1muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
2
6 muttrc - Configuration file for the Mutt Mail User Agent
7
9 A mutt configuration file consists of a series of “commands”. Each
10 line of the file may contain one or more commands. When multiple com‐
11 mands are used, they must be separated by a semicolon (“;”).
12 The hash mark, or pound sign (“#”), is used as a “comment” character.
14 You can use it to annotate your initialization file. All text after the
15 comment character to the end of the line is ignored.
16 Single quotes (“'”) and double quotes (“"”) can be used to quote
18 strings which contain spaces or other special characters. The differ‐
19 ence between the two types of quotes is similar to that of many popular
20 shell programs, namely that a single quote is used to specify a literal
21 string (one that is not interpreted for shell variables or quoting with
22 a backslash [see next paragraph]), while double quotes indicate a
23 string which should be evaluated. For example, backticks are evaluated
24 inside of double quotes, but not single quotes.
25 \ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh.
27 For example, if want to put quotes (“"”) inside of a string, you can
28 use “\” to force the next character to be a literal instead of inter‐
29 preted character.
30 “\\” means to insert a literal “\” into the line. “\n” and “\r” have
32 their usual C meanings of linefeed and carriage-return, respectively.
33 A “\” at the end of a line can be used to split commands over multiple
35 lines, provided that the split points don't appear in the middle of
36 command names.
37 It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an
39 initialization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in
40 backticks (`command`).
41 UNIX environment variables can be accessed like the way it is done in
43 shells like sh and bash: Prepend the name of the variable by a dollar
44 (“$”) sign.
45
47 alias [-group name [...]] key address [, address [ ... ]]
48 unalias [ * | key ]
49 alias defines an alias key for the given addresses. Each address
51 will be resolved into either an email address (user@example.com)
52 or a named email address (User Name <user@example.com>). The
53 address may be specified in either format, or in the format
54 “user@example.com (User Name)”. unalias removes the alias cor‐
55 responding to the given key or all aliases when “*” is used as
56 an argument. The optional -group argument to alias causes the
57 aliased address(es) to be added to the named group.
58 group [-group name] [-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]
60 ungroup [-group name ] [ * | [[-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]]
61 group is used to directly add either addresses or regular
63 expressions to the specified group or groups. The different cat‐
64 egories of arguments to the group command can be in any order.
65 The flags -rx and -addr specify what the following strings (that
66 cannot begin with a hyphen) should be interpreted as: either a
67 regular expression or an email address, respectively. ungroup
68 is used to remove addresses or regular expressions from the
69 specified group or groups. The syntax is similar to the group
70 command, however the special character * can be used to empty a
71 group of all of its contents.
72 These address groups can also be created implicitly by the
74 alias, lists, subscribe and alternates commands by specifying
75 the optional -group option.
76 Once defined, these address groups can be used in patterns to
78 search for and limit the display to messages matching a group.
79 alternates [-group name] regexp [ regexp [ ... ]]
81 unalternates [ * | regexp [ regexp [ ... ]] ]
82 alternates is used to inform mutt about alternate addresses
84 where you receive mail; you can use regular expressions to spec‐
85 ify alternate addresses. This affects mutt's idea about mes‐
86 sages from you, and messages addressed to you. unalternates
87 removes a regular expression from the list of known alternates.
88 The -group flag causes all of the subsequent regular expressions
89 to be added to the named group.
90 alternative_order type[/subtype] [ ... ]
92 unalternative_order [ * | type/subtype] [...]
93 alternative_order command permits you to define an order of
95 preference which is used by mutt to determine which part of a
96 multipart/alternative body to display. A subtype of “*” matches
97 any subtype, as does an empty subtype. unalternative_order
98 removes entries from the ordered list or deletes the entire list
99 when “*” is used as an argument.
100 auto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
102 unauto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
103 This commands permits you to specify that mutt should automati‐
105 cally convert the given MIME types to text/plain when displaying
106 messages. For this to work, there must be a mailcap(5) entry
107 for the given MIME type with the copiousoutput flag set. A sub‐
108 type of “*” matches any subtype, as does an empty subtype.
109 mime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
111 unmime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
112 This command permits you to define a list of "data" MIME content
114 types for which mutt will try to determine the actual file type
115 from the file name, and not use a mailcap(5) entry given for the
116 original MIME type. For instance, you may add the applica‐
117 tion/octet-stream MIME type to this list.
118 bind map1,map2,... key function
120 This command binds the given key for the given map or maps to
121 the given function. Multiple maps may be specified by separating
122 them with commas (no whitespace is allowed).
123 Valid maps are: generic, alias, attach, browser, editor, index,
125 compose, pager, pgp, postpone, mix.
126 For more information on keys and functions, please consult the
128 Mutt Manual. Note that the function name is to be specified
129 without angle brackets.
130 account-hook [!]regexp command
132 This hook is executed whenever you access a remote mailbox. Use‐
133 ful to adjust configuration settings to different IMAP or POP
134 servers.
135 charset-hook alias charset
137 This command defines an alias for a character set. This is use‐
138 ful to properly display messages which are tagged with a charac‐
139 ter set name not known to mutt.
140 iconv-hook charset local-charset
142 This command defines a system-specific name for a character set.
143 This is useful when your system's iconv(3) implementation does
144 not understand MIME character set names (such as iso-8859-1),
145 but instead insists on being fed with implementation-specific
146 character set names (such as 8859-1). In this specific case,
147 you'd put this into your configuration file:
148 iconv-hook iso-8859-1 8859-1
150 message-hook [!]pattern command
152 Before mutt displays (or formats for replying or forwarding) a
153 message which matches the given pattern (or, when it is preceded
154 by an exclamation mark, does not match the pattern), the given
155 command is executed. When multiple message-hooks match, they
156 are executed in the order in which they occur in the configu‐
157 ration file.
158 folder-hook [!]regexp command
160 When mutt enters a folder which matches regexp (or, when regexp
161 is preceded by an exclamation mark, does not match regexp), the
162 given command is executed.
163 When several folder-hooks match a given mail folder, they are
165 executed in the order given in the configuration file.
166 macro map key sequence [ description ]
168 This command binds the given sequence of keys to the given key
169 in the given map or maps. For valid maps, see bind. To specify
170 multiple maps, put only a comma between the maps.
171 color object [ attribute ... ] foreground background [ regexp ]
173 color index [ attribute ... ] foreground background [ pattern ]
174 color compose composeobject [ attribute ... ] foreground background
175 uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ]
176 If your terminal supports color, these commands can be used to
178 assign foreground/background combinations to certain objects.
179 Valid objects are: attachment, body, bold, error, header, hdrde‐
180 fault, index, indicator, markers, message, normal, prompt,
181 quoted, quotedN, search, signature, status, tilde, tree, under‐
182 line. If the sidebar is enabled the following objects are also
183 valid: sidebar_divider, sidebar_flagged, sidebar_highlight,
184 sidebar_indicator, sidebar_new, sidebar_spoolfile. The body and
185 header objects allow you to restrict the colorization to a regu‐
186 lar expression. The index object permits you to select colored
187 messages by pattern.
188 Valid composeobjects include header, security_encrypt, secu‐
190 rity_sign, security_both, security_none.
191 Valid colors include: white, black, green, magenta, blue, cyan,
193 yellow, red, default, colorN.
194 Valid attributes include: none, bold, underline, reverse, and
196 standout.
197 mono object attribute [ regexp ]
199 mono index attribute [ pattern ]
200 For terminals which don't support color, you can still assign
202 attributes to objects.
203 [un]ignore pattern [ pattern ... ]
205 The ignore command permits you to specify header fields which
206 you usually don't wish to see. Any header field whose tag
207 begins with an “ignored” pattern will be ignored.
208 The unignore command permits you to define exceptions from the
210 above mentioned list of ignored headers.
211 lists [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
213 unlists regexp [ regexp ... ]
214 subscribe [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
215 unsubscribe regexp [ regexp ... ]
216 Mutt maintains two lists of mailing list address patterns, a
218 list of subscribed mailing lists, and a list of known mailing
219 lists. All subscribed mailing lists are known. Patterns use
220 regular expressions.
221 The lists command adds a mailing list address to the list of
223 known mailing lists. The unlists command removes a mailing list
224 from the lists of known and subscribed mailing lists. The sub‐
225 scribe command adds a mailing list to the lists of known and
226 subscribed mailing lists. The unsubscribe command removes it
227 from the list of subscribed mailing lists. The -group flag adds
228 all of the subsequent regular expressions to the named group.
229 mbox-hook [!]regexp mailbox
231 When mutt changes to a mail folder which matches regexp, mailbox
232 will be used as the “mbox” folder, i.e., read messages will be
233 moved to that folder when the mail folder is left.
234 The first matching mbox-hook applies.
236 mailboxes filename [ filename ... ]
238 unmailboxes [ * | filename ... ]
239 The mailboxes specifies folders which can receive mail and which
241 will be checked for new messages. When changing folders, press‐
242 ing space will cycle through folders with new mail. The unmail‐
243 boxes command is used to remove a file name from the list of
244 folders which can receive mail. If "*" is specified as the file
245 name, the list is emptied.
246 my_hdr string
248 unmy_hdr field
249 Using my_hdr, you can define headers which will be added to the
251 messages you compose. unmy_hdr will remove the given user-
252 defined headers.
253 hdr_order header1 header2 [ ... ]
255 With this command, you can specify an order in which mutt will
256 attempt to present headers to you when viewing messages.
257 save-hook [!]pattern filename
259 When a message matches pattern, the default file name when sav‐
260 ing it will be the given filename.
261 fcc-hook [!]pattern filename
263 When an outgoing message matches pattern, the default file name
264 for storing a copy (fcc) will be the given filename.
265 fcc-save-hook [!]pattern filename
267 This command is an abbreviation for identical fcc-hook and save-
268 hook commands.
269 send-hook [!]pattern command
271 When composing a message matching pattern, command is executed.
272 When multiple send-hooks match, they are executed in the order
273 in which they occur in the configuration file.
274 send2-hook [!]pattern command
276 Whenever a message matching pattern is changed (either by edit‐
277 ing it or by using the compose menu), command is executed. When
278 multiple send2-hooks match, they are executed in the order in
279 which they occur in the configuration file. Possible applica‐
280 tions include setting the $sendmail variable when a message's
281 from header is changed.
282 send2-hook execution is not triggered by use of enter-command
284 from the compose menu.
285 reply-hook [!]pattern command
287 When replying to a message matching pattern, command is exe‐
288 cuted. When multiple reply-hooks match, they are executed in
289 the order in which they occur in the configuration file, but all
290 reply-hooks are matched and executed before send-hooks, regard‐
291 less of their order in the configuration file.
292 crypt-hook regexp key-id
294 The crypt-hook command provides a method by which you can spec‐
295 ify the ID of the public key to be used when encrypting messages
296 to a certain recipient. The meaning of "key ID" is to be taken
297 broadly: This can be a different e-mail address, a numerical key
298 ID, or even just an arbitrary search string. You may use multi‐
299 ple crypt-hooks with the same regexp; multiple matching crypt-
300 hooks result in the use of multiple key-ids for a recipient.
301 index-format-hook name [!]pattern format-string
303 This command is used to inject format strings dynamically into
304 $index_format based on pattern matching against the current mes‐
305 sage.
306 The $index_format expando %@name@ specifies a placeholder for
308 the injection. Index-format-hooks with the same name are matched
309 using pattern against the current message. Matching is done in
310 the order specified in the .muttrc, with the first match being
311 used. The hook's format-string is then substituted and evalu‐
312 ated.
313 open-hook regexp "command"
315 close-hook regexp "command"
316 append-hook regexp "command"
317 These commands provide a way to handle compressed folders. The
319 given regexp specifies which folders are taken as compressed
320 (e.g. "\\.gz$"). The commands tell Mutt how to uncompress a
321 folder (open-hook), compress a folder (close-hook) or append a
322 compressed mail to a compressed folder (append-hook). The com‐
323 mand string is the printf(3) like format string, and it should
324 accept two parameters: %f, which is replaced with the (com‐
325 pressed) folder name, and %t which is replaced with the name of
326 the temporary folder to which to write.
327 push string
329 This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer.
330 set [no|inv|&|?]variable[=value] [ ... ]
332 toggle variable [ ... ]
333 unset variable [ ... ]
334 reset variable [ ... ]
335 These commands are used to set and manipulate configuration
337 variables.
338 Mutt knows four basic types of variables: boolean, number,
340 string and quadoption. Boolean variables can be set (true),
341 unset (false), or toggled. Number variables can be assigned a
342 positive integer value.
343 String variables consist of any number of printable characters.
345 Strings must be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces or
346 tabs. You may also use the “C” escape sequences \n and \t for
347 newline and tab, respectively.
348 Quadoption variables are used to control whether or not to be
350 prompted for certain actions, or to specify a default action. A
351 value of yes will cause the action to be carried out automati‐
352 cally as if you had answered yes to the question. Similarly, a
353 value of no will cause the the action to be carried out as if
354 you had answered “no.” A value of ask-yes will cause a prompt
355 with a default answer of “yes” and ask-no will provide a default
356 answer of “no.”
357 The reset command resets all given variables to the compile time
359 defaults. If you reset the special variable all, all variables
360 will reset to their compile time defaults.
361 source filename
363 The given file will be evaluated as a configuration file.
364 spam pattern format
366 nospam pattern
367 These commands define spam-detection patterns from external spam
369 filters, so that mutt can sort, limit, and search on ``spam
370 tags'' or ``spam attributes'', or display them in the index. See
371 the Mutt manual for details.
372 subjectrx pattern replacement
374 unsubjectrx [ * | pattern ]
375 subjectrx specifies a regular expression pattern which, if
377 detected in a message subject, causes the subject to be replaced
378 with the replacement value. The replacement is subject to sub‐
379 stitutions in the same way as for the spam command: %L for the
380 text to the left of the match, %R for text to the right of the
381 match, and %1 for the first subgroup in the match (etc). If you
382 simply want to erase the match, set it to “%L%R”. Any number of
383 subjectrx commands may coexist.
384 Note this well: the replacement value replaces the entire sub‐
386 ject, not just the match!
387 unsubjectrx removes a given subjectrx from the substitution
389 list. If * is used as the pattern, all substitutions will be
390 removed.
391 unhook [ * | hook-type ]
393 This command will remove all hooks of a given type, or all hooks
394 when “*” is used as an argument. hook-type can be any of the
395 -hook commands documented above.
396 mailto_allow header-field [ ... ]
398 unmailto_allow [ * | header-field ... ]
399 These commands allow the user to modify the list of allowed
401 header fields in a mailto: URL that Mutt will include in the the
402 generated message. By default the list contains only subject
403 and body, as specified by RFC2368.
404 echo message
406 Prints message to the message window. After printing the mes‐
407 sage, echo will pause for the number of seconds specified by
408 $sleep_time.
409
411 In various places with mutt, including some of the above mentioned hook
412 commands, you can specify patterns to match messages.
413 Constructing Patterns
415 A simple pattern consists of an operator of the form “~character”, pos‐
416 sibly followed by a parameter against which mutt is supposed to match
417 the object specified by this operator. For some characters, the ~ may
418 be replaced by another character to alter the behavior of the match.
419 These are described in the list of operators, below.
420 With some of these operators, the object to be matched consists of sev‐
422 eral e-mail addresses. In these cases, the object is matched if at
423 least one of these e-mail addresses matches. You can prepend a hat
424 (“^”) character to such a pattern to indicate that all addresses must
425 match in order to match the object.
