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the internal-pager will not move to the next message when you are at the end of a message and invoke the next-page function.
Type: boolean
Default: no
[mutt-ja] Determines whether to display message body immediately. When set, only headers are displayed first, and message body is shown after page scroll or line scroll are done.
Type: boolean
Default: no
[mutt-ja] Determines the style of $pager_hdrs_only. When set, message body characters are substituted by the characters by $pager_spoiler. Empty lines are shown when not set.
Note: When not set, line count of message body is calculated according to the lines of the original message. File atattchments or displaying in a mismatch between the empty-line count and the line count of the message actually displayed.
Type: string
Default: "*"
[mutt-ja] Specify substituting character for $pager_hdrs_only and $pager_spoil. (valid only if both are set)
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to PGP/MIME sign outgoing messages. This can be overridden by use of the pgp- menu, when signing is not required or encryption is requested as well.
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to PGP/MIME encrypt outgoing messages. This is probably only useful in connection to the send-hook command. It can be overridden by use of the pgp-menu, when encryption is not required or signing is requested as well.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to ignore OpenPGP subkeys. Instead, the principal key will inherit the subkeys' capabilities. Unset this if you want to play interesting key selection games.
Type: string
Default: "%4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u"
This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu to your personal taste. This string is similar to `` $index_format'', but has its own set of printf()-like sequences:
number
key id
user id
algorithm
key length
flags
capabilities
trust/validity of the key-uid association
date of the key where <s> is an strftime(3) expression
Type: regular expression
Default: ""
If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP signature is only considered verified if the output from $pgp_verify_command contains the text. Use this variable if the exit code from the command is 0 even for bad signatures.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs. Unset uses the normal 32 bit Key IDs.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, automatically PGP encrypt replies to messages which are encrypted.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, automatically PGP sign replies to messages which are signed.
Note: this does not work on messages that are encrypted and signed!
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, automatically PGP sign replies to messages which are encrypted. This makes sense in combination with `` $pgp_replyencrypt'', because it allows you to sign all messages which are automatically encrypted. This works around the problem noted in `` $pgp_replysign'', that mutt is not able to find out whether an encrypted message is also signed.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, signed and encrypted messages will consist of nested multipart/signed and multipart/encrypted body parts.
This is useful for applications like encrypted and signed mailing lists, where the outer layer (multipart/encrypted) can be easily removed, while the inner multipart/signed part is retained.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, mutt will display non-usable keys on the PGP key selection menu. This includes keys which have been revoked, have expired, or have been marked as ``disabled'' by the user.
Type: string
Default: ""
If you have more than one key pair, this option allows you to specify which of your private keys to use. It is recommended that you use the keyid form to specify your key (e.g., ``0x00112233'').
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, Mutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed messages as quoted-printable. Please note that unsetting this variable may lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only change this if you know what you are doing.
Type: number
Default: 300
The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will expire if not used.
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If ``yes'', always attempt to verify PGP/MIME signatures. If ``ask-yes'' or ``ask-no'', ask whether or not to verify the signature. If ``no'', never attempt to verify PGP/MIME signatures.
Type: sort order
Default: address
Specifies how the entries in the `pgp keys' menu are sorted. The following are legal values:
sort alphabetically by user id
sort alphabetically by key id
sort by key creation date
sort by the trust of the key
If you prefer reverse order of the above values, prefix it with `reverse-'.
Type: quadoption
Default: no
This option controls whether Mutt generates old-style PGP encrypted or signed messages under certain circumstances.
Note that PGP/MIME will be used automatically for messages which have a character set different from us-ascii, or which consist of more than a single MIME part.
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is strongly deprecated.
Type: string
Default: ""
This format strings specifies a command which is used to decode application/pgp attachments.
The PGP command formats have their own set of printf-like sequences:
Expands to PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is needed, to an empty string otherwise. Note: This may be used with a %? construct.
Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
Expands to the name of a file containing the signature part of a multipart/signed attachment when verifying it.
The value of $pgp_sign_as.
One or more key IDs.
For examples on how to configure these formats for the various versions of PGP which are floating around, see the pgp*.rc and gpg.rc files in the samples/ subdirectory which has been installed on your system alongside the documentation.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is invoked whenever mutt will need public key information. %r is the only printf-like sequence used with this format.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to verify PGP/MIME signatures.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to decrypt a PGP/MIME encrypted message.
Type: string
Default: ""
This format is used to create a "clearsigned" old-style PGP attachment. Note that the use of this format is strongly deprecated.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for a multipart/signed PGP/MIME body part.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to combinedly sign/encrypt a body part.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to import a key from a message into the user's public key ring.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to export a public key from the user's key ring.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to verify key information from the key selection menu.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to list the secret key ring's contents. The output format must be analogous to the one used by gpg --list-keys --with-colons.