426 You can construct complex patterns by combining simple patterns with
428 logical operators. Logical AND is specified by simply concatenating
429 two simple patterns, for instance “~C mutt-dev ~s bug”. Logical OR is
430 specified by inserting a vertical bar (“|”) between two patterns, for
431 instance “~C mutt-dev | ~s bug”. Additionally, you can negate a pat‐
432 tern by prepending a bang (“!”) character. For logical grouping, use
433 braces (“()”). Example: “!(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins”.
434 Simple Patterns
436 Mutt understands the following simple patterns:
437 ~A all messages
439 ~b EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message body.
440 =b STRING If IMAP is enabled, like ~b but searches for STRING on the
441 server, rather than downloading each message and searching
442 it locally.
443 ~B EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole message.
444 =B STRING If IMAP is enabled, like ~B but searches for STRING on the
445 server, rather than downloading each message and searching
446 it locally.
447 ~c EXPR messages carbon-copied to EXPR
448 %c GROUP messages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP
449 ~C EXPR messages either to: or cc: EXPR
450 %C GROUP messages either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP
451 ~d MIN-MAX messages with “date-sent” in a Date range
452 ~D deleted messages
453 ~e EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “Sender” field
454 %e GROUP messages which contain a member of GROUP in the “Sender”
455 field
456 ~E expired messages
457 ~f EXPR messages originating from EXPR
458 %f GROUP messages originating from any member of GROUP
459 ~F flagged messages
460 ~g PGP signed messages
461 ~G PGP encrypted messages
462 ~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message header
463 =h STRING If IMAP is enabled, like ~h but searches for STRING on the
464 server, rather than downloading each message and searching
465 it locally. STRING must be of the form “header: substring”
466 ~H EXPR messages with spam tags matching EXPR
467 ~i EXPR messages which match EXPR in the “Message-ID” field
468 ~k messages containing PGP key material
469 ~l messages addressed to a known mailing list (defined by
470 either subscribe or list)
471 ~L EXPR messages either originated or received by EXPR
472 %L GROUP messages either originated or received by any member of
473 GROUP
474 ~m MIN-MAX message in the range MIN to MAX
475 ~M EXPR messages which contain a mime Content-Type matching EXPR
476 ~n MIN-MAX messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX
477 ~N new messages
478 ~O old messages
479 ~p messages addressed to you (as defined by alternates)
480 ~P messages from you (as defined by alternates)
481 ~Q messages which have been replied to
482 ~r MIN-MAX messages with “date-received” in a Date range
483 ~R read messages
484 ~s EXPR messages having EXPR in the “Subject” field.
485 ~S superseded messages
486 ~t EXPR messages addressed to EXPR
487 ~T tagged messages
488 ~u messages addressed to a subscribed mailing list (defined by
489 subscribe commands)
490 ~U unread messages
491 ~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
492 ~V cryptographically verified messages
493 ~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “References” or “In-
494 Reply-To” field
495 ~X MIN-MAX messages with MIN - MAX attachments
496 ~y EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “X-Label” field
497 ~z MIN-MAX messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX
498 ~= duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
499 ~$ unreferenced message (requires threaded view)
500 ~(PATTERN) messages in threads containing messages matching a certain
501 pattern, e.g. all threads containing messages from you:
502 ~(~P)
503 ~<(PATTERN) messages whose immediate parent matches PATTERN, e.g.
504 replies to your messages: ~<(~P)
505 ~>(PATTERN) messages having an immediate child matching PATTERN, e.g.
506 messages you replied to: ~>(~P)
507 In the above, EXPR is a regular expression.
509 With the ~d, ~m, ~n, ~r, ~X, and ~z operators, you can also specify
511 ranges in the forms <MAX, >MIN, MIN-, and -MAX.
512 With the ~z operator, the suffixes “K” and “M” are allowed to specify
514 kilobyte and megabyte respectively.
515 The ~b, ~B, ~h, ~M, and ~X operators require reading each message in,
517 which can be much slower.
518 You can force Mutt to treat EXPR as a simple string instead of a regu‐
520 lar expression by using = instead of ~ in the pattern name.
521 Matching dates
523 The ~d and ~r operators are used to match date ranges, which are inter‐
524 preted to be given in your local time zone.
525 A date is of the form DD[/MM[/[cc]YY]], that is, a two-digit date,
527 optionally followed by a two-digit month, optionally followed by a year
528 specifications. Omitted fields default to the current month and year.
529 Mutt understands either two or four digit year specifications. When
531 given a two-digit year, mutt will interpret values less than 70 as
532 lying in the 21st century (i.e., “38” means 2038 and not 1938, and “00”
533 is interpreted as 2000), and values greater than or equal to 70 as
534 lying in the 20th century.
535 Note that this behavior is Y2K compliant, but that mutt does have a
537 Y2.07K problem.
538 If a date range consists of a single date, the operator in question
540 will match that precise date. If the date range consists of a dash
541 (“-”), followed by a date, this range will match any date before and up
542 to the date given. Similarly, a date followed by a dash matches the
543 date given and any later point of time. Two dates, separated by a
544 dash, match any date which lies in the given range of time.
545 You can also modify any absolute date by giving an error range. An
547 error range consists of one of the characters +, -, *, followed by a
548 positive number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d,
549 specifying a unit of years, months, weeks, or days. + increases the
550 maximum date matched by the given interval of time, - decreases the
551 minimum date matched by the given interval of time, and * increases the
552 maximum date and decreases the minimum date matched by the given inter‐
553 val of time. It is possible to give multiple error margins, which
554 cumulate. Example: 1/1/2001-1w+2w*3d
555 You can also specify offsets relative to the current date. An offset
557 is specified as one of the characters <, >, =, followed by a positive
558 number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, d, H, M, or S.
559 > matches dates which are older than the specified amount of time, an
560 offset which begins with the character < matches dates which are more
561 recent than the specified amount of time, and an offset which begins
562 with the character = matches points of time which are precisely the
563 given amount of time ago.
564
566 abort_noattach
567 Type: quadoption
568 Default: no
569 When the body of the message matches $abort_noattach_regexp and
571 there are no attachments, this quadoption controls whether to
572 abort sending the message.
573 abort_noattach_regexp
577 Type: regular expression
578 Default: “attach”
579 Specifies a regular expression to match against the body of the
581 message, to determine if an attachment was mentioned but mistak‐
582 enly forgotten. If it matches, $abort_noattach will be con‐
583 sulted to determine if message sending will be aborted.
584 Like other regular expressions in Mutt, the search is case sen‐
586 sitive if the pattern contains at least one upper case letter,
587 and case insensitive otherwise.
588 abort_nosubject
592 Type: quadoption
593 Default: ask-yes
594 If set to yes, when composing messages and no subject is given
596 at the subject prompt, composition will be aborted. If set to
597 no, composing messages with no subject given at the subject
598 prompt will never be aborted.
599 abort_unmodified
603 Type: quadoption
604 Default: yes
605 If set to yes, composition will automatically abort after edit‐
607 ing the message body if no changes are made to the file (this
608 check only happens after the first edit of the file). When set
609 to no, composition will never be aborted.
610 alias_file
614 Type: path
615 Default: “~/.muttrc”
616 The default file in which to save aliases created by the <cre‐
618 ate-alias> function. Entries added to this file are encoded in
619 the character set specified by $config_charset if it is set or
620 the current character set otherwise.
621 Note: Mutt will not automatically source this file; you must
623 explicitly use the “source” command for it to be executed in
624 case this option points to a dedicated alias file.
625 The default for this option is the currently used muttrc file,
627 or “~/.muttrc” if no user muttrc was found.
628 alias_format
632 Type: string
633 Default: “%4n %2f %t %-10a %r”
634 Specifies the format of the data displayed for the “alias” menu.
636 The following printf(3)-style sequences are available:
637 %a alias name
638 %f flags - currently, a “d” for an alias marked for deletion
639 %n index number
640 %r address which alias expands to
641 %t character which indicates if the alias is tagged for
642 inclusion
643 allow_8bit
646 Type: boolean
647 Default: yes
648 Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either
650 Quoted- Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.
651 allow_ansi
655 Type: boolean
656 Default: no
657 Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in
659 rich text messages) are to be interpreted. Messages containing
660 these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will
661 be colored accordingly. Note that this may override your color
662 choices, and even present a security problem, since a message
663 could include a line like
664 [-- PGP output follows ...
667 and give it the same color as your attachment color (see also
670 $crypt_timestamp).
671 arrow_cursor
675 Type: boolean
676 Default: no
677 When set, an arrow (“->”) will be used to indicate the current
679 entry in menus instead of highlighting the whole line. On slow
680 network or modem links this will make response faster because
681 there is less that has to be redrawn on the screen when moving
682 to the next or previous entries in the menu.
683 ascii_chars
687 Type: boolean
688 Default: no
689 If set, Mutt will use plain ASCII characters when displaying
691 thread and attachment trees, instead of the default ACS charac‐
692 ters.
693 askbcc
697 Type: boolean
698 Default: no
699 If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipi‐
701 ents before editing an outgoing message.
702 askcc
706 Type: boolean
707 Default: no
708 If set, Mutt will prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients
710 before editing the body of an outgoing message.
711 assumed_charset
715 Type: string
716 Default: “”
717 This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
719 schemes for messages without character encoding indication.
720 Header field values and message body content without character
721 encoding indication would be assumed that they are written in
722 one of this list. By default, all the header fields and message
723 body without any charset indication are assumed to be in
724 “us-ascii”.
725 For example, Japanese users might prefer this:
727 set assumed_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
730 However, only the first content is valid for the message body.
733 attach_charset
737 Type: string
738 Default: “”
739 This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
741 schemes for text file attachments. Mutt uses this setting to
742 guess which encoding files being attached are encoded in to con‐
743 vert them to a proper character set given in $send_charset.
744 If unset, the value of $charset will be used instead. For exam‐
746 ple, the following configuration would work for Japanese text
747 handling:
748 set attach_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
751 Note: for Japanese users, “iso-2022-*” must be put at the head
754 of the value as shown above if included.
755 attach_format
759 Type: string
760 Default: “%u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s] ”
761 This variable describes the format of the “attachment” menu.
763 The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
764 %C charset
765 %c requires charset conversion (“n” or “c”)
766 %D deleted flag
767 %d description (if none, falls back to %F)
768 %e MIME content-transfer-encoding
769 %F filename in content-disposition header (if none, falls
770 back to %f)
771 %f filename
772 %I disposition (“I” for inline, “A” for attachment)
773 %m major MIME type
774 %M MIME subtype
775 %n attachment number
776 %Q “Q”, if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting
777 %s size
778 %t tagged flag
779 %T graphic tree characters
780 %u unlink (=to delete) flag
781 %X number of qualifying MIME parts in this part and its
782 children (please see the “attachments” section for possi‐
783 ble speed effects)
784 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
785 ter “X”
786 %|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
787 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
788 For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
790 mentation.
791 attach_sep
795 Type: string
796 Default: “\n”
797 The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving,
799 printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.
800 attach_split
804 Type: boolean
805 Default: yes
806 If this variable is unset, when operating (saving, printing,
808 piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments, Mutt will concate‐
809 nate the attachments and will operate on them as a single
810 attachment. The $attach_sep separator is added after each
811 attachment. When set, Mutt will operate on the attachments one
812 by one.
813 attribution
817 Type: string
818 Default: “On %d, %n wrote:”
819 This is the string that will precede a message which has been
821 included in a reply. For a full listing of defined
822 printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.
823 attribution_locale
827 Type: string
828 Default: “”
829 The locale used by strftime(3) to format dates in the attribu‐
831 tion string. Legal values are the strings your system accepts
832 for the locale environment variable $LC_TIME.
833 This variable is to allow the attribution date format to be cus‐
835 tomized by recipient or folder using hooks. By default, Mutt
836 will use your locale environment, so there is no need to set
837 this except to override that default.
838 auto_subscribe
842 Type: boolean
843 Default: no
844 When set, Mutt assumes the presence of a List-Post header means
846 the recipient is subscribed to the list. Unless the mailing
847 list is in the “unsubscribe” or “unlist” lists, it will be added
848 to the “subscribe” list. Parsing and checking these things
849 slows header reading down, so this option is disabled by
850 default.
851 auto_tag
855 Type: boolean
856 Default: no
857 When set, functions in the index menu which affect a message
859 will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any). When
860 unset, you must first use the <tag-prefix> function (bound to
861 “;” by default) to make the next function apply to all tagged
862 messages.
863 autoedit
867 Type: boolean
868 Default: no
869 When set along with $edit_headers, Mutt will skip the initial
871 send-menu (prompting for subject and recipients) and allow you
872 to immediately begin editing the body of your message. The
873 send-menu may still be accessed once you have finished editing
874 the body of your message.
875 Note: when this option is set, you cannot use send-hooks that
877 depend on the recipients when composing a new (non-reply) mes‐
878 sage, as the initial list of recipients is empty.
879 Also see $fast_reply.
881 beep
885 Type: boolean
886 Default: yes
887 When this variable is set, mutt will beep when an error occurs.
889 beep_new
893 Type: boolean
894 Default: no
895 When this variable is set, mutt will beep whenever it prints a
897 message notifying you of new mail. This is independent of the
898 setting of the $beep variable.
899 bounce
903 Type: quadoption
904 Default: ask-yes
905 Controls whether you will be asked to confirm bouncing messages.
907 If set to yes you don't get asked if you want to bounce a mes‐
908 sage. Setting this variable to no is not generally useful, and
909 thus not recommended, because you are unable to bounce messages.
910 bounce_delivered
914 Type: boolean
915 Default: yes
916 When this variable is set, mutt will include Delivered-To head‐
918 ers when bouncing messages. Postfix users may wish to unset
919 this variable.
920 braille_friendly
924 Type: boolean
925 Default: no
926 When this variable is set, mutt will place the cursor at the
928 beginning of the current line in menus, even when the
929 $arrow_cursor variable is unset, making it easier for blind per‐
930 sons using Braille displays to follow these menus. The option
931 is unset by default because many visual terminals don't permit
932 making the cursor invisible.
933 browser_abbreviate_mailboxes
937 Type: boolean
938 Default: yes
939 When this variable is set, mutt will abbreviate mailbox names in
941 the browser mailbox list, using '~' and '=' shortcuts.
942 The default ”alpha” setting of $sort_browser uses locale-based
944 sorting (using strcoll(3)), which ignores some punctuation.
945 This can lead to some situations where the order doesn't make
946 intuitive sense. In those cases, it may be desirable to unset
947 this variable.
948 certificate_file
952 Type: path
953 Default: “~/.mutt_certificates”
954 This variable specifies the file where the certificates you
956 trust are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you
957 are asked if you accept it or not. If you accept it, the cer‐
958 tificate can also be saved in this file and further connections
959 are automatically accepted.
960 You can also manually add CA certificates in this file. Any
962 server certificate that is signed with one of these CA certifi‐
963 cates is also automatically accepted.
964 Example:
966 set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
969 change_folder_next
974 Type: boolean
975 Default: no
976 When this variable is set, the <change-folder> function mailbox
978 suggestion will start at the next folder in your “mailboxes”
979 list, instead of starting at the first folder in the list.
980 charset
984 Type: string
985 Default: “”
986 Character set your terminal uses to display and enter textual
988 data. It is also the fallback for $send_charset.
989 Upon startup Mutt tries to derive this value from environment
991 variables such as $LC_CTYPE or $LANG.
992 Note: It should only be set in case Mutt isn't able to determine
994 the character set used correctly.
995 check_mbox_size
999 Type: boolean
1000 Default: no
1001 When this variable is set, mutt will use file size attribute
1003 instead of access time when checking for new mail in mbox and
1004 mmdf folders.
1005 This variable is unset by default and should only be enabled
1007 when new mail detection for these folder types is unreliable or
1008 doesn't work.
1009 Note that enabling this variable should happen before any “mail‐
1011 boxes” directives occur in configuration files regarding mbox or
1012 mmdf folders because mutt needs to determine the initial new
1013 mail status of such a mailbox by performing a fast mailbox scan
1014 when it is defined. Afterwards the new mail status is tracked
1015 by file size changes.
1016 check_new
1020 Type: boolean
1021 Default: yes
1022 Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.
1024 When set, Mutt will check for new mail delivered while the mail‐
1026 box is open. Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can
1027 take quite some time since it involves scanning the directory
1028 and checking each file to see if it has already been looked at.
1029 If this variable is unset, no check for new mail is performed
1030 while the mailbox is open.
1031 collapse_unread
1035 Type: boolean
1036 Default: yes
1037 When unset, Mutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any
1039 unread messages.
1040 compose_format
1044 Type: string
1045 Default: “-- Mutt: Compose [Approx. msg size: %l Atts: %a]%>-”
1046 Controls the format of the status line displayed in the “com‐
1048 pose” menu. This string is similar to $status_format, but has
1049 its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
1050 %a total number of attachments
1051 %h local hostname
1052 %l approximate size (in bytes) of the current message
1053 %v Mutt version string
1054 See the text describing the $status_format option for more
1056 information on how to set $compose_format.
1057 config_charset
1061 Type: string
1062 Default: “”
1063 When defined, Mutt will recode commands in rc files from this
1065 encoding to the current character set as specified by $charset
1066 and aliases written to $alias_file from the current character
1067 set.
1068 Please note that if setting $charset it must be done before set‐
1070 ting $config_charset.
1071 Recoding should be avoided as it may render unconvertable char‐
1073 acters as question marks which can lead to undesired side
1074 effects (for example in regular expressions).
1075 confirmappend
1079 Type: boolean
1080 Default: yes
1081 When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when appending mes‐
1083 sages to an existing mailbox.
1084 confirmcreate
1088 Type: boolean
1089 Default: yes
1090 When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages
1092 to a mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.
1093 connect_timeout
1097 Type: number
1098 Default: 30
1099 Causes Mutt to timeout a network connection (for IMAP, POP or
1101 SMTP) after this many seconds if the connection is not able to
1102 be established. A negative value causes Mutt to wait indefi‐
1103 nitely for the connection attempt to succeed.
1104 content_type
1108 Type: string
1109 Default: “text/plain”
1110 Sets the default Content-Type for the body of newly composed
1112 messages.
1113 copy
1117 Type: quadoption
1118 Default: yes
1119 This variable controls whether or not copies of your outgoing
1121 messages will be saved for later references. Also see $record,
1122 $save_name, $force_name and “fcc-hook”.
1123 crypt_autoencrypt
1127 Type: boolean
1128 Default: no
1129 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to PGP
1131 encrypt outgoing messages. This is probably only useful in con‐
1132 nection to the “send-hook” command. It can be overridden by use
1133 of the pgp menu, when encryption is not required or signing is
1134 requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL is
1135 used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be over‐
1136 ridden by use of the smime menu instead. (Crypto only)
1137 crypt_autopgp
1141 Type: boolean
1142 Default: yes
1143 This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically
1145 enable PGP encryption/signing for messages. See also
1146 $crypt_autoencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign,
1147 $crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.
1148 crypt_autosign
1152 Type: boolean
1153 Default: no
1154 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cryp‐
1156 tographically sign outgoing messages. This can be overridden by
1157 use of the pgp menu, when signing is not required or encryption
1158 is requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL
1159 is used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be
1160 overridden by use of the smime menu instead of the pgp menu.
1161 (Crypto only)
1162 crypt_autosmime
1166 Type: boolean
1167 Default: yes
1168 This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically
1170 enable S/MIME encryption/signing for messages. See also
1171 $crypt_autoencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign,
1172 $crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.
1173 crypt_confirmhook
1177 Type: boolean
1178 Default: yes
1179 If set, then you will be prompted for confirmation of keys when
1181 using the crypt-hook command. If unset, no such confirmation
1182 prompt will be presented. This is generally considered unsafe,
1183 especially where typos are concerned.
1184 crypt_opportunistic_encrypt
1188 Type: boolean
1189 Default: no
1190 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to automatically enable
1192 and disable encryption, based on whether all message recipient
1193 keys can be located by Mutt.
1194 When this option is enabled, Mutt will enable/disable encryption
1196 each time the TO, CC, and BCC lists are edited. If $edit_head‐
1197 ers is set, Mutt will also do so each time the message is
1198 edited.
1199 While this is set, encryption can't be manually enabled/dis‐
1201 abled. The pgp or smime menus provide a selection to temporar‐
1202 ily disable this option for the current message.
1203 If $crypt_autoencrypt or $crypt_replyencrypt enable encryption
1205 for a message, this option will be disabled for that message.
1206 It can be manually re-enabled in the pgp or smime menus.
1207 (Crypto only)
1208 crypt_protected_headers_read
1212 Type: boolean
1213 Default: yes
1214 When set, Mutt will display protected headers (”Memory Hole”) in
1216 the pager, and will update the index and header cache with
1217 revised headers. Protected headers are stored inside the
1218 encrypted or signed part of an an email, to prevent disclosure
1219 or tampering. For more information see
1220 https://github.com/autocrypt/memoryhole. Currently Mutt only
1221 supports the Subject header.
1222 Encrypted messages using protected headers often substitute the
1224 exposed Subject header with a dummy value (see $crypt_pro‐
1225 tected_headers_subject). Mutt will update its concept of the
1226 correct subject after the message is opened, i.e. via the <dis‐
1227 play-message> function. If you reply to a message before open‐
1228 ing it, Mutt will end up using the dummy Subject header, so be
1229 sure to open such a message first. (Crypto only)
1230 crypt_protected_headers_save
1234 Type: boolean
1235 Default: no
1236 When $crypt_protected_headers_read is set, and a message with a
1238 protected Subject is opened, Mutt will save the updated Subject
1239 into the header cache by default. This allows searching/limit‐
1240 ing based on the protected Subject header if the mailbox is
1241 re-opened, without having to re-open the message each time.
1242 However, for mbox/mh mailbox types, or if header caching is not
1243 set up, you would need to re-open the message each time the
1244 mailbox was reopened before you could see or search/limit on the
1245 protected subject again.
1246 When this variable is set, Mutt additionally saves the protected
1248 Subject back in the clear-text message headers. This provides
1249 better usability, but with the tradeoff of reduced security.
1250 The protected Subject header, which may have previously been
1251 encrypted, is now stored in clear-text in the message headers.
1252 Copying the message elsewhere, via Mutt or external tools, could
1253 expose this previously encrypted data. Please make sure you
1254 understand the consequences of this before you enable this vari‐
1255 able. (Crypto only)
1256 crypt_protected_headers_subject
1260 Type: string
1261 Default: “Encrypted subject”
1262 When $crypt_protected_headers_write is set, and the message is
1264 marked for encryption, this will be substituted into the Subject
1265 field in the message headers. To prevent a subject from being
1266 substituted, unset this variable, or set it to the empty string.
1267 (Crypto only)
1268 crypt_protected_headers_write
1272 Type: boolean
1273 Default: no
1274 When set, Mutt will generate protected headers (”Memory Hole”)
1276 for signed and encrypted emails. Protected headers are stored
1277 inside the encrypted or signed part of an an email, to prevent
1278 disclosure or tampering. For more information see
1279 https://github.com/autocrypt/memoryhole. Currently Mutt only
1280 supports the Subject header. (Crypto only)
1281 crypt_replyencrypt
1285 Type: boolean
1286 Default: yes
1287 If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL encrypt replies to messages
1289 which are encrypted. (Crypto only)
1290 crypt_replysign
1294 Type: boolean
1295 Default: no
1296 If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
1298 which are signed.
1299 Note: this does not work on messages that are encrypted and
1301 signed! (Crypto only)
1302 crypt_replysignencrypted
1306 Type: boolean
1307 Default: no
1308 If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
1310 which are encrypted. This makes sense in combination with
1311 $crypt_replyencrypt, because it allows you to sign all messages
1312 which are automatically encrypted. This works around the prob‐
1313 lem noted in $crypt_replysign, that mutt is not able to find out
1314 whether an encrypted message is also signed. (Crypto only)
1315 crypt_timestamp
1319 Type: boolean
1320 Default: yes
1321 If set, mutt will include a time stamp in the lines surrounding
1323 PGP or S/MIME output, so spoofing such lines is more difficult.
1324 If you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on these,
1325 you may unset this setting. (Crypto only)
1326 crypt_use_gpgme
1330 Type: boolean
1331 Default: no
1332 This variable controls the use of the GPGME-enabled crypto back‐
1334 ends. If it is set and Mutt was built with gpgme support, the
1335 gpgme code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the clas‐
1336 sic code. Note that you need to set this option in .muttrc; it
1337 won't have any effect when used interactively.
1338 Note that the GPGME backend does not support creating old-style
1340 inline (traditional) PGP encrypted or signed messages (see
1341 $pgp_autoinline).
1342 crypt_use_pka
1346 Type: boolean
1347 Default: no
1348 Controls whether mutt uses PKA (see
1350 http://www.g10code.de/docs/pka-intro.de.pdf) during signature
1351 verification (only supported by the GPGME backend).
1352 crypt_verify_sig
1356 Type: quadoption
1357 Default: yes
1358 If “yes”, always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures. If
1360 “ask-*”, ask whether or not to verify the signature. If “no”,
1361 never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures. (Crypto only)
1362 date_format
1366 Type: string
1367 Default: “!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z”
1368 This variable controls the format of the date printed by the
1370 “%d” sequence in $index_format. This is passed to the strf‐
1371 time(3) function to process the date, see the man page for the
1372 proper syntax.
1373 Unless the first character in the string is a bang (“!”), the
1375 month and week day names are expanded according to the locale.
1376 If the first character in the string is a bang, the bang is dis‐
1377 carded, and the month and week day names in the rest of the
1378 string are expanded in the C locale (that is in US English).
1379 default_hook
1383 Type: string
1384 Default: “~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)”
1385 This variable controls how “message-hook”, “reply-hook”, “send-
1387 hook”, “send2-hook”, “save-hook”, and “fcc-hook” will be inter‐
1388 preted if they are specified with only a simple regexp, instead
1389 of a matching pattern. The hooks are expanded when they are
1390 declared, so a hook will be interpreted according to the value
1391 of this variable at the time the hook is declared.
1392 The default value matches if the message is either from a user
1394 matching the regular expression given, or if it is from you (if
1395 the from address matches “alternates”) and is to or cc'ed to a
1396 user matching the given regular expression.
1397 delete
1401 Type: quadoption
1402 Default: ask-yes
1403 Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing
1405 or synchronizing a mailbox. If set to yes, messages marked for
1406 deleting will automatically be purged without prompting. If set
1407 to no, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.
1408 delete_untag
1412 Type: boolean
1413 Default: yes
1414 If this option is set, mutt will untag messages when marking
1416 them for deletion. This applies when you either explicitly
1417 delete a message, or when you save it to another folder.
1418 digest_collapse
1422 Type: boolean
1423 Default: yes
1424 If this option is set, mutt's received-attachments menu will not
1426 show the subparts of individual messages in a multipart/digest.
1427 To see these subparts, press “v” on that menu.
1428 display_filter
1432 Type: path
1433 Default: “”
1434 When set, specifies a command used to filter messages. When a
1436 message is viewed it is passed as standard input to $dis‐
1437 play_filter, and the filtered message is read from the standard
1438 output.
1439 dotlock_program
1443 Type: path
1444 Default: “/usr/bin/mutt_dotlock”
1445 Contains the path of the mutt_dotlock(8) binary to be used by
1447 mutt.
1448 dsn_notify
1452 Type: string
1453 Default: “”
1454 This variable sets the request for when notification is
1456 returned. The string consists of a comma separated list (no
1457 spaces!) of one or more of the following: never, to never
1458 request notification, failure, to request notification on trans‐
1459 mission failure, delay, to be notified of message delays, suc‐
1460 cess, to be notified of successful transmission.
1461 Example:
1463 set dsn_notify=”failure,delay”
1466 Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable
1469 this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a
1470 MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the
1471 -N option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is
1472 auto-detected so that it depends on the server whether DSN will
1473 be used or not.
1474 dsn_return
1478 Type: string
1479 Default: “”
1480 This variable controls how much of your message is returned in
1482 DSN messages. It may be set to either hdrs to return just the
1483 message header, or full to return the full message.
1484 Example:
1486 set dsn_return=hdrs
1489 Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable
1492 this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a
1493 MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the
1494 -R option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is
1495 auto-detected so that it depends on the server whether DSN will
1496 be used or not.
1497 duplicate_threads
1501 Type: boolean
1502 Default: yes
1503 This variable controls whether mutt, when $sort is set to
1505 threads, threads messages with the same Message-Id together. If
1506 it is set, it will indicate that it thinks they are duplicates
1507 of each other with an equals sign in the thread tree.
1508 edit_headers
1512 Type: boolean
1513 Default: no
1514 This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing mes‐
1516 sages along with the body of your message.
1517 Although the compose menu may have localized header labels, the
1519 labels passed to your editor will be standard RFC 2822 headers,
1520 (e.g. To:, Cc:, Subject:). Headers added in your editor must
1521 also be RFC 2822 headers, or one of the pseudo headers listed in
1522 “edit-header”. Mutt will not understand localized header
1523 labels, just as it would not when parsing an actual email.
1524 Note that changes made to the References: and Date: headers are
1526 ignored for interoperability reasons.
1527 editor
1531 Type: path
1532 Default: “”
1533 This variable specifies which editor is used by mutt. It
1535 defaults to the value of the $VISUAL, or $EDITOR, environment
1536 variable, or to the string “vi” if neither of those are set.
1537 The $editor string may contain a %s escape, which will be
1539 replaced by the name of the file to be edited. If the %s escape
1540 does not appear in $editor, a space and the name to be edited
1541 are appended.
1542 The resulting string is then executed by running
1544 sh -c 'string'
1547 where string is the expansion of $editor described above.
1550 encode_from
1554 Type: boolean
1555 Default: no
1556 When set, mutt will quoted-printable encode messages when they
1558 contain the string “From ” (note the trailing space) in the
1559 beginning of a line. This is useful to avoid the tampering cer‐
1560 tain mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages
1561 (in order to prevent tools from misinterpreting the line as a
1562 mbox message separator).
1563 entropy_file
1567 Type: path
1568 Default: “”
1569 The file which includes random data that is used to initialize
1571 SSL library functions.
1572 envelope_from_address
1576 Type: e-mail address
1577 Default: “”
1578 Manually sets the envelope sender for outgoing messages. This
1580 value is ignored if $use_envelope_from is unset.
1581 error_history
1585 Type: number
1586 Default: 30
1587 This variable controls the size (in number of strings remem‐
1589 bered) of the error messages displayed by mutt. These can be
1590 shown with the <error-history> function. The history is cleared
1591 each time this variable is set.