This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes with mutt.
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to list the public key ring's contents. The output format must be analogous to the one used by gpg --list-keys --with-colons.
This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes with mutt.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the handling of encrypted messages when forwarding a message. When set, the outer layer of encryption is stripped off. This variable is only used if `` $mime_forward'' is set and `` $mime_forward_decode'' is unset.
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If set (the default), mutt will attempt to use STARTTLS on servers advertising the capability. When unset, mutt will not attempt to use STARTTLS regardless of the server's capabilities.
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable specifies the file where the certificates you trust are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you are asked if you accept it or not. If you accept it, the certificate can also be saved in this file and further connections are automatically accepted.
You can also manually add CA certificates in this file. Any server certificate that is signed with one of these CA certificates are also automatically accepted.
Example: set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set to yes, mutt will use CA certificates in the system-wide certificate store when checking if server certificate is signed by a trusted CA.
Type: path
Default: ""
The file which includes random data that is used to initalize SSL library functions.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variables specifies whether to attempt to use SSLv2 in the SSL authentication process.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variables specifies whether to attempt to use SSLv3 in the SSL authentication process.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variables specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1 in the SSL authentication process.
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the pipe-message command and the ``tag- prefix'' operator. If this variable is unset, when piping a list of tagged messages Mutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe them as a single folder. When set, Mutt will pipe the messages one by one. In both cases the messages are piped in the current sorted order, and the `` $pipe_sep'' separator is added after each message.
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the pipe-message command. When unset, Mutt will pipe the messages without any preprocessing. When set, Mutt will weed headers and will attempt to PGP/MIME decode the messages first.
Type: string
Default: "\n"
The separator to add between messages when piping a list of tagged messages to an external Unix command.
Type: string
Default: ""
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt may attempt to use to log in to an POP server, in the order mutt should try them. Authentication methods are either 'user', 'apop' or any SASL mechanism, eg 'digest-md5', 'gssapi' or 'cram-md5'. This parameter is case-insensitive. If this parameter is unset (the default) mutt will try all available methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.
Example: set pop_authenticators="digest-md5:apop:user"
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, Mutt will try all available methods. When unset, Mutt will only fall back to other authentication methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is available but authentication fails, Mutt will not connect to the POP server.
Type: number
Default: 60
This variable configures how often (in seconds) POP should look for new mail.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-no
If set, Mutt will delete successfully downloaded messages from the POP server when using the fetch-mail function. When unset, Mutt will download messages but also leave them on the POP server.
Type: string
Default: ""
The name of your POP server for the fetch-mail function. You can also specify an alternative port, username and password, ie:
[pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]
Type: boolean
Default: no
If this variable is set, mutt will try to use the "LAST" POP command for retrieving only unread messages from the POP server when using the fetch-mail function.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect to POP server when connection lost.
Type: string
Default: ""
Your login name on the POP server.
This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
Type: string
Default: ""
Specifies the password for your POP account. If unset, Mutt will prompt you for your password when you open POP mailbox. Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your muttrc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
Type: string
Default: ""
Similar to the `` $attribution'' variable, Mutt will append this string after the inclusion of a message which is being replied to.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not messages are saved in the `` $postponed'' mailbox when you elect not to send immediately.
Type: path
Default: "~/postponed"
Mutt allows you to indefinitely `` postpone sending a message'' which you are editing. When you choose to postpone a message, Mutt saves it in the mailbox specified by this variable. Also see the `` $postpone'' variable.
Type: string
Default: ""
If set, a shell command to be executed if mutt fails to establish a connection to the server. This is useful for setting up secure connections, e.g. with ssh(1). If the command returns a nonzero status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:
preconnect="ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net sleep 20 < /dev/null > /dev/null"
Mailbox 'foo' on mailhost.net can now be reached as '{localhost:1234}foo'.
NOTE: For this example to work, you must be able to log in to the remote machine without having to enter a password.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-no
Controls whether or not Mutt asks for confirmation before printing. This is useful for people (like me) who accidentally hit ``p'' often.
Type: path
Default: "lpr"
This specifies the command pipe that should be used to print messages.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Used in connection with the print-message command. If this option is set, the message is decoded before it is passed to the external command specified by $print_command. If this option is unset, no processing will be applied to the message when printing it. The latter setting may be useful if you are using some advanced printer filter which is able to properly format e-mail messages for printing.
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the print-message command. If this option is set, the command sepcified by $print_command is executed once for each message which is to be printed. If this option is unset, the command specified by $print_command is executed only once, and all the messages are concatenated, with a form feed as the message separator.
Those who use the enscript(1) program's mail-printing mode will most likely want to set this option.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If you use an external `` $pager'', setting this variable will cause Mutt to prompt you for a command when the pager exits rather than returning to the index menu. If unset, Mutt will return to the index menu when the external pager exits.