1592 escape
1596 Type: string
1597 Default: “~”
1598 Escape character to use for functions in the built-in editor.
1600 fast_reply
1604 Type: boolean
1605 Default: no
1606 When set, the initial prompt for recipients and subject are
1608 skipped when replying to messages, and the initial prompt for
1609 subject is skipped when forwarding messages.
1610 Note: this variable has no effect when the $autoedit variable is
1612 set.
1613 fcc_attach
1617 Type: quadoption
1618 Default: yes
1619 This variable controls whether or not attachments on outgoing
1621 messages are saved along with the main body of your message.
1622 fcc_clear
1626 Type: boolean
1627 Default: no
1628 When this variable is set, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and
1630 unsigned, even when the actual message is encrypted and/or
1631 signed. (PGP only)
1632 flag_safe
1636 Type: boolean
1637 Default: no
1638 If set, flagged messages cannot be deleted.
1640 folder
1644 Type: path
1645 Default: “~/Mail”
1646 Specifies the default location of your mailboxes. A “+” or “=”
1648 at the beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value of
1649 this variable. Note that if you change this variable (from the
1650 default) value you need to make sure that the assignment occurs
1651 before you use “+” or “=” for any other variables since expan‐
1652 sion takes place when handling the “mailboxes” command.
1653 folder_format
1657 Type: string
1658 Default: “%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f”
1659 This variable allows you to customize the file browser display
1661 to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_for‐
1662 mat, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
1663 %C current file number
1664 %d date/time folder was last modified
1665 %D date/time folder was last modified using $date_format.
1666 %f filename (“/” is appended to directory names, “@” to sym‐
1667 bolic links and “*” to executable files)
1668 %F file permissions
1669 %g group name (or numeric gid, if missing)
1670 %l number of hard links
1671 %m number of messages in the mailbox *
1672 %n number of unread messages in the mailbox *
1673 %N N if mailbox has new mail, blank otherwise
1674 %s size in bytes
1675 %t “*” if the file is tagged, blank otherwise
1676 %u owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)
1677 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
1678 ter “X”
1679 %|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
1680 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
1681 For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
1683 mentation.
1684 * = can be optionally printed if nonzero
1686 %m, %n, and %N only work for monitored mailboxes. %m requires
1688 $mail_check_stats to be set. %n requires $mail_check_stats to
1689 be set (except for IMAP mailboxes).
1690 followup_to
1694 Type: boolean
1695 Default: yes
1696 Controls whether or not the “Mail-Followup-To:” header field is
1698 generated when sending mail. When set, Mutt will generate this
1699 field when you are replying to a known mailing list, specified
1700 with the “subscribe” or “lists” commands.
1701 This field has two purposes. First, preventing you from receiv‐
1703 ing duplicate copies of replies to messages which you send to
1704 mailing lists, and second, ensuring that you do get a reply sep‐
1705 arately for any messages sent to known lists to which you are
1706 not subscribed.
1707 The header will contain only the list's address for subscribed
1709 lists, and both the list address and your own email address for
1710 unsubscribed lists. Without this header, a group reply to your
1711 message sent to a subscribed list will be sent to both the list
1712 and your address, resulting in two copies of the same email for
1713 you.
1714 force_name
1718 Type: boolean
1719 Default: no
1720 This variable is similar to $save_name, except that Mutt will
1722 store a copy of your outgoing message by the username of the
1723 address you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.
1724 Also see the $record variable.
1726 forward_attachments
1730 Type: quadoption
1731 Default: ask-yes
1732 When forwarding inline (i.e. $mime_forward unset or answered
1734 with “no” and $forward_decode set), attachments which cannot be
1735 decoded in a reasonable manner will be attached to the newly
1736 composed message if this quadoption is set or answered with
1737 “yes”.
1738 forward_attribution_intro
1742 Type: string
1743 Default: “----- Forwarded message from %f -----”
1744 This is the string that will precede a message which has been
1746 forwarded in the main body of a message (when $mime_forward is
1747 unset). For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences
1748 see the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.
1749 forward_attribution_trailer
1753 Type: string
1754 Default: “----- End forwarded message -----”
1755 This is the string that will follow a message which has been
1757 forwarded in the main body of a message (when $mime_forward is
1758 unset). For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences
1759 see the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.
1760 forward_decode
1764 Type: boolean
1765 Default: yes
1766 Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain
1768 when forwarding a message. The message header is also RFC2047
1769 decoded. This variable is only used, if $mime_forward is unset,
1770 otherwise $mime_forward_decode is used instead.
1771 forward_decrypt
1775 Type: boolean
1776 Default: yes
1777 Controls the handling of encrypted messages when forwarding a
1779 message. When set, the outer layer of encryption is stripped
1780 off. This variable is only used if $mime_forward is set and
1781 $mime_forward_decode is unset. (PGP only)
1782 forward_edit
1786 Type: quadoption
1787 Default: yes
1788 This quadoption controls whether or not the user is automati‐
1790 cally placed in the editor when forwarding messages. For those
1791 who always want to forward with no modification, use a setting
1792 of “no”.
1793 forward_format
1797 Type: string
1798 Default: “[%a: %s]”
1799 This variable controls the default subject when forwarding a
1801 message. It uses the same format sequences as the $index_format
1802 variable.
1803 forward_quote
1807 Type: boolean
1808 Default: no
1809 When set, forwarded messages included in the main body of the
1811 message (when $mime_forward is unset) will be quoted using
1812 $indent_string.
1813 from
1817 Type: e-mail address
1818 Default: “”
1819 When set, this variable contains a default from address. It can
1821 be overridden using “my_hdr” (including from a “send-hook”) and
1822 $reverse_name. This variable is ignored if $use_from is unset.
1823 This setting defaults to the contents of the environment vari‐
1825 able $EMAIL.
1826 gecos_mask
1830 Type: regular expression
1831 Default: “^[^,]*”
1832 A regular expression used by mutt to parse the GECOS field of a
1834 password entry when expanding the alias. The default value will
1835 return the string up to the first “,” encountered. If the GECOS
1836 field contains a string like “lastname, firstname” then you
1837 should set it to “.*”.
1838 This can be useful if you see the following behavior: you
1840 address an e-mail to user ID “stevef” whose full name is “Steve
1841 Franklin”. If mutt expands “stevef” to “”Franklin”
1842 stevef@foo.bar” then you should set the $gecos_mask to a regular
1843 expression that will match the whole name so mutt will expand
1844 “Franklin” to “Franklin, Steve”.
1845 hdrs
1849 Type: boolean
1850 Default: yes
1851 When unset, the header fields normally added by the “my_hdr”
1853 command are not created. This variable must be unset before
1854 composing a new message or replying in order to take effect. If
1855 set, the user defined header fields are added to every new mes‐
1856 sage.
1857 header
1861 Type: boolean
1862 Default: no
1863 When set, this variable causes Mutt to include the header of the
1865 message you are replying to into the edit buffer. The $weed
1866 setting applies.
1867 header_cache
1871 Type: path
1872 Default: “”
1873 This variable points to the header cache database. If pointing
1875 to a directory Mutt will contain a header cache database file
1876 per folder, if pointing to a file that file will be a single
1877 global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching
1878 will be used.
1879 Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP
1881 MH or Maildir folders, see “caching” for details.
1882 header_cache_compress
1886 Type: boolean
1887 Default: yes
1888 When mutt is compiled with qdbm, tokyocabinet, or kyotocabinet
1890 as header cache backend, this option determines whether the
1891 database will be compressed. Compression results in database
1892 files roughly being one fifth of the usual diskspace, but the
1893 decompression can result in a slower opening of cached folder(s)
1894 which in general is still much faster than opening non header
1895 cached folders.
1896 header_cache_pagesize
1900 Type: string
1901 Default: “16384”
1902 When mutt is compiled with either gdbm or bdb4 as the header
1904 cache backend, this option changes the database page size. Too
1905 large or too small values can waste space, memory, or CPU time.
1906 The default should be more or less optimal for most use cases.
1907 header_color_partial
1911 Type: boolean
1912 Default: no
1913 When set, color header regexps behave like color body regexps:
1915 color is applied to the exact text matched by the regexp. When
1916 unset, color is applied to the entire header.
1917 One use of this option might be to apply color to just the
1919 header labels.
1920 See “color” for more details.
1922 help
1926 Type: boolean
1927 Default: yes
1928 When set, help lines describing the bindings for the major func‐
1930 tions provided by each menu are displayed on the first line of
1931 the screen.
1932 Note: The binding will not be displayed correctly if the func‐
1934 tion is bound to a sequence rather than a single keystroke.
1935 Also, the help line may not be updated if a binding is changed
1936 while Mutt is running. Since this variable is primarily aimed
1937 at new users, neither of these should present a major problem.
1938 hidden_host
1942 Type: boolean
1943 Default: no
1944 When set, mutt will skip the host name part of $hostname vari‐
1946 able when adding the domain part to addresses. This variable
1947 does not affect the generation of Message-IDs, and it will not
1948 lead to the cut-off of first-level domains.
1949 hide_limited
1953 Type: boolean
1954 Default: no
1955 When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are
1957 hidden by limiting, in the thread tree.
1958 hide_missing
1962 Type: boolean
1963 Default: yes
1964 When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages in
1966 the thread tree.
1967 hide_thread_subject
1971 Type: boolean
1972 Default: yes
1973 When set, mutt will not show the subject of messages in the
1975 thread tree that have the same subject as their parent or clos‐
1976 est previously displayed sibling.
1977 hide_top_limited
1981 Type: boolean
1982 Default: no
1983 When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are
1985 hidden by limiting, at the top of threads in the thread tree.
1986 Note that when $hide_limited is set, this option will have no
1987 effect.
1988 hide_top_missing
1992 Type: boolean
1993 Default: yes
1994 When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages at
1996 the top of threads in the thread tree. Note that when
1997 $hide_missing is set, this option will have no effect.
1998 history
2002 Type: number
2003 Default: 10
2004 This variable controls the size (in number of strings remem‐
2006 bered) of the string history buffer per category. The buffer is
2007 cleared each time the variable is set.
2008 history_file
2012 Type: path
2013 Default: “~/.mutthistory”
2014 The file in which Mutt will save its history.
2016 Also see $save_history.
2018 history_remove_dups
2022 Type: boolean
2023 Default: no
2024 When set, all of the string history will be scanned for dupli‐
2026 cates when a new entry is added. Duplicate entries in the $his‐
2027 tory_file will also be removed when it is periodically com‐
2028 pacted.
2029 honor_disposition
2033 Type: boolean
2034 Default: no
2035 When set, Mutt will not display attachments with a disposition
2037 of “attachment” inline even if it could render the part to plain
2038 text. These MIME parts can only be viewed from the attachment
2039 menu.
2040 If unset, Mutt will render all MIME parts it can properly trans‐
2042 form to plain text.
2043 honor_followup_to
2047 Type: quadoption
2048 Default: yes
2049 This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header
2051 is honored when group-replying to a message.
2052 hostname
2056 Type: string
2057 Default: “”
2058 Specifies the fully-qualified hostname of the system mutt is
2060 running on containing the host's name and the DNS domain it
2061 belongs to. It is used as the domain part (after “@”) for local
2062 email addresses as well as Message-Id headers.
2063 Its value is determined at startup as follows: the node's host‐
2065 name is first determined by the uname(3) function. The domain
2066 is then looked up using the gethostname(2) and getaddrinfo(3)
2067 functions. If those calls are unable to determine the domain,
2068 the full value returned by uname is used. Optionally, Mutt can
2069 be compiled with a fixed domain name in which case a detected
2070 one is not used.
2071 Also see $use_domain and $hidden_host.
2073 idn_decode
2077 Type: boolean
2078 Default: yes
2079 When set, Mutt will show you international domain names decoded.
2081 Note: You can use IDNs for addresses even if this is unset.
2082 This variable only affects decoding. (IDN only)
2083 idn_encode
2087 Type: boolean
2088 Default: yes
2089 When set, Mutt will encode international domain names using IDN.
2091 Unset this if your SMTP server can handle newer (RFC 6531) UTF-8
2092 encoded domains. (IDN only)
2093 ignore_linear_white_space
2097 Type: boolean
2098 Default: no
2099 This option replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word and
2101 text to a single space to prevent the display of MIME-encoded
2102 “Subject:” field from being divided into multiple lines.
2103 ignore_list_reply_to
2107 Type: boolean
2108 Default: no
2109 Affects the behavior of the <reply> function when replying to
2111 messages from mailing lists (as defined by the “subscribe” or
2112 “lists” commands). When set, if the “Reply-To:” field is set to
2113 the same value as the “To:” field, Mutt assumes that the
2114 “Reply-To:” field was set by the mailing list to automate
2115 responses to the list, and will ignore this field. To direct a
2116 response to the mailing list when this option is set, use the
2117 <list-reply> function; <group-reply> will reply to both the
2118 sender and the list.
2119 imap_authenticators
2123 Type: string
2124 Default: “”
2125 This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
2127 may attempt to use to log in to an IMAP server, in the order
2128 mutt should try them. Authentication methods are either “login”
2129 or the right side of an IMAP “AUTH=xxx” capability string, e.g.
2130 “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is case-insen‐
2131 sitive. If it's unset (the default) mutt will try all available
2132 methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.
2133 Example:
2135 set imap_authenticators=”gssapi:cram-md5:login”
2138 Note: Mutt will only fall back to other authentication methods
2141 if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is avail‐
2142 able but authentication fails, mutt will not connect to the IMAP
2143 server.
2144 imap_check_subscribed
2148 Type: boolean
2149 Default: no
2150 When set, mutt will fetch the set of subscribed folders from
2152 your server on connection, and add them to the set of mailboxes
2153 it polls for new mail just as if you had issued individual
2154 “mailboxes” commands.
2155 imap_condstore
2159 Type: boolean
2160 Default: no
2161 When set, mutt will use the CONDSTORE extension (RFC 7162) if
2163 advertised by the server. Mutt's current implementation is
2164 basic, used only for initial message fetching and flag updates.
2165 For some IMAP servers, enabling this will slightly speed up
2167 downloading initial messages. Unfortunately, Gmail is not one
2168 those, and displays worse performance when enabled. Your
2169 mileage may vary.
2170 imap_delim_chars
2174 Type: string
2175 Default: “/.”
2176 This contains the list of characters which you would like to
2178 treat as folder separators for displaying IMAP paths. In partic‐
2179 ular it helps in using the “=” shortcut for your folder vari‐
2180 able.
2181 imap_fetch_chunk_size
2185 Type: number (long)
2186 Default: 0
2187 When set to a value greater than 0, new headers will be down‐
2189 loaded in sets of this size. If you have a very large mailbox,
2190 this might prevent a timeout and disconnect when opening the
2191 mailbox, by sending a FETCH per set of this size instead of a
2192 single FETCH for all new headers.
2193 imap_headers
2197 Type: string
2198 Default: “”
2199 Mutt requests these header fields in addition to the default
2201 headers (“Date:”, “From:”, “Sender:”, “Subject:”, “To:”, “Cc:”,
2202 “Message-Id:”, “References:”, “Content-Type:”, “Content-Descrip‐
2203 tion:”, “In-Reply-To:”, “Reply-To:”, “Lines:”, “List-Post:”,
2204 “X-Label:”) from IMAP servers before displaying the index menu.