Type: path
Default: ""
This specifies the command that mutt will use to make external address queries. The string should contain a %s, which will be substituted with the query string the user types. See `` query'' for more information.
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether ``quit'' and ``exit'' actually quit from mutt. If it set to yes, they do quit, if it is set to no, they have no effect, and if it is set to ask-yes or ask-no, you are prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.
Type: regular expression
Default: "^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+"
A regular expression used in the internal-pager to determine quoted sections of text in the body of a message.
Note: In order to use the quotedx patterns in the internal pager, you need to set this to a regular expression that matches exactly the quote characters at the beginning of quoted lines.
Type: number
Default: 10
If set to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display which message it is currently on when reading a mailbox. The message is printed after read_inc messages have been read (e.g., if set to 25, Mutt will print a message when it reads message 25, and then again when it gets to message 50). This variable is meant to indicate progress when reading large mailboxes which may take some time. When set to 0, only a single message will appear before the reading the mailbox.
Also see the `` $write_inc'' variable.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, all folders are opened in read-only mode.
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable specifies what "real" or "personal" name should be used when sending messages.
By default, this is the GCOS field from /etc/passwd. Note that this variable will not be used when the user has set a real name in the $from variable.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not you are prompted to recall postponed messages when composing a new message. Also see `` $postponed''.
Setting this variable to ``yes'' is not generally useful, and thus not recommended.
Type: path
Default: ""
This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should be appended. (This is meant as the primary method for saving a copy of your messages, but another way to do this is using the `` my_hdr'' command to create a Bcc: field with your email address in it.)
The value of $record is overridden by the `` $force_name'' and `` $save_name'' variables, and the `` fcc-hook'' command.
Type: regular expression
Default: "^(re([\[0-9\]+])*|aw):[ \t]*"
A regular expression used to recognize reply messages when threading and replying. The default value corresponds to the English "Re:" and the German "Aw:".
Type: boolean
Default: no
If unset and you are replying to a message sent by you, Mutt will assume that you want to reply to the recipients of that message rather than to yourself.
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
If set, Mutt will ask you if you want to use the address listed in the Reply-To: header field when replying to a message. If you answer no, it will use the address in the From: header field instead. This option is useful for reading a mailing list that sets the Reply-To: header field to the list address and you want to send a private message to the author of a message.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, the cursor will be automatically advanced to the next (possibly undeleted) message whenever a command that modifies the current message is executed.
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls whether or not Mutt will display the "personal" name from your aliases in the index menu if it finds an alias that matches the message's sender. For example, if you have the following alias:
alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
and then you receive mail which contains the following header:
From: abd30425@somewhere.net
It would be displayed in the index menu as ``Joe User'' instead of ``abd30425@somewhere.net.'' This is useful when the person's e-mail address is not human friendly (like CompuServe addresses).
Type: boolean
Default: no
It may sometimes arrive that you receive mail to a certain machine, move the messages to another machine, and reply to some the messages from there. If this variable is set, the default From: line of the reply messages is built using the address where you received the messages you are replying to. If the variable is unset, the From: line will use your address on the current machine.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable fine-tunes the behaviour of the reverse_name feature. When it is set, mutt will use the address from incoming messages as-is, possibly including eventual real names. When it is unset, mutt will override any such realnames with the setting of the realname variable.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is set, Mutt will decode RFC-2047-encoded MIME parameters. You want to set this variable when mutt suggests you to save attachments to files named like this: =?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
When this variable is set interactively, the change doesn't have the desired effect before you have changed folders.
Note that this use of RFC 2047's encoding is explicitly, prohibited by the standard, but nevertheless encountered in the wild. Also note that setting this parameter will not have the effect that mutt generates this kind of encoding. Instead, mutt will unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC 2231.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
[mutt-ja] When set, Japanese "platform dependent characters" (illegal characters for iso-2022-jp charset; mainly used by MS-Windows mailers) are substituted to special character, GETA mark ('ESC <@@ref>$ B " . ESC ( B' in iso-2022-jp), and JIS X 0201 kana characters (only for "ESC ) I" cases) are also substituted to "?" to prevent garbage characters. JIS X 0201 kana characters are not substituted if they appear in 8bit form.
This fixes another Japanese encoding issue. In case $charset is set to "EUC-JP", which does not contain JIS X 0201 roman character set, the JIS X 0201 roman part of received messages encoded in iso-2022-jp can not be converted to EUC-JP. On the other hand, the ASCII part can not be converted to Shift_JIS, which does not contain ASCII character set. Thus, the converted characters are garbled in these cases. When this option is set, the JIS X 0201 roman escape sequence and the ASCII escape sequence are replaced appropriately to prevent the output from being garbled.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, mutt will take the sender's full address when choosing a default folder for saving a mail. If `` $save_name'' or `` $force_name'' is set too, the selection of the fcc folder will be changed as well.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, mailboxes which contain no saved messages will be removed when closed (the exception is `` $spoolfile'' which is never removed). If set, mailboxes are never removed.