2205 You may want to add more headers for spam detection.
2206 Note: This is a space separated list, items should be uppercase
2208 and not contain the colon, e.g. “X-BOGOSITY X-SPAM-STATUS” for
2209 the “X-Bogosity:” and “X-Spam-Status:” header fields.
2210 imap_idle
2214 Type: boolean
2215 Default: no
2216 When set, mutt will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension to
2218 check for new mail in the current mailbox. Some servers (dovecot
2219 was the inspiration for this option) react badly to mutt's
2220 implementation. If your connection seems to freeze up periodi‐
2221 cally, try unsetting this.
2222 imap_keepalive
2226 Type: number
2227 Default: 300
2228 This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds
2230 that mutt will wait before polling open IMAP connections, to
2231 prevent the server from closing them before mutt has finished
2232 with them. The default is well within the RFC-specified minimum
2233 amount of time (30 minutes) before a server is allowed to do
2234 this, but in practice the RFC does get violated every now and
2235 then. Reduce this number if you find yourself getting discon‐
2236 nected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.
2237 imap_list_subscribed
2241 Type: boolean
2242 Default: no
2243 This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will look
2245 for only subscribed folders or all folders. This can be toggled
2246 in the IMAP browser with the <toggle-subscribed> function.
2247 imap_login
2251 Type: string
2252 Default: “”
2253 Your login name on the IMAP server.
2255 This variable defaults to the value of $imap_user.
2257 imap_oauth_refresh_command
2261 Type: string
2262 Default: “”
2263 The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
2265 rizing your connection to your IMAP server. This command will
2266 be run on every connection attempt that uses the OAUTHBEARER
2267 authentication mechanism. See “oauth” for details.
2268 imap_pass
2272 Type: string
2273 Default: “”
2274 Specifies the password for your IMAP account. If unset, Mutt
2276 will prompt you for your password when you invoke the
2277 <imap-fetch-mail> function or try to open an IMAP folder.
2278 Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
2280 fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
2281 trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
2282 imap_passive
2286 Type: boolean
2287 Default: yes
2288 When set, mutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for
2290 new mail. Mutt will only check for new mail over existing IMAP
2291 connections. This is useful if you don't want to be prompted
2292 for user/password pairs on mutt invocation, or if opening the
2293 connection is slow.
2294 imap_peek
2298 Type: boolean
2299 Default: yes
2300 When set, mutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read
2302 whenever you fetch a message from the server. This is generally
2303 a good thing, but can make closing an IMAP folder somewhat
2304 slower. This option exists to appease speed freaks.
2305 imap_pipeline_depth
2309 Type: number
2310 Default: 15
2311 Controls the number of IMAP commands that may be queued up
2313 before they are sent to the server. A deeper pipeline reduces
2314 the amount of time mutt must wait for the server, and can make
2315 IMAP servers feel much more responsive. But not all servers cor‐
2316 rectly handle pipelined commands, so if you have problems you
2317 might want to try setting this variable to 0.
2318 Note: Changes to this variable have no effect on open connec‐
2320 tions.
2321 imap_poll_timeout
2325 Type: number
2326 Default: 15
2327 This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds
2329 that mutt will wait for a response when polling IMAP connections
2330 for new mail, before timing out and closing the connection. Set
2331 to 0 to disable timing out.
2332 imap_qresync
2336 Type: boolean
2337 Default: no
2338 When set, mutt will use the QRESYNC extension (RFC 7162) if
2340 advertised by the server. Mutt's current implementation is
2341 basic, used only for initial message fetching and flag updates.
2342 Note: this feature is currently experimental. If you experience
2344 strange behavior, such as duplicate or missing messages please
2345 file a bug report to let us know.
2346 imap_servernoise
2350 Type: boolean
2351 Default: yes
2352 When set, mutt will display warning messages from the IMAP
2354 server as error messages. Since these messages are often harm‐
2355 less, or generated due to configuration problems on the server
2356 which are out of the users' hands, you may wish to suppress them
2357 at some point.
2358 imap_user
2362 Type: string
2363 Default: “”
2364 The name of the user whose mail you intend to access on the IMAP
2366 server.
2367 This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
2369 implicit_autoview
2373 Type: boolean
2374 Default: no
2375 If set to “yes”, mutt will look for a mailcap entry with the
2377 “copiousoutput” flag set for every MIME attachment it doesn't
2378 have an internal viewer defined for. If such an entry is found,
2379 mutt will use the viewer defined in that entry to convert the
2380 body part to text form.
2381 include
2385 Type: quadoption
2386 Default: ask-yes
2387 Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are reply‐
2389 ing to is included in your reply.
2390 include_encrypted
2394 Type: boolean
2395 Default: no
2396 Controls whether or not Mutt includes separately encrypted
2398 attachment contents when replying.
2399 This variable was added to prevent accidental exposure of
2401 encrypted contents when replying to an attacker. If a previ‐
2402 ously encrypted message were attached by the attacker, they
2403 could trick an unwary recipient into decrypting and including
2404 the message in their reply.
2405 include_onlyfirst
2409 Type: boolean
2410 Default: no
2411 Controls whether or not Mutt includes only the first attachment
2413 of the message you are replying.
2414 indent_string
2418 Type: string
2419 Default: “> ”
2420 Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a
2422 message to which you are replying. You are strongly encouraged
2423 not to change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanat‐
2424 ical netizens.
2425 The value of this option is ignored if $text_flowed is set,
2427 because the quoting mechanism is strictly defined for for‐
2428 mat=flowed.
2429 This option is a format string, please see the description of
2431 $index_format for supported printf(3)-style sequences.
2432 index_format
2436 Type: string
2437 Default: “%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&%4c?) %s”
2438 This variable allows you to customize the message index display
2440 to your personal taste.
2441 “Format strings” are similar to the strings used in the C func‐
2443 tion printf(3) to format output (see the man page for more
2444 details). For an explanation of the %? construct, see the $sta‐
2445 tus_format description. The following sequences are defined in
2446 Mutt:
2447 %a address of the author
2448 %A reply-to address (if present; otherwise: address of
2449 author)
2450 %b filename of the original message folder (think mailbox)
2451 %B the list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder
2452 name (%b).
2453 %c number of characters (bytes) in the message
2454 %C current message number
2455 %d date and time of the message in the format specified by
2456 $date_format converted to sender's time zone
2457 %D date and time of the message in the format specified by
2458 $date_format converted to the local time zone
2459 %e current message number in thread
2460 %E number of messages in current thread
2461 %f sender (address + real name), either From: or
2462 Return-Path:
2463 %F author name, or recipient name if the message is from you
2464 %H spam attribute(s) of this message
2465 %i message-id of the current message
2466 %l number of lines in the message (does not work with
2467 maildir, mh, and possibly IMAP folders)
2468 %L If an address in the “To:” or “Cc:” header field matches
2469 an address defined by the users “subscribe” command, this
2470 displays ”To <list-name>”, otherwise the same as %F.
2471 %m total number of message in the mailbox
2472 %M number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.
2473 %N message score
2474 %n author's real name (or address if missing)
2475 %O original save folder where mutt would formerly have
2476 stashed the message: list name or recipient name if not
2477 sent to a list
2478 %P progress indicator for the built-in pager (how much of
2479 the file has been displayed)
2480 %r comma separated list of “To:” recipients
2481 %R comma separated list of “Cc:” recipients
2482 %s subject of the message
2483 %S single character status of the message
2484 (“N”/“O”/“D”/“d”/“!”/“r”/“*”)
2485 %t “To:” field (recipients)
2486 %T the appropriate character from the $to_chars string
2487 %u user (login) name of the author
2488 %v first name of the author, or the recipient if the message
2489 is from you
2490 %X number of attachments (please see the “attachments” sec‐
2491 tion for possible speed effects)
2492 %y “X-Label:” field, if present
2493 %Y “X-Label:” field, if present, and [4m(1) not at part of a
2494 thread tree, [4m(2) at the top of a thread, or [4m(3)
2495 “X-Label:” is different from preceding message's
2496 “X-Label:”.
2497 %Z a three character set of message status flags. the first
2498 character is new/read/replied flags
2499 (“n”/“o”/“r”/“O”/“N”). the second is deleted or encryp‐
2500 tion flags (“D”/“d”/“S”/“P”/“s”/“K”). the third is
2501 either tagged/flagged (“*”/“!”), or one of the characters
2502 listed in $to_chars.
2503 %@name@
2504 insert and evaluate format-string from the matching
2505 “index-format-hook” command
2506 %{fmt} the date and time of the message is converted to sender's
2507 time zone, and “fmt” is expanded by the library function
2508 strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
2509 %[fmt] the date and time of the message is converted to the
2510 local time zone, and “fmt” is expanded by the library
2511 function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
2512 %(fmt) the local date and time when the message was received.
2513 “fmt” is expanded by the library function strftime(3); a
2514 leading bang disables locales
2515 %<fmt> the current local time. “fmt” is expanded by the library
2516 function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales.
2517 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
2518 ter “X”
2519 %|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
2520 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
2521 “Soft-fill” deserves some explanation: Normal right-justifica‐
2523 tion will print everything to the left of the “%>”, displaying
2524 padding and whatever lies to the right only if there's room. By
2525 contrast, soft-fill gives priority to the right-hand side, guar‐
2526 anteeing space to display it and showing padding only if there's
2527 still room. If necessary, soft-fill will eat text leftwards to
2528 make room for rightward text.
2529 Note that these expandos are supported in “save-hook”, “fcc-
2531 hook”, “fcc-save-hook”, and “index-format-hook”.
2532 They are also supported in the configuration variables $attribu‐
2534 tion, $forward_attribution_intro, $forward_attribution_trailer,
2535 $forward_format, $indent_string, $message_format, $pager_format,
2536 and $post_indent_string.
2537 ispell
2541 Type: path
2542 Default: “/usr/bin/hunspell”
2543 How to invoke ispell (GNU's spell-checking software).
2545 keep_flagged
2549 Type: boolean
2550 Default: no
2551 If set, read messages marked as flagged will not be moved from
2553 your spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a
2554 “mbox-hook” command.
2555 mail_check
2559 Type: number
2560 Default: 5
2561 This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
2563 for new mail. Also see the $timeout variable.
2564 mail_check_recent
2568 Type: boolean
2569 Default: yes
2570 When set, Mutt will only notify you about new mail that has been
2572 received since the last time you opened the mailbox. When
2573 unset, Mutt will notify you if any new mail exists in the mail‐
2574 box, regardless of whether you have visited it recently.
2575 When $mark_old is set, Mutt does not consider the mailbox to
2577 contain new mail if only old messages exist.
2578 mail_check_stats
2582 Type: boolean
2583 Default: no
2584 When set, mutt will periodically calculate message statistics of
2586 a mailbox while polling for new mail. It will check for unread,
2587 flagged, and total message counts. Because this operation is
2588 more performance intensive, it defaults to unset, and has a sep‐
2589 arate option, $mail_check_stats_interval, to control how often
2590 to update these counts.
2591 Message statistics can also be explicitly calculated by invoking
2593 the <check-stats> function.
2594 mail_check_stats_interval
2598 Type: number
2599 Default: 60
2600 When $mail_check_stats is set, this variable configures how
2602 often (in seconds) mutt will update message counts.
2603 mailcap_path
2607 Type: string
2608 Default: “”
2609 This variable specifies which files to consult when attempting
2611 to display MIME bodies not directly supported by Mutt. The
2612 default value is generated during startup: see the “mailcap”
2613 section of the manual.
2614 mailcap_sanitize
2618 Type: boolean
2619 Default: yes
2620 If set, mutt will restrict possible characters in mailcap %
2622 expandos to a well-defined set of safe characters. This is the
2623 safe setting, but we are not sure it doesn't break some more
2624 advanced MIME stuff.
2625 DON'T CHANGE THIS SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE WHAT YOU
2627 ARE DOING!
2628 maildir_header_cache_verify
2632 Type: boolean
2633 Default: yes
2634 Check for Maildir unaware programs other than mutt having modi‐
2636 fied maildir files when the header cache is in use. This incurs
2637 one stat(2) per message every time the folder is opened (which
2638 can be very slow for NFS folders).
2639 maildir_trash
2643 Type: boolean
2644 Default: no
2645 If set, messages marked as deleted will be saved with the
2647 maildir trashed flag instead of unlinked. Note: this only
2648 applies to maildir-style mailboxes. Setting it will have no
2649 effect on other mailbox types.
2650 maildir_check_cur
2654 Type: boolean
2655 Default: no
2656 If set, mutt will poll both the new and cur directories of a
2658 maildir folder for new messages. This might be useful if other
2659 programs interacting with the folder (e.g. dovecot) are moving
2660 new messages to the cur directory. Note that setting this
2661 option may slow down polling for new messages in large folders,
2662 since mutt has to scan all cur messages.
2663 mark_macro_prefix
2667 Type: string
2668 Default: “'”
2669 Prefix for macros created using mark-message. A new macro auto‐
2671 matically generated with <mark-message>a will be composed from
2672 this prefix and the letter a.
2673 mark_old
2677 Type: boolean
2678 Default: yes
2679 Controls whether or not mutt marks new unread messages as old if
2681 you exit a mailbox without reading them. With this option set,
2682 the next time you start mutt, the messages will show up with an
2683 “O” next to them in the index menu, indicating that they are
2684 old.
2685 markers
2689 Type: boolean
2690 Default: yes
2691 Controls the display of wrapped lines in the internal pager. If
2693 set, a “+” marker is displayed at the beginning of wrapped
2694 lines.
2695 Also see the $smart_wrap variable.
2697 mask
2701 Type: regular expression
2702 Default: “!^\.[^.]”
2703 A regular expression used in the file browser, optionally pre‐
2705 ceded by the not operator “!”. Only files whose names match
2706 this mask will be shown. The match is always case-sensitive.
2707 mbox
2711 Type: path
2712 Default: “~/mbox”
2713 This specifies the folder into which read mail in your
2715 $spoolfile folder will be appended.
2716 Also see the $move variable.
2718 mbox_type
2722 Type: folder magic
2723 Default: mbox
2724 The default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be
2726 any of “mbox”, “MMDF”, “MH” and “Maildir”. This is overridden by
2727 the -m command-line option.
2728 menu_context
2732 Type: number
2733 Default: 0
2734 This variable controls the number of lines of context that are
2736 given when scrolling through menus. (Similar to $pager_context.)
2737 menu_move_off
2741 Type: boolean
2742 Default: yes
2743 When unset, the bottom entry of menus will never scroll up past
2745 the bottom of the screen, unless there are less entries than
2746 lines. When set, the bottom entry may move off the bottom.
2747 menu_scroll
2751 Type: boolean
2752 Default: no
2753 When set, menus will be scrolled up or down one line when you
2755 attempt to move across a screen boundary. If unset, the screen
2756 is cleared and the next or previous page of the menu is dis‐
2757 played (useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
2758 message_cache_clean
2762 Type: boolean
2763 Default: no
2764 If set, mutt will clean out obsolete entries from the message
2766 cache when the mailbox is synchronized. You probably only want
2767 to set it every once in a while, since it can be a little slow
2768 (especially for large folders).
2769 message_cachedir
2773 Type: path
2774 Default: “”
2775 Set this to a directory and mutt will cache copies of messages
2777 from your IMAP and POP servers here. You are free to remove
2778 entries at any time.
2779 When setting this variable to a directory, mutt needs to fetch
2781 every remote message only once and can perform regular expres‐
2782 sion searches as fast as for local folders.