Note: This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders, Mutt does not delete MH and Maildir directories.
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls how copies of outgoing messages are saved. When set, a check is made to see if a mailbox specified by the recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a mailbox in the `` $folder'' directory with the username part of the recipient address). If the mailbox exists, the outgoing message will be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to the `` $record'' mailbox.
Also see the `` $force_name'' variable.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is unset, scoring is turned off. This can be useful to selectively disable scoring for certain folders when the `` $score_threshold_delete'' variable and friends are used.
Type: number
Default: -1
Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than the value of this variable are automatically marked for deletion by mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a message for deletion.
Type: number
Default: 9999
Messages wich have been assigned a score greater than or equal to this variable's value are automatically marked "flagged".
Type: number
Default: -1
Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than the value of this variable are automatically marked as read by mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a message read.
Type: string
Default: "us-ascii:iso-2022-jp"
A list of character sets for outgoing messages. Mutt will use the first character set into which the text can be converted exactly. If your `` $charset'' is not iso-8859-1 and recipients may not understand UTF-8, it is advisable to include in the list an appropriate widely used standard character set (such as iso-8859-2, koi8-r or iso-2022-jp) either instead of or after "iso-8859-1".
Type: path
Default: "/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi"
Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by Mutt. Mutt expects that the specified program interprets additional arguments as recipient addresses.
Type: number
Default: 0
Specifies the number of seconds to wait for the `` $sendmail'' process to finish before giving up and putting delivery in the background.
Mutt interprets the value of this variable as follows:
number of seconds to wait for sendmail to finish before continuing
wait forever for sendmail to finish
always put sendmail in the background without waiting
Note that if you specify a value other than 0, the output of the child process will be put in a temporary file. If there is some error, you will be informed as to where to find the output.
Type: path
Default: ""
Command to use when spawning a subshell. By default, the user's login shell from /etc/passwd is used.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, a line containing ``-- '' will be inserted before your `` $signature''. It is strongly recommended that you not unset this variable unless your ``signature'' contains just your name. The reason for this is because many software packages use ``-- \n'' to detect your signature. For example, Mutt has the ability to highlight the signature in a different color in the builtin pager.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, the signature will be included before any quoted or forwarded text. It is strongly recommended that you do not set this variable unless you really know what you are doing, and are prepared to take some heat from netiquette guardians.
Type: path
Default: "~/.signature"
Specifies the filename of your signature, which is appended to all outgoing messages. If the filename ends with a pipe (``|''), it is assumed that filename is a shell command and input should be read from its stdout.
Type: string
Default: "~f %s | ~s %s"
Specifies how Mutt should expand a simple search into a real search pattern. A simple search is one that does not contain any of the ~ operators. See `` patterns'' for more information on search patterns.
For example, if you simply type joe at a search or limit prompt, Mutt will automatically expand it to the value specified by this variable. For the default value it would be:
~f joe | ~s joe
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the display of lines longer then the screen width in the internal pager. If set, long lines are wrapped at a word boundary. If unset, lines are simply wrapped at the screen edge. Also see the `` $markers'' variable.
Type: regular expression
Default: "(>From )|(:[-^]?[][)(><}{|/DP])"
The pager uses this variable to catch some common false positives of `` $quote_regexp'', most notably smileys in the beginning of a line
Type: number
Default: 1
Specifies time, in seconds, to pause while displaying certain informational messages, while moving from folder to folder and after expunging messages from the current folder. The default is to pause one second, so a value of zero for this option suppresses the pause.
Type: sort order
Default: date
Specifies how to sort messages in the index menu. Valid values are:
date or date-sent
date-received
from
mailbox-order (unsorted)
score
size
subject
threads
to
You may optionally use the reverse- prefix to specify reverse sorting order (example: set sort=reverse-date-sent).
Type: sort order
Default: alias
Specifies how the entries in the `alias' menu are sorted. The following are legal values:
address (sort alphabetically by email address)
alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)
Type: sort order
Default: date
When sorting by threads, this variable controls how threads are sorted in relation to other threads, and how the branches of the thread trees are sorted. This can be set to any value that `` $sort'' can, except threads (in that case, mutt will just use date-sent). You can also specify the last- prefix in addition to the reverse- prefix, but last- must come after reverse-. The last- prefix causes messages to be sorted against its siblings by which has the last descendant, using the rest of sort_aux as an ordering. For instance, set sort_aux=last- date-received would mean that if a new message is received in a thread, that thread becomes the last one displayed (or the first, if you have set sort=reverse-threads.) Note: For reversed `` $sort'' order $sort_aux is reversed again (which is not the right thing to do, but kept to not break any existing configuration setting).