2783 Also see the $message_cache_clean variable.
2785 message_format
2789 Type: string
2790 Default: “%s”
2791 This is the string displayed in the “attachment” menu for
2793 attachments of type message/rfc822. For a full listing of
2794 defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_for‐
2795 mat.
2796 meta_key
2800 Type: boolean
2801 Default: no
2802 If set, forces Mutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit
2804 (bit 8) set as if the user had pressed the Esc key and whatever
2805 key remains after having the high bit removed. For example, if
2806 the key pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf8, then this is treated
2807 as if the user had pressed Esc then “x”. This is because the
2808 result of removing the high bit from 0xf8 is 0x78, which is the
2809 ASCII character “x”.
2810 metoo
2814 Type: boolean
2815 Default: no
2816 If unset, Mutt will remove your address (see the “alternates”
2818 command) from the list of recipients when replying to a message.
2819 mh_purge
2823 Type: boolean
2824 Default: no
2825 When unset, mutt will mimic mh's behavior and rename deleted
2827 messages to ,<old file name> in mh folders instead of really
2828 deleting them. This leaves the message on disk but makes pro‐
2829 grams reading the folder ignore it. If the variable is set, the
2830 message files will simply be deleted.
2831 This option is similar to $maildir_trash for Maildir folders.
2833 mh_seq_flagged
2837 Type: string
2838 Default: “flagged”
2839 The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.
2841 mh_seq_replied
2845 Type: string
2846 Default: “replied”
2847 The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.
2849 mh_seq_unseen
2853 Type: string
2854 Default: “unseen”
2855 The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.
2857 mime_forward
2861 Type: quadoption
2862 Default: no
2863 When set, the message you are forwarding will be attached as a
2865 separate message/rfc822 MIME part instead of included in the
2866 main body of the message. This is useful for forwarding MIME
2867 messages so the receiver can properly view the message as it was
2868 delivered to you. If you like to switch between MIME and not
2869 MIME from mail to mail, set this variable to “ask-no” or
2870 “ask-yes”.
2871 Also see $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode.
2873 mime_forward_decode
2877 Type: boolean
2878 Default: no
2879 Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain
2881 when forwarding a message while $mime_forward is set. Otherwise
2882 $forward_decode is used instead.
2883 mime_forward_rest
2887 Type: quadoption
2888 Default: yes
2889 When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from the
2891 attachment menu, attachments which cannot be decoded in a rea‐
2892 sonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if
2893 this option is set.
2894 mime_type_query_command
2898 Type: string
2899 Default: “”
2900 This specifies a command to run, to determine the mime type of a
2902 new attachment when composing a message. Unless
2903 $mime_type_query_first is set, this will only be run if the
2904 attachment's extension is not found in the mime.types file.
2905 The string may contain a “%s”, which will be substituted with
2907 the attachment filename. Mutt will add quotes around the string
2908 substituted for “%s” automatically according to shell quoting
2909 rules, so you should avoid adding your own. If no “%s” is found
2910 in the string, Mutt will append the attachment filename to the
2911 end of the string.
2912 The command should output a single line containing the attach‐
2914 ment's mime type.
2915 Suggested values are “xdg-mime query filetype” or “file -bi”.
2917 mime_type_query_first
2921 Type: boolean
2922 Default: no
2923 When set, the $mime_type_query_command will be run before the
2925 mime.types lookup.
2926 mix_entry_format
2930 Type: string
2931 Default: “%4n %c %-16s %a”
2932 This variable describes the format of a remailer line on the
2934 mixmaster chain selection screen. The following printf(3)-like
2935 sequences are supported:
2936 %n The running number on the menu.
2937 %c Remailer capabilities.
2938 %s The remailer's short name.
2939 %a The remailer's e-mail address.
2940 mixmaster
2943 Type: path
2944 Default: “mixmaster”
2945 This variable contains the path to the Mixmaster binary on your
2947 system. It is used with various sets of parameters to gather
2948 the list of known remailers, and to finally send a message
2949 through the mixmaster chain.
2950 move
2954 Type: quadoption
2955 Default: no
2956 Controls whether or not Mutt will move read messages from your
2958 spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a “mbox-
2959 hook” command.
2960 narrow_tree
2964 Type: boolean
2965 Default: no
2966 This variable, when set, makes the thread tree narrower, allow‐
2968 ing deeper threads to fit on the screen.
2969 net_inc
2973 Type: number
2974 Default: 10
2975 Operations that expect to transfer a large amount of data over
2977 the network will update their progress every $net_inc kilobytes.
2978 If set to 0, no progress messages will be displayed.
2979 See also $read_inc, $write_inc and $net_inc.
2981 new_mail_command
2985 Type: path
2986 Default: “”
2987 If set, Mutt will call this command after a new message is
2989 received. See the $status_format documentation for the values
2990 that can be formatted into this command.
2991 pager
2995 Type: path
2996 Default: “builtin”
2997 This variable specifies which pager you would like to use to
2999 view messages. The value “builtin” means to use the built-in
3000 pager, otherwise this variable should specify the pathname of
3001 the external pager you would like to use.
3002 Using an external pager may have some disadvantages: Additional
3004 keystrokes are necessary because you can't call mutt functions
3005 directly from the pager, and screen resizes cause lines longer
3006 than the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.
3007 When using an external pager, also see $prompt_after which
3009 defaults set.
3010 pager_context
3014 Type: number
3015 Default: 0
3016 This variable controls the number of lines of context that are
3018 given when displaying the next or previous page in the internal
3019 pager. By default, Mutt will display the line after the last
3020 one on the screen at the top of the next page (0 lines of con‐
3021 text).
3022 This variable also specifies the amount of context given for
3024 search results. If positive, this many lines will be given
3025 before a match, if 0, the match will be top-aligned.
3026 pager_format
3030 Type: string
3031 Default: “-%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n %s%* -- (%P)”
3032 This variable controls the format of the one-line message “sta‐
3034 tus” displayed before each message in either the internal or an
3035 external pager. The valid sequences are listed in the
3036 $index_format section.
3037 pager_index_lines
3041 Type: number
3042 Default: 0
3043 Determines the number of lines of a mini-index which is shown
3045 when in the pager. The current message, unless near the top or
3046 bottom of the folder, will be roughly one third of the way down
3047 this mini-index, giving the reader the context of a few messages
3048 before and after the message. This is useful, for example, to
3049 determine how many messages remain to be read in the current
3050 thread. One of the lines is reserved for the status bar from
3051 the index, so a setting of 6 will only show 5 lines of the
3052 actual index. A value of 0 results in no index being shown. If
3053 the number of messages in the current folder is less than
3054 $pager_index_lines, then the index will only use as many lines
3055 as it needs.
3056 pager_stop
3060 Type: boolean
3061 Default: no
3062 When set, the internal-pager will not move to the next message
3064 when you are at the end of a message and invoke the <next-page>
3065 function.
3066 pgp_auto_decode
3070 Type: boolean
3071 Default: no
3072 If set, mutt will automatically attempt to decrypt traditional
3074 PGP messages whenever the user performs an operation which ordi‐
3075 narily would result in the contents of the message being oper‐
3076 ated on. For example, if the user displays a pgp-traditional
3077 message which has not been manually checked with the <check-tra‐
3078 ditional-pgp> function, mutt will automatically check the mes‐
3079 sage for traditional pgp.
3080 pgp_autoinline
3084 Type: boolean
3085 Default: no
3086 This option controls whether Mutt generates old-style inline
3088 (traditional) PGP encrypted or signed messages under certain
3089 circumstances. This can be overridden by use of the pgp menu,
3090 when inline is not required. The GPGME backend does not support
3091 this option.
3092 Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
3094 which consist of more than a single MIME part. Mutt can be con‐
3095 figured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
3096 (traditional) would not work.
3097 Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
3099 Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
3101 strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
3102 pgp_check_exit
3106 Type: boolean
3107 Default: yes
3108 If set, mutt will check the exit code of the PGP subprocess when
3110 signing or encrypting. A non-zero exit code means that the sub‐
3111 process failed. (PGP only)
3112 pgp_check_gpg_decrypt_status_fd
3116 Type: boolean
3117 Default: yes
3118 If set, mutt will check the status file descriptor output of
3120 $pgp_decrypt_command and $pgp_decode_command for GnuPG status
3121 codes indicating successful decryption. This will check for the
3122 presence of DECRYPTION_OKAY, absence of DECRYPTION_FAILED, and
3123 that all PLAINTEXT occurs between the BEGIN_DECRYPTION and
3124 END_DECRYPTION status codes.
3125 If unset, mutt will instead match the status fd output against
3127 $pgp_decryption_okay. (PGP only)
3128 pgp_clearsign_command
3132 Type: string
3133 Default: “”
3134 This format is used to create an old-style “clearsigned” PGP
3136 message. Note that the use of this format is strongly depre‐
3137 cated.
3138 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3140 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3141 pgp_decode_command
3145 Type: string
3146 Default: “”
3147 This format strings specifies a command which is used to decode
3149 application/pgp attachments.
3150 The PGP command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like
3152 sequences:
3153 %p Expands to PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is needed, to
3154 an empty string otherwise. Note: This may be used with a
3155 %? construct.
3156 %f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
3157 %s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature
3158 part
3159 of a multipart/signed attachment when verify‐
3160 ing it.
3161 %a The value of $pgp_sign_as if set, otherwise the value of
3162 $pgp_default_key.
3163 %r One or more key IDs (or fingerprints if available).
3164 For examples on how to configure these formats for the various
3166 versions of PGP which are floating around, see the pgp and gpg
3167 sample configuration files in the samples/ subdirectory which
3168 has been installed on your system alongside the documentation.
3169 (PGP only)
3170 pgp_decrypt_command
3174 Type: string
3175 Default: “”
3176 This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message.
3178 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3180 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3181 pgp_decryption_okay
3185 Type: regular expression
3186 Default: “”
3187 If you assign text to this variable, then an encrypted PGP mes‐
3189 sage is only considered successfully decrypted if the output
3190 from $pgp_decrypt_command contains the text. This is used to
3191 protect against a spoofed encrypted message, with multi‐
3192 part/encrypted headers but containing a block that is not actu‐
3193 ally encrypted. (e.g. simply signed and ascii armored text).
3194 Note that if $pgp_check_gpg_decrypt_status_fd is set, this vari‐
3196 able is ignored. (PGP only)
3197 pgp_default_key
3201 Type: string
3202 Default: “”
3203 This is the default key-pair to use for PGP operations. It will
3205 be used for encryption (see $postpone_encrypt and
3206 $pgp_self_encrypt).
3207 It will also be used for signing unless $pgp_sign_as is set.
3209 The (now deprecated) pgp_self_encrypt_as is an alias for this
3211 variable, and should no longer be used. (PGP only)
3212 pgp_encrypt_only_command
3216 Type: string
3217 Default: “”
3218 This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
3220 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3222 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3223 pgp_encrypt_sign_command
3227 Type: string
3228 Default: “”
3229 This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part.
3231 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3233 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3234 pgp_entry_format
3238 Type: string
3239 Default: “%4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u”
3240 This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu
3242 to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_format,
3243 but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
3244 %n number
3245 %k key id
3246 %u user id
3247 %a algorithm
3248 %l key length
3249 %f flags
3250 %c capabilities
3251 %t trust/validity of the key-uid association
3252 %[<s>] date of the key where <s> is an strftime(3) expression
3253 (PGP only)
3255 pgp_export_command
3259 Type: string
3260 Default: “”
3261 This command is used to export a public key from the user's key
3263 ring.
3264 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3266 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3267 pgp_getkeys_command
3271 Type: string
3272 Default: “”
3273 This command is invoked whenever Mutt needs to fetch the public
3275 key associated with an email address. Of the sequences sup‐
3276 ported by $pgp_decode_command, %r is the only printf(3)-like
3277 sequence used with this format. Note that in this case, %r
3278 expands to the email address, not the public key ID (the key ID
3279 is unknown, which is why Mutt is invoking this command). (PGP
3280 only)
3281 pgp_good_sign
3285 Type: regular expression
3286 Default: “”
3287 If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP signature is
3289 only considered verified if the output from $pgp_verify_command
3290 contains the text. Use this variable if the exit code from the
3291 command is 0 even for bad signatures. (PGP only)
3292 pgp_ignore_subkeys
3296 Type: boolean
3297 Default: yes
3298 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to ignore OpenPGP subkeys.
3300 Instead, the principal key will inherit the subkeys' capabili‐
3301 ties. Unset this if you want to play interesting key selection
3302 games. (PGP only)
3303 pgp_import_command
3307 Type: string
3308 Default: “”
3309 This command is used to import a key from a message into the
3311 user's public key ring.
3312 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3314 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3315 pgp_list_pubring_command
3319 Type: string
3320 Default: “”
3321 This command is used to list the public key ring's contents.
3323 The output format must be analogous to the one used by
3324 gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
3327 This format is also generated by the mutt_pgpring utility which
3330 comes with mutt.
3331 Note: gpg's fixed-list-mode option should not be used. It pro‐
3333 duces a different date format which may result in mutt showing
3334 incorrect key generation dates.
3335 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3337 possible printf(3)-like sequences. Note that in this case, %r
3338 expands to the search string, which is a list of one or more
3339 quoted values such as email address, name, or keyid. (PGP only)
3340 pgp_list_secring_command
3344 Type: string
3345 Default: “”
3346 This command is used to list the secret key ring's contents.
3348 The output format must be analogous to the one used by:
3349 gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
3352 This format is also generated by the mutt_pgpring utility which
3355 comes with mutt.
3356 Note: gpg's fixed-list-mode option should not be used. It pro‐
3358 duces a different date format which may result in mutt showing
3359 incorrect key generation dates.
3360 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3362 possible printf(3)-like sequences. Note that in this case, %r
3363 expands to the search string, which is a list of one or more
3364 quoted values such as email address, name, or keyid. (PGP only)
3365 pgp_long_ids
3369 Type: boolean
3370 Default: yes
3371 If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs, if unset use the normal 32 bit
3373 key IDs. NOTE: Internally, Mutt has transitioned to using fin‐
3374 gerprints (or long key IDs as a fallback). This option now only
3375 controls the display of key IDs in the key selection menu and a
3376 few other places. (PGP only)
3377 pgp_mime_auto
3381 Type: quadoption
3382 Default: ask-yes
3383 This option controls whether Mutt will prompt you for automati‐
3385 cally sending a (signed/encrypted) message using PGP/MIME when
3386 inline (traditional) fails (for any reason).
3387 Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
3389 strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
3390 pgp_replyinline
3394 Type: boolean
3395 Default: no
3396 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cre‐
3398 ate an inline (traditional) message when replying to a message
3399 which is PGP encrypted/signed inline. This can be overridden by
3400 use of the pgp menu, when inline is not required. This option
3401 does not automatically detect if the (replied-to) message is
3402 inline; instead it relies on Mutt internals for previously
3403 checked/flagged messages.
3404 Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
3406 which consist of more than a single MIME part. Mutt can be con‐
3407 figured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
3408 (traditional) would not work.
3409 Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
3411 Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
3413 strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
3414 pgp_retainable_sigs
3418 Type: boolean
3419 Default: no
3420 If set, signed and encrypted messages will consist of nested
3422 multipart/signed and multipart/encrypted body parts.