Type: sort order
Default: subject
Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser. By default, the entries are sorted alphabetically. Valid values:
alpha (alphabetically)
date
size
unsorted
You may optionally use the reverse- prefix to specify reverse sorting order (example: set sort_browser=reverse-date).
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable is only useful when sorting by threads with `` $strict_threads'' unset. In that case, it changes the heuristic mutt uses to thread messages by subject. With sort_re set, mutt will only attach a message as the child of another message by subject if the subject of the child message starts with a substring matching the setting of `` $reply_regexp''. With sort_re unset, mutt will attach the message whether or not this is the case, as long as the non-`` $reply_regexp'' parts of both messages are identical.
Type: path
Default: ""
If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where Mutt cannot find it, you can specify its location with this variable. Mutt will automatically set this variable to the value of the environment variable $MAIL if it is not set.
Type: string
Default: "-*%A"
Controls the characters used by the "%r" indicator in `` $status_format''. The first character is used when the mailbox is unchanged. The second is used when the mailbox has been changed, and it needs to be resynchronized. The third is used if the mailbox is in read-only mode, or if the mailbox will not be written when exiting that mailbox (You can toggle whether to write changes to a mailbox with the toggle-write operation, bound by default to "%"). The fourth is used to indicate that the current folder has been opened in attach- message mode (Certain operations like composing a new mail, replying, forwarding, etc. are not permitted in this mode).
Type: string
Default: "-%r-Mutt: %f [Msgs:%?M?%M/?%m%?n? New:%n?%?o? Old:%o?%?d? Del:%d?%?F? Flag:%F?%?t? Tag:%t?%?p? Post:%p?%?b? Inc:%b?%?l? %l?]---(%s/%S)-%>-(%P)---"
Controls the format of the status line displayed in the index menu. This string is similar to `` $index_format'', but has its own set of printf()-like sequences:
number of mailboxes with new mail *
number of deleted messages *
local hostname
the full pathname of the current mailbox
number of flagged messages *
size (in bytes) of the current mailbox *
size (in bytes) of the messages shown (i.e., which match the current limit) *
the number of messages in the mailbox *
the number of messages shown (i.e., which match the current limit) *
number of new messages in the mailbox *
number of old unread messages
number of postponed messages *
percentage of the way through the index
modified/read-only/won't-write/attach-message indicator, according to $status_chars
current sorting mode ( $sort)
current aux sorting method ( $sort_aux)
number of tagged messages *
number of unread messages *
Mutt version string
currently active limit pattern, if any *
right justify the rest of the string and pad with "X"
pad to the end of the line with "X"
* = can be optionally printed if nonzero
Some of the above sequences can be used to optionally print a string if their value is nonzero. For example, you may only want to see the number of flagged messages if such messages exist, since zero is not particularly meaningful. To optionally print a string based upon one of the above sequences, the following construct is used
%?<sequence_char>?<optional_string>?
where sequence_char is a character from the table above, and optional_string is the string you would like printed if status_char is nonzero. optional_string may contain other sequence as well as normal text, but you may not nest optional strings.
Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the number of new messages in a mailbox: %?n?%n new messages.?
Additionally you can switch between two strings, the first one, if a value is zero, the second one, if the value is nonzero, by using the following construct: %?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>?
You can additionally force the result of any printf-like sequence to be lowercase by prefixing the sequence character with an underscore (_) sign. For example, if you want to display the local hostname in lowercase, you would use: %_h
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable causes the ``status bar'' to be displayed on the first line of the screen rather than near the bottom.
Type: boolean
Default: no
[mutt-ja] When unset, non MIME-compliant messages that doesn't have any charset indication in Content-Type: field can be displayed (non MIME-compliant messages are often generated by old mailers or buggy mailers like MS Outlook Express). See also $assumed_charset.
This option also replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word and *text to a single space to prevent the display of MIME-encoded Subject: field from being devided into multiple lines.
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, threading will only make use of the ``In-Reply-To'' and ``References'' fields when you `` $sort'' by message threads. By default, messages with the same subject are grouped together in ``pseudo threads.'' This may not always be desirable, such as in a personal mailbox where you might have several unrelated messages with the subject ``hi'' which will get grouped together.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, mutt won't stop when the user presses the terminal's susp key, usually ``control-Z''. This is useful if you run mutt inside an xterm using a command like xterm -e mutt.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will generate text/plain; format=flowed attachments. This format is easier to handle for some mailing software, and generally just looks like ordinary text. To actually make use of this format's features, you'll need support in your editor.
Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent to thread messages by subject.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Affects the ~b and ~h search operations described in section `` patterns'' above. If set, the headers and attachments of messages to be searched are decoded before searching. If unset, messages are searched as they appear in the folder.
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the bottom of the screen with a tilde (~).
Type: number
Default: 600
This variable controls the number of seconds Mutt will wait for a key to be pressed in the main menu before timing out and checking for new mail. A value of zero or less will cause Mutt not to ever time out.
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable allows you to specify where Mutt will place its temporary files needed for displaying and composing messages.
Type: string
Default: " +TCFL"
Controls the character used to indicate mail addressed to you. The first character is the one used when the mail is NOT addressed to your address (default: space). The second is used when you are the only recipient of the message (default: +). The third is when your address appears in the TO header field, but you are not the only recipient of the message (default: T). The fourth character is used when your address is specified in the CC header field, but you are not the only recipient. The fifth character is used to indicate mail that was sent by you. The sixth character is used to indicate when a mail was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to (default: L).
Type: boolean
Default: no
[mutt-ja] Many terminals not compatible with vt-100 can't display ACS-characters. This option can set any character for displaying tree structure in index-thread or file-attatchments. For example, Japanese users can use JIS X 0208 ruled line characters for this purpose. The characters actually used are set by $tree_llcorner, $tree_ulcorner, $tree_ltee, $tree_hline, $tree_vline, $tree_ttee, $tree_btee, $tree_space, $tree_rarrow, $tree_star, $tree_hidden, $tree_equals and $tree_missing variables. These values must be written in the same encoding as the $charset value. When $tree_chars is not set (default), the characters with $ascii_chars are used.
Type: string
Default: "`"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: ","
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "|"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "-"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "|"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "-"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "-"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: " "
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: ">"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "*"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "&"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "="
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: "?"
[mutt-ja] See `` $tree_chars''.
Type: string
Default: ""
Setting this variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to a command instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set up preauthenticated connections to your IMAP/POP3 server. Example:
tunnel="ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd"
NOTE: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the remote machine without having to enter a password.
Type: boolean
Default: no
Warning: do not set this variable unless you are using a version of sendmail which supports the -B8BITMIME flag (such as sendmail 8.8.x) or you may not be able to send mail.
When set, Mutt will invoke `` $sendmail'' with the -B8BITMIME flag when sending 8-bit messages to enable ESMTP negotiation.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will qualify all local addresses (ones without the @host portion) with the value of `` $hostname''. If unset, no addresses will be qualified.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will generate the `From:' header field when sending messages. If unset, no `From:' header field will be generated unless the user explicitly sets one using the `` my_hdr'' command.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will decide that Symbols, Greek and Cyrillic in JIS X 0208 have a column width of 2 in UTF-8 locale.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to contact. If this option is unset, Mutt will restrict itself to IPv4 addresses. Normally, the default should work.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will add a "User-Agent" header to outgoing messages, indicating which version of mutt was used for composing them.
Type: path
Default: ""
Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the ~v command is given in the builtin editor.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether Mutt will ask you to press a key after shell- escape, pipe-message, pipe-entry, print-message, and print-entry commands.
It is also used when viewing attachments with `` auto_view'', provided that the corresponding mailcap entry has a needsterminal flag, and the external program is interactive.
When set, Mutt will always ask for a key. When unset, Mutt will wait for a key only if the external command returned a non-zero status.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will weed headers when when displaying, forwarding, printing, or replying to messages.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether searches wrap around the end of the mailbox.
When set, searches will wrap around the first (or last) message. When unset, searches will not wrap.
Type: number
Default: 0
Controls the margin left at the right side of the terminal when mutt's pager does smart wrapping.
Type: number
Default: 10
When writing a mailbox, a message will be printed every write_inc messages to indicate progress. If set to 0, only a single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.
Also see the `` $read_inc'' variable.
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether mutt writes out the Bcc header when preparing messages to be sent. Exim users may wish to use this.
The following is the list of available functions listed by the mapping in which they are available. The default key setting is given, and an explanation of what the function does. The key bindings of these functions can be changed with the bind command.
The generic menu is not a real menu, but specifies common functions (such as movement) available in all menus except for pager and editor. Changing settings for this menu will affect the default bindings for all menus (except as noted).
bottom-page L move to the bottom of the page current-bottom not bound move current entry to bottom of page current-middle not bound move current entry to middle of page current-top not bound move current entry to top of page enter-command : enter a muttrc command exit q exit this menu first-entry = move to the first entry half-down ] scroll down 1/2 page half-up [ scroll up 1/2 page help ? this screen jump number jump to an index number last-entry * move to the last entry middle-page M move to the middle of the page next-entry j move to the next entry next-line > scroll down one line next-page z move to the next page previous-entry k move to the previous entry previous-line < scroll up one line previous-page Z move to the previous page refresh ^L clear and redraw the screen search / search for a regular expression search-next n search for next match search-opposite not bound search for next match in opposite direction search-reverse ESC / search backwards for a regular expression select-entry RET select the current entry shell-escape ! run a program in a subshell tag-entry t toggle the tag on the current entry tag-prefix ; apply next command to tagged entries top-page H move to the top of the page
bounce-message b remail a message to another user change-folder c open a different folder change-folder-readonly ESC c open a different folder in read only mode check-traditional-pgp ESC P check for classic pgp clear-flag W clear a status flag from a message copy-message C copy a message to a file/mailbox create-alias a create an alias from a message sender decode-copy ESC C decode a message and copy it to a file/mailbox decode-save ESC s decode a message and save it to a file/mailbox delete-message d delete the current entry delete-pattern D delete messages matching a pattern delete-subthread ESC d delete all messages in subthread delete-thread ^D delete all messages in thread display-address @ display full address of sender display-toggle-weed h display message and toggle header weeding display-message RET display a message edit e edit the current message edit-type ^E edit the current message's Content-Type exit x exit without saving changes extract-keys ^K extract PGP public keys fetch-mail G retrieve mail from POP server flag-message F toggle a message's 'important' flag forget-passphrase ^F wipe PGP passphrase from memory forward-message f forward a message with comments group-reply g reply to all recipients limit l show only messages matching a pattern list-reply L reply to specified mailing list mail m compose a new mail message mail-key ESC k mail a PGP public key next-new TAB jump to the next new message next-subthread ESC n jump to the next subthread next-thread ^N jump to the next thread next-undeleted j move to the next undeleted message next-unread not bound jump to the next unread message parent-message P jump to parent message in thread pipe-message | pipe message/attachment to a shell command previous-new ESC TAB jump to the previous new message previous-page Z move to the previous page previous-subthread ESC p jump to previous subthread previous-thread ^P jump to previous thread previous-undeleted k move to the last undelete message previous-unread not bound jump to the previous unread message print-message p print the current entry query Q query external program for addresses quit q save changes to mailbox and quit read-subthread ESC r mark the current subthread as read read-thread ^R mark the current thread as read recall-message R recall a postponed message reply r reply to a message resend-message ESC e resend message and preserve MIME structure save-message s save message/attachment to a file set-flag w set a status flag on a message show-version V show the Mutt version number and date show-limit ESC l show currently active limit pattern, if any sort-mailbox o sort messages sort-reverse O sort messages in reverse order sync-mailbox $ save changes to mailbox tag-pattern T tag messages matching a pattern tag-thread ESC t tag/untag all messages in the current thread toggle-new N toggle a message's 'new' flag toggle-write % toggle whether the mailbox will be rewritten undelete-message u undelete the current entry undelete-pattern U undelete messages matching a pattern undelete-subthread ESC u undelete all messages in subthread undelete-thread ^U undelete all messages in thread untag-pattern ^T untag messages matching a pattern view-attachments v show MIME attachments
bottom not bound jump to the bottom of the message bounce-message b remail a message to another user change-folder c open a different folder change-folder-readonly ESC c open a different folder in read only mode check-traditional-pgp ESC P check for classic pgp copy-message C copy a message to a file/mailbox create-alias a create an alias from a message sender decode-copy ESC C decode a message and copy it to a file/mailbox decode-save ESC s decode a message and save it to a file/mailbox delete-message d delete the current entry delete-subthread ESC d delete all messages in subthread delete-thread ^D delete all messages in thread display-address @ display full address of sender display-toggle-weed h display message and toggle header weeding edit e edit the current message edit-type ^E edit the current message's Content-Type enter-command : enter a muttrc command exit i return to the main-menu extract-keys ^K extract PGP public keys flag-message F toggle a message's 'important' flag forget-passphrase ^F wipe PGP passphrase from memory forward-message f forward a message with comments group-reply g reply to all recipients half-up not bound move up one-half page half-down not bound move down one-half page help ? this screen list-reply L reply to specified mailing list mail m compose a new mail message mail-key ESC k mail a PGP public key mark-as-new N toggle a message's 'new' flag next-line RET scroll down one line next-entry J move to the next entry next-new TAB jump to the next new message next-page move to the next page next-subthread ESC n jump to the next subthread next-thread ^N jump to the next thread next-undeleted j move to the next undeleted message next-unread not bound jump to the next unread message parent-message P jump to parent message in thread pipe-message | pipe message/attachment to a shell