3423 This is useful for applications like encrypted and signed mail‐
3425 ing lists, where the outer layer (multipart/encrypted) can be
3426 easily removed, while the inner multipart/signed part is
3427 retained. (PGP only)
3428 pgp_self_encrypt
3432 Type: boolean
3433 Default: yes
3434 When set, PGP encrypted messages will also be encrypted using
3436 the key in $pgp_default_key. (PGP only)
3437 pgp_show_unusable
3441 Type: boolean
3442 Default: yes
3443 If set, mutt will display non-usable keys on the PGP key selec‐
3445 tion menu. This includes keys which have been revoked, have
3446 expired, or have been marked as “disabled” by the user. (PGP
3447 only)
3448 pgp_sign_as
3452 Type: string
3453 Default: “”
3454 If you have a different key pair to use for signing, you should
3456 set this to the signing key. Most people will only need to set
3457 $pgp_default_key. It is recommended that you use the keyid form
3458 to specify your key (e.g. 0x00112233). (PGP only)
3459 pgp_sign_command
3463 Type: string
3464 Default: “”
3465 This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for a
3467 multipart/signed PGP/MIME body part.
3468 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3470 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3471 pgp_sort_keys
3475 Type: sort order
3476 Default: address
3477 Specifies how the entries in the pgp menu are sorted. The fol‐
3479 lowing are legal values:
3480 address
3481 sort alphabetically by user id
3482 keyid sort alphabetically by key id
3483 date sort by key creation date
3484 trust sort by the trust of the key
3485 If you prefer reverse order of the above values, prefix it with
3487 “reverse-”. (PGP only)
3488 pgp_strict_enc
3492 Type: boolean
3493 Default: yes
3494 If set, Mutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed messages
3496 as quoted-printable. Please note that unsetting this variable
3497 may lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only
3498 change this if you know what you are doing. (PGP only)
3499 pgp_timeout
3503 Type: number (long)
3504 Default: 300
3505 The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will
3507 expire if not used. (PGP only)
3508 pgp_use_gpg_agent
3512 Type: boolean
3513 Default: yes
3514 If set, mutt expects a gpg-agent(1) process will handle private
3516 key passphrase prompts. If unset, mutt will prompt for the
3517 passphrase and pass it via stdin to the pgp command.
3518 Note that as of version 2.1, GnuPG automatically spawns an agent
3520 and requires the agent be used for passphrase management. Since
3521 that version is increasingly prevalent, this variable now
3522 defaults set.
3523 Mutt works with a GUI or curses pinentry program. A TTY pinen‐
3525 try should not be used.
3526 If you are using an older version of GnuPG without an agent run‐
3528 ning, or another encryption program without an agent, you will
3529 need to unset this variable. (PGP only)
3530 pgp_verify_command
3534 Type: string
3535 Default: “”
3536 This command is used to verify PGP signatures.
3538 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3540 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3541 pgp_verify_key_command
3545 Type: string
3546 Default: “”
3547 This command is used to verify key information from the key
3549 selection menu.
3550 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3552 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3553 pipe_decode
3557 Type: boolean
3558 Default: no
3559 Used in connection with the <pipe-message> command. When unset,
3561 Mutt will pipe the messages without any preprocessing. When set,
3562 Mutt will weed headers and will attempt to decode the messages
3563 first.
3564 pipe_sep
3568 Type: string
3569 Default: “\n”
3570 The separator to add between messages when piping a list of
3572 tagged messages to an external Unix command.
3573 pipe_split
3577 Type: boolean
3578 Default: no
3579 Used in connection with the <pipe-message> function following
3581 <tag-prefix>. If this variable is unset, when piping a list of
3582 tagged messages Mutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe
3583 them all concatenated. When set, Mutt will pipe the messages
3584 one by one. In both cases the messages are piped in the current
3585 sorted order, and the $pipe_sep separator is added after each
3586 message.
3587 pop_auth_try_all
3591 Type: boolean
3592 Default: yes
3593 If set, Mutt will try all available authentication methods.
3595 When unset, Mutt will only fall back to other authentication
3596 methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is
3597 available but authentication fails, Mutt will not connect to the
3598 POP server.
3599 pop_authenticators
3603 Type: string
3604 Default: “”
3605 This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
3607 may attempt to use to log in to an POP server, in the order mutt
3608 should try them. Authentication methods are either “user”,
3609 “apop” or any SASL mechanism, e.g. “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or
3610 “cram-md5”. This option is case-insensitive. If this option is
3611 unset (the default) mutt will try all available methods, in
3612 order from most-secure to least-secure.
3613 Example:
3615 set pop_authenticators=”digest-md5:apop:user”
3618 pop_checkinterval
3623 Type: number
3624 Default: 60
3625 This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
3627 for new mail in the currently selected mailbox if it is a POP
3628 mailbox.
3629 pop_delete
3633 Type: quadoption
3634 Default: ask-no
3635 If set, Mutt will delete successfully downloaded messages from
3637 the POP server when using the <fetch-mail> function. When
3638 unset, Mutt will download messages but also leave them on the
3639 POP server.
3640 pop_host
3644 Type: string
3645 Default: “”
3646 The name of your POP server for the <fetch-mail> function. You
3648 can also specify an alternative port, username and password,
3649 i.e.:
3650 [pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]
3653 where “[...]” denotes an optional part.
3656 pop_last
3660 Type: boolean
3661 Default: no
3662 If this variable is set, mutt will try to use the “LAST” POP
3664 command for retrieving only unread messages from the POP server
3665 when using the <fetch-mail> function.
3666 pop_oauth_refresh_command
3670 Type: string
3671 Default: “”
3672 The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
3674 rizing your connection to your POP server. This command will be
3675 run on every connection attempt that uses the OAUTHBEARER
3676 authentication mechanism. See “oauth” for details.
3677 pop_pass
3681 Type: string
3682 Default: “”
3683 Specifies the password for your POP account. If unset, Mutt
3685 will prompt you for your password when you open a POP mailbox.
3686 Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
3688 fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
3689 trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
3690 pop_reconnect
3694 Type: quadoption
3695 Default: ask-yes
3696 Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect to the POP
3698 server if the connection is lost.
3699 pop_user
3703 Type: string
3704 Default: “”
3705 Your login name on the POP server.
3707 This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
3709 post_indent_string
3713 Type: string
3714 Default: “”
3715 Similar to the $attribution variable, Mutt will append this
3717 string after the inclusion of a message which is being replied
3718 to. For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see
3719 the section on $index_format.
3720 postpone
3724 Type: quadoption
3725 Default: ask-yes
3726 Controls whether or not messages are saved in the $postponed
3728 mailbox when you elect not to send immediately.
3729 Also see the $recall variable.
3731 postponed
3735 Type: path
3736 Default: “~/postponed”
3737 Mutt allows you to indefinitely “postpone sending a message”
3739 which you are editing. When you choose to postpone a message,
3740 Mutt saves it in the mailbox specified by this variable.
3741 Also see the $postpone variable.
3743 postpone_encrypt
3747 Type: boolean
3748 Default: no
3749 When set, postponed messages that are marked for encryption will
3751 be self-encrypted. Mutt will first try to encrypt using the
3752 value specified in $pgp_default_key or $smime_default_key. If
3753 those are not set, it will try the deprecated $post‐
3754 pone_encrypt_as. (Crypto only)
3755 postpone_encrypt_as
3759 Type: string
3760 Default: “”
3761 This is a deprecated fall-back variable for $postpone_encrypt.
3763 Please use $pgp_default_key or $smime_default_key. (Crypto
3764 only)
3765 preconnect
3769 Type: string
3770 Default: “”
3771 If set, a shell command to be executed if mutt fails to estab‐
3773 lish a connection to the server. This is useful for setting up
3774 secure connections, e.g. with ssh(1). If the command returns a
3775 nonzero status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:
3776 set preconnect=”ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net \
3779 sleep 20 < /dev/null > /dev/null”
3780 Mailbox “foo” on “mailhost.net” can now be reached as “{local‐
3783 host:1234}foo”.
3784 Note: For this example to work, you must be able to log in to
3786 the remote machine without having to enter a password.
3787 print
3791 Type: quadoption
3792 Default: ask-no
3793 Controls whether or not Mutt really prints messages. This is
3795 set to “ask-no” by default, because some people accidentally hit
3796 “p” often.
3797 print_command
3801 Type: path
3802 Default: “lpr”
3803 This specifies the command pipe that should be used to print
3805 messages.
3806 print_decode
3810 Type: boolean
3811 Default: yes
3812 Used in connection with the <print-message> command. If this
3814 option is set, the message is decoded before it is passed to the
3815 external command specified by $print_command. If this option is
3816 unset, no processing will be applied to the message when print‐
3817 ing it. The latter setting may be useful if you are using some
3818 advanced printer filter which is able to properly format e-mail
3819 messages for printing.
3820 print_split
3824 Type: boolean
3825 Default: no
3826 Used in connection with the <print-message> command. If this
3828 option is set, the command specified by $print_command is exe‐
3829 cuted once for each message which is to be printed. If this
3830 option is unset, the command specified by $print_command is exe‐
3831 cuted only once, and all the messages are concatenated, with a
3832 form feed as the message separator.
3833 Those who use the enscript(1) program's mail-printing mode will
3835 most likely want to set this option.
3836 prompt_after
3840 Type: boolean
3841 Default: yes
3842 If you use an external $pager, setting this variable will cause
3844 Mutt to prompt you for a command when the pager exits rather
3845 than returning to the index menu. If unset, Mutt will return to
3846 the index menu when the external pager exits.
3847 query_command
3851 Type: path
3852 Default: “”
3853 This specifies the command Mutt will use to make external
3855 address queries. The string may contain a “%s”, which will be
3856 substituted with the query string the user types. Mutt will add
3857 quotes around the string substituted for “%s” automatically
3858 according to shell quoting rules, so you should avoid adding
3859 your own. If no “%s” is found in the string, Mutt will append
3860 the user's query to the end of the string. See “query” for more
3861 information.
3862 query_format
3866 Type: string
3867 Default: “%4c %t %-25.25a %-25.25n %?e?(%e)?”
3868 This variable describes the format of the “query” menu. The fol‐
3870 lowing printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
3871 %a destination address
3872 %c current entry number
3873 %e extra information *
3874 %n destination name
3875 %t “*” if current entry is tagged, a space otherwise
3876 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
3877 %|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
3878 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
3879 For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
3881 mentation.
3882 * = can be optionally printed if nonzero, see the $status_format
3884 documentation.
3885 quit
3889 Type: quadoption
3890 Default: yes
3891 This variable controls whether “quit” and “exit” actually quit
3893 from mutt. If this option is set, they do quit, if it is unset,
3894 they have no effect, and if it is set to ask-yes or ask-no, you
3895 are prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.
3896 quote_regexp
3900 Type: regular expression
3901 Default: “^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+”
3902 A regular expression used in the internal pager to determine
3904 quoted sections of text in the body of a message. Quoted text
3905 may be filtered out using the <toggle-quoted> command, or col‐
3906 ored according to the “color quoted” family of directives.
3907 Higher levels of quoting may be colored differently (“color
3909 quoted1”, “color quoted2”, etc.). The quoting level is deter‐
3910 mined by removing the last character from the matched text and
3911 recursively reapplying the regular expression until it fails to
3912 produce a match.
3913 Match detection may be overridden by the $smileys regular
3915 expression.
3916 read_inc
3920 Type: number
3921 Default: 10
3922 If set to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display which mes‐
3924 sage it is currently on when reading a mailbox or when perform‐
3925 ing search actions such as search and limit. The message is
3926 printed after this many messages have been read or searched
3927 (e.g., if set to 25, Mutt will print a message when it is at
3928 message 25, and then again when it gets to message 50). This
3929 variable is meant to indicate progress when reading or searching
3930 large mailboxes which may take some time. When set to 0, only a
3931 single message will appear before the reading the mailbox.
3932 Also see the $write_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and
3934 the “tuning” section of the manual for performance considera‐
3935 tions.
3936 read_only
3940 Type: boolean
3941 Default: no
3942 If set, all folders are opened in read-only mode.
3944 realname
3948 Type: string
3949 Default: “”
3950 This variable specifies what “real” or “personal” name should be
3952 used when sending messages.
3953 By default, this is the GECOS field from /etc/passwd. Note that
3955 this variable will not be used when the user has set a real name
3956 in the $from variable.
3957 recall
3961 Type: quadoption
3962 Default: ask-yes
3963 Controls whether or not Mutt recalls postponed messages when
3965 composing a new message.
3966 Setting this variable to yes is not generally useful, and thus
3968 not recommended. Note that the <recall-message> function can be
3969 used to manually recall postponed messages.
3970 Also see $postponed variable.
3972 record
3976 Type: path
3977 Default: “~/sent”
3978 This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should
3980 be appended. (This is meant as the primary method for saving a
3981 copy of your messages, but another way to do this is using the
3982 “my_hdr” command to create a “Bcc:” field with your email
3983 address in it.)
3984 The value of $record is overridden by the $force_name and
3986 $save_name variables, and the “fcc-hook” command. Also see
3987 $copy.
3988 reflow_space_quotes
3992 Type: boolean
3993 Default: yes
3994 This option controls how quotes from format=flowed messages are
3996 displayed in the pager and when replying (with $text_flowed
3997 unset). When set, this option adds spaces after each level of
3998 quote marks, turning ”>>>foo” into ”> > > foo”.
3999 Note: If $reflow_text is unset, this option has no effect.
4001 Also, this option does not affect replies when $text_flowed is
4002 set.
4003 reflow_text
4007 Type: boolean
4008 Default: yes
4009 When set, Mutt will reformat paragraphs in text/plain parts
4011 marked format=flowed. If unset, Mutt will display paragraphs
4012 unaltered from how they appear in the message body. See RFC3676
4013 for details on the format=flowed format.
4014 Also see $reflow_wrap, and $wrap.
4016 reflow_wrap
4020 Type: number
4021 Default: 78
4022 This variable controls the maximum paragraph width when refor‐
4024 matting text/plain parts when $reflow_text is set. When the
4025 value is 0, paragraphs will be wrapped at the terminal's right
4026 margin. A positive value sets the paragraph width relative to
4027 the left margin. A negative value set the paragraph width rela‐
4028 tive to the right margin.
4029 Also see $wrap.
4031 reply_regexp
4035 Type: regular expression
4036 Default: “^(re([\[0-9\]+])*|aw):[ \t]*”
4037 A regular expression used to recognize reply messages when
4039 threading and replying. The default value corresponds to the
4040 English ”Re:” and the German ”Aw:”.
4041 reply_self
4045 Type: boolean
4046 Default: no
4047 If unset and you are replying to a message sent by you, Mutt
4049 will assume that you want to reply to the recipients of that
4050 message rather than to yourself.
4051 Also see the “alternates” command.
4053 reply_to
4057 Type: quadoption
4058 Default: ask-yes
4059 If set, when replying to a message, Mutt will use the address
4061 listed in the Reply-to: header as the recipient of the reply.
4062 If unset, it will use the address in the From: header field
4063 instead. This option is useful for reading a mailing list that
4064 sets the Reply-To: header field to the list address and you want
4065 to send a private message to the author of a message.
4066 resolve
4070 Type: boolean
4071 Default: yes
4072 When set, the cursor will be automatically advanced to the next
4074 (possibly undeleted) message whenever a command that modifies
4075 the current message is executed.
4076 resume_draft_files
4080 Type: boolean
4081 Default: no
4082 If set, draft files (specified by -H on the command line) are
4084 processed similarly to when resuming a postponed message.