command previous-line BackSpace scroll up one line previous-entry K move to the previous entry previous-new not bound jump to the previous new message previous-page - move to the previous page previous-subthread ESC p jump to previous subthread previous-thread ^P jump to previous thread previous-undeleted k move to the last undelete message previous-unread not bound jump to the previous unread message print-message p print the current entry quit Q save changes to mailbox and quit read-subthread ESC r mark the current subthread as read read-thread ^R mark the current thread as read recall-message R recall a postponed message redraw-screen ^L clear and redraw the screen reply r reply to a message save-message s save message/attachment to a file search / search for a regular expression search-next n search for next match search-opposite not bound search for next match in opposite direction search-reverse ESC / search backwards for a regular expression search-toggle \ toggle search pattern coloring shell-escape ! invoke a command in a subshell show-version V show the Mutt version number and date skip-quoted S skip beyond quoted text sync-mailbox $ save changes to mailbox tag-message t tag a message toggle-quoted T toggle display of quoted text top ^ jump to the top of the message undelete-message u undelete the current entry undelete-subthread ESC u undelete all messages in subthread undelete-thread ^U undelete all messages in thread view-attachments v show MIME attachments
search / search for a regular expression search-next n search for next match search-reverse ESC / search backwards for a regular expression
create-alias a create an alias from a message sender mail m compose a new mail message query Q query external program for addresses query-append A append new query results to current results search / search for a regular expression search-next n search for next match search-opposite not bound search for next match in opposite direction search-reverse ESC / search backwards for a regular expression
bounce-message b remail a message to another user collapse-parts v toggle display of subparts delete-entry d delete the current entry display-toggle-weed h display message and toggle header weeding edit-type ^E edit the current entry's Content-Type extract-keys ^K extract PGP public keys forward-message f forward a message with comments group-reply g reply to all recipients list-reply L reply to specified mailing list pipe-entry | pipe message/attachment to a shell command print-entry p print the current entry reply r reply to a message resend-message ESC e resend message and preserve MIME structure save-entry s save message/attachment to a file undelete-entry u undelete the current entry view-attach RET view attachment using mailcap entry if necessary view-mailcap m force viewing of attachment using mailcap view-text T view attachment as text
attach-file a attach a file(s) to this message attach-message A attach message(s) to this message attach-key ESC k attach a PGP public key copy-file C save message/attachment to a file detach-file D delete the current entry display-toggle-weed h display message and toggle header weeding edit-bcc b edit the BCC list edit-cc c edit the CC list edit-description d edit attachment description edit-encoding ^E edit attachment transfer-encoding edit-fcc f enter a file to save a copy of this message in edit-from ESC f edit the from: field edit-file ^X e edit the file to be attached edit-headers E edit the message with headers edit e edit the message edit-mime m edit attachment using mailcap entry edit-reply-to r edit the Reply-To field edit-subject s edit the subject of this message edit-to t edit the TO list edit-type ^T edit attachment type filter-entry F filter attachment through a shell command forget-passphrase ^F wipe PGP passphrase from memory ispell i run ispell on the message new-mime n compose new attachment using mailcap entry pgp-menu p show PGP options pipe-entry | pipe message/attachment to a shell command postpone-message P save this message to send later print-entry l print the current entry rename-file R rename/move an attached file send-message y send the message toggle-unlink u toggle whether to delete file after sending it view-attach RET view attachment using mailcap entry if necessary write-fcc w write the message to a folder
delete-entry d delete the current entry undelete-entry u undelete the current entry
change-dir c change directories check-new TAB check mailboxes for new mail enter-mask m enter a file mask search / search for a regular expression search-next n search for next match search-reverse ESC / search backwards for a regular expression select-new N select a new file in this directory sort o sort messages sort-reverse O sort messages in reverse order toggle-mailboxes TAB toggle whether to browse mailboxes or all files view-file SPACE view file subscribe s subscribe to current mailbox (IMAP Only) unsubscribe u unsubscribe to current mailbox (IMAP Only) toggle-subscribed T toggle view all/subscribed mailboxes (IMAP Only)
view-name % view the key's user id verify-key c verify a PGP public key
backspace BackSpace delete the char in front of the cursor backward-char ^B move the cursor one character to the left backward-word ESC b move the cursor to the previous word bol ^A jump to the beginning of the line buffy-cycle Space cycle among incoming mailboxes capitalize-word ESC c uppercase the first character in the word complete TAB complete filename or alias complete-query ^T complete address with query delete-char ^D delete the char under the cursor downcase-word ESC l lowercase all characters in current word eol ^E jump to the end of the line forward-char ^F move the cursor one character to the right forward-word ESC f move the cursor to the next word history-down not bound scroll down through the history list history-up not bound scroll up through the history list kill-eol ^K delete chars from cursor to end of line kill-eow ESC d delete chars from cursor to end of word kill-line ^U delete all chars on the line kill-word ^W delete the word in front of the cursor quote-char ^V quote the next typed key transpose-chars not bound transpose character under cursor with previous upcase-word ESC u uppercase all characters in current word