4085 Recipients are not prompted for; send-hooks are not evaluated;
4086 no alias expansion takes place; user-defined headers and signa‐
4087 tures are not added to the message.
4088 resume_edited_draft_files
4092 Type: boolean
4093 Default: yes
4094 If set, draft files previously edited (via -E -H on the command
4096 line) will have $resume_draft_files automatically set when they
4097 are used as a draft file again.
4098 The first time a draft file is saved, mutt will add a header,
4100 X-Mutt-Resume-Draft to the saved file. The next time the draft
4101 file is read in, if mutt sees the header, it will set
4102 $resume_draft_files.
4103 This option is designed to prevent multiple signatures,
4105 user-defined headers, and other processing effects from being
4106 made multiple times to the draft file.
4107 reverse_alias
4111 Type: boolean
4112 Default: no
4113 This variable controls whether or not Mutt will display the
4115 “personal” name from your aliases in the index menu if it finds
4116 an alias that matches the message's sender. For example, if you
4117 have the following alias:
4118 alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
4121 and then you receive mail which contains the following header:
4124 From: abd30425@somewhere.net
4127 It would be displayed in the index menu as “Joe User” instead of
4130 “abd30425@somewhere.net.” This is useful when the person's
4131 e-mail address is not human friendly.
4132 reverse_name
4136 Type: boolean
4137 Default: no
4138 It may sometimes arrive that you receive mail to a certain
4140 machine, move the messages to another machine, and reply to some
4141 the messages from there. If this variable is set, the default
4142 From: line of the reply messages is built using the address
4143 where you received the messages you are replying to if that
4144 address matches your “alternates”. If the variable is unset, or
4145 the address that would be used doesn't match your “alternates”,
4146 the From: line will use your address on the current machine.
4147 Also see the “alternates” command.
4149 reverse_realname
4153 Type: boolean
4154 Default: yes
4155 This variable fine-tunes the behavior of the $reverse_name fea‐
4157 ture. When it is set, mutt will use the address from incoming
4158 messages as-is, possibly including eventual real names. When it
4159 is unset, mutt will override any such real names with the set‐
4160 ting of the $realname variable.
4161 rfc2047_parameters
4165 Type: boolean
4166 Default: no
4167 When this variable is set, Mutt will decode RFC2047-encoded MIME
4169 parameters. You want to set this variable when mutt suggests you
4170 to save attachments to files named like:
4171 =?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
4174 When this variable is set interactively, the change won't be
4177 active until you change folders.
4178 Note that this use of RFC2047's encoding is explicitly prohib‐
4180 ited by the standard, but nevertheless encountered in the wild.
4181 Also note that setting this parameter will not have the effect
4183 that mutt generates this kind of encoding. Instead, mutt will
4184 unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC2231.
4185 save_address
4189 Type: boolean
4190 Default: no
4191 If set, mutt will take the sender's full address when choosing a
4193 default folder for saving a mail. If $save_name or $force_name
4194 is set too, the selection of the Fcc folder will be changed as
4195 well.
4196 save_empty
4200 Type: boolean
4201 Default: yes
4202 When unset, mailboxes which contain no saved messages will be
4204 removed when closed (the exception is $spoolfile which is never
4205 removed). If set, mailboxes are never removed.
4206 Note: This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders, Mutt does not
4208 delete MH and Maildir directories.
4209 save_history
4213 Type: number
4214 Default: 0
4215 This variable controls the size of the history (per category)
4217 saved in the $history_file file.
4218 save_name
4222 Type: boolean
4223 Default: no
4224 This variable controls how copies of outgoing messages are
4226 saved. When set, a check is made to see if a mailbox specified
4227 by the recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a
4228 mailbox in the $folder directory with the username part of the
4229 recipient address). If the mailbox exists, the outgoing message
4230 will be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to
4231 the $record mailbox.
4232 Also see the $force_name variable.
4234 score
4238 Type: boolean
4239 Default: yes
4240 When this variable is unset, scoring is turned off. This can be
4242 useful to selectively disable scoring for certain folders when
4243 the $score_threshold_delete variable and related are used.
4244 score_threshold_delete
4248 Type: number
4249 Default: -1
4250 Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
4252 the value of this variable are automatically marked for deletion
4253 by mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to
4254 zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a
4255 message for deletion.
4256 score_threshold_flag
4260 Type: number
4261 Default: 9999
4262 Messages which have been assigned a score greater than or equal
4264 to this variable's value are automatically marked ”flagged”.
4265 score_threshold_read
4269 Type: number
4270 Default: -1
4271 Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
4273 the value of this variable are automatically marked as read by
4274 mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to
4275 zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a
4276 message read.
4277 search_context
4281 Type: number
4282 Default: 0
4283 For the pager, this variable specifies the number of lines shown
4285 before search results. By default, search results will be
4286 top-aligned.
4287 send_charset
4291 Type: string
4292 Default: “us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8”
4293 A colon-delimited list of character sets for outgoing messages.
4295 Mutt will use the first character set into which the text can be
4296 converted exactly. If your $charset is not “iso-8859-1” and
4297 recipients may not understand “UTF-8”, it is advisable to
4298 include in the list an appropriate widely used standard charac‐
4299 ter set (such as “iso-8859-2”, “koi8-r” or “iso-2022-jp”) either
4300 instead of or after “iso-8859-1”.
4301 In case the text cannot be converted into one of these exactly,
4303 mutt uses $charset as a fallback.
4304 sendmail
4308 Type: path
4309 Default: “/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi”
4310 Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by
4312 Mutt. Mutt expects that the specified program interprets addi‐
4313 tional arguments as recipient addresses. Mutt appends all
4314 recipients after adding a -- delimiter (if not already present).
4315 Additional flags, such as for $use_8bitmime, $use_envelope_from,
4316 $dsn_notify, or $dsn_return will be added before the delimiter.
4317 sendmail_wait
4321 Type: number
4322 Default: 0
4323 Specifies the number of seconds to wait for the $sendmail
4325 process to finish before giving up and putting delivery in the
4326 background.
4327 Mutt interprets the value of this variable as follows:
4329 >0 number of seconds to wait for sendmail to finish before
4330 continuing
4331 0 wait forever for sendmail to finish
4332 <0 always put sendmail in the background without waiting
4333 Note that if you specify a value other than 0, the output of the
4335 child process will be put in a temporary file. If there is some
4336 error, you will be informed as to where to find the output.
4337 shell
4341 Type: path
4342 Default: “”
4343 Command to use when spawning a subshell. By default, the user's
4345 login shell from /etc/passwd is used.
4346 sidebar_delim_chars
4350 Type: string
4351 Default: “/.”
4352 This contains the list of characters which you would like to
4354 treat as folder separators for displaying paths in the sidebar.
4355 Local mail is often arranged in directories: `dir1/dir2/mail‐
4357 box'.
4358 set sidebar_delim_chars='/'
4361 IMAP mailboxes are often named: `folder1.folder2.mailbox'.
4364 set sidebar_delim_chars='.'
4367 See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_folder_indent, $side‐
4370 bar_indent_string.
4371 sidebar_divider_char
4375 Type: string
4376 Default: “|”
4377 This specifies the characters to be drawn between the sidebar
4379 (when visible) and the other Mutt panels. ASCII and Unicode
4380 line-drawing characters are supported.
4381 sidebar_folder_indent
4385 Type: boolean
4386 Default: no
4387 Set this to indent mailboxes in the sidebar.
4389 See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_indent_string, $side‐
4391 bar_delim_chars.
4392 sidebar_format
4396 Type: string
4397 Default: “%B%* %n”
4398 This variable allows you to customize the sidebar display. This
4400 string is similar to $index_format, but has its own set of
4401 printf(3)-like sequences:
4402 %B Name of the mailbox
4403 %S * Size of mailbox (total number of messages)
4404 %N * Number of unread messages in the mailbox
4405 %n N if mailbox has new mail, blank otherwise
4406 %F * Number of Flagged messages in the mailbox
4407 %! “!” : one flagged message; “!!” : two flagged messages;
4408 “n!” : n flagged messages (for n > 2). Otherwise prints
4409 nothing.
4410 %d * @ Number of deleted messages
4411 %L * @ Number of messages after limiting
4412 %t * @ Number of tagged messages
4413 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
4414 %|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
4415 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
4416 * = Can be optionally printed if nonzero @ = Only applicable to
4418 the current folder
4419 In order to use %S, %N, %F, and %!, $mail_check_stats must be
4421 set. When thus set, a suggested value for this option is
4422 ”%B%?F? [%F]?%* %?N?%N/?%S”.
4423 sidebar_indent_string
4427 Type: string
4428 Default: “ ”
4429 This specifies the string that is used to indent mailboxes in
4431 the sidebar. It defaults to two spaces.
4432 See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_folder_indent, $side‐
4434 bar_delim_chars.
4435 sidebar_new_mail_only
4439 Type: boolean
4440 Default: no
4441 When set, the sidebar will only display mailboxes containing
4443 new, or flagged, mail.
4444 See also: sidebar_whitelist.
4446 sidebar_next_new_wrap
4450 Type: boolean
4451 Default: no
4452 When set, the <sidebar-next-new> command will not stop and the
4454 end of the list of mailboxes, but wrap around to the beginning.
4455 The <sidebar-prev-new> command is similarly affected, wrapping
4456 around to the end of the list.
4457 sidebar_short_path
4461 Type: boolean
4462 Default: no
4463 By default the sidebar will show the mailbox's path, relative to
4465 the $folder variable. Setting sidebar_shortpath=yes will shorten
4466 the names relative to the previous name. Here's an example:
4467 shortpath=no
4468 shortpath=yes shortpath=yes, folderindent=yes,
4469 indentstr=”..”
4470 fruit fruit fruit
4471 fruit.apple
4472 apple ..apple
4473 fruit.banana
4474 banana ..banana
4475 fruit.cherry
4476 cherry ..cherry
4477 See also: $sidebar_delim_chars, $sidebar_folder_indent, $side‐
4479 bar_indent_string.
4480 sidebar_sort_method
4484 Type: sort order
4485 Default: order
4486 Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser. By default,
4488 the entries are sorted alphabetically. Valid values:
4489 ‐ alpha (alphabetically)
4490 ‐ count (all message count)
4491 ‐ flagged (flagged message count)
4492 ‐ name (alphabetically)
4493 ‐ new (unread message count)
4494 ‐ path (alphabetically)
4495 ‐ unread (unread message count)
4496 ‐ unsorted
4497 You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
4499 sorting order (example: “set sort_browser=reverse-date”).
4500 sidebar_visible
4504 Type: boolean
4505 Default: no
4506 This specifies whether or not to show sidebar. The sidebar shows
4508 a list of all your mailboxes.
4509 See also: $sidebar_format, $sidebar_width
4511 sidebar_width
4515 Type: number
4516 Default: 30
4517 This controls the width of the sidebar. It is measured in
4519 screen columns. For example: sidebar_width=20 could display 20
4520 ASCII characters, or 10 Chinese characters.
4521 sig_dashes
4525 Type: boolean
4526 Default: yes
4527 If set, a line containing “-- ” (note the trailing space) will
4529 be inserted before your $signature. It is strongly recommended
4530 that you not unset this variable unless your signature contains
4531 just your name. The reason for this is because many software
4532 packages use “-- \n” to detect your signature. For example,
4533 Mutt has the ability to highlight the signature in a different
4534 color in the built-in pager.
4535 sig_on_top
4539 Type: boolean
4540 Default: no
4541 If set, the signature will be included before any quoted or for‐
4543 warded text. It is strongly recommended that you do not set
4544 this variable unless you really know what you are doing, and are
4545 prepared to take some heat from netiquette guardians.
4546 signature
4550 Type: path
4551 Default: “~/.signature”
4552 Specifies the filename of your signature, which is appended to
4554 all outgoing messages. If the filename ends with a pipe (“|”),
4555 it is assumed that filename is a shell command and input should
4556 be read from its standard output.
4557 simple_search
4561 Type: string
4562 Default: “~f %s | ~s %s”
4563 Specifies how Mutt should expand a simple search into a real
4565 search pattern. A simple search is one that does not contain
4566 any of the “~” pattern operators. See “patterns” for more
4567 information on search patterns.
4568 For example, if you simply type “joe” at a search or limit
4570 prompt, Mutt will automatically expand it to the value specified
4571 by this variable by replacing “%s” with the supplied string.
4572 For the default value, “joe” would be expanded to: “~f joe | ~s
4573 joe”.
4574 sleep_time
4578 Type: number
4579 Default: 1
4580 Specifies time, in seconds, to pause while displaying certain
4582 informational messages, while moving from folder to folder and
4583 after expunging messages from the current folder. The default
4584 is to pause one second, so a value of zero for this option sup‐
4585 presses the pause.
4586 smart_wrap
4590 Type: boolean
4591 Default: yes
4592 Controls the display of lines longer than the screen width in
4594 the internal pager. If set, long lines are wrapped at a word
4595 boundary. If unset, lines are simply wrapped at the screen
4596 edge. Also see the $markers variable.
4597 smileys
4601 Type: regular expression
4602 Default: “(>From )|(:[-^]?[][)(><}{|/DP])”
4603 The pager uses this variable to catch some common false posi‐
4605 tives of $quote_regexp, most notably smileys and not consider a
4606 line quoted text if it also matches $smileys. This mostly hap‐
4607 pens at the beginning of a line.
4608 smime_ask_cert_label
4612 Type: boolean
4613 Default: yes
4614 This flag controls whether you want to be asked to enter a label
4616 for a certificate about to be added to the database or not. It
4617 is set by default. (S/MIME only)
4618 smime_ca_location
4622 Type: path
4623 Default: “”
4624 This variable contains the name of either a directory, or a file
4626 which contains trusted certificates for use with OpenSSL.
4627 (S/MIME only)
4628 smime_certificates
4632 Type: path
4633 Default: “”
4634 Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt
4636 has to handle storage and retrieval of keys by itself. This is
4637 very basic right now, and keys and certificates are stored in
4638 two different directories, both named as the hash-value
4639 retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains
4640 mailbox-address keyid pairs, and which can be manually edited.
4641 This option points to the location of the certificates. (S/MIME
4642 only)
4643 smime_decrypt_command
4647 Type: string
4648 Default: “”
4649 This format string specifies a command which is used to decrypt
4651 application/x-pkcs7-mime attachments.
4652 The OpenSSL command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like
4654 sequences similar to PGP's:
4655 %f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
4656 %s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature
4657 part
4658 of a multipart/signed attachment when verify‐
4659 ing it.
4660 %k The key-pair specified with $smime_default_key
4661 %c One or more certificate IDs.
4662 %a The algorithm used for encryption.
4663 %d The message digest algorithm specified with
4664 $smime_sign_digest_alg.
4665 %C CA location: Depending on whether $smime_ca_location
4666 points to a directory or file, this expands to
4667 “-CApath $smime_ca_location” or “-CAfile
4668 $smime_ca_location”.
4669 For examples on how to configure these formats, see the smime.rc
4671 in the samples/ subdirectory which has been installed on your
4672 system alongside the documentation. (S/MIME only)
4673 smime_decrypt_use_default_key
4677 Type: boolean
4678 Default: yes
4679 If set (default) this tells mutt to use the default key for
4681 decryption. Otherwise, if managing multiple certifi‐
4682 cate-key-pairs, mutt will try to use the mailbox-address to
4683 determine the key to use. It will ask you to supply a key, if it
4684 can't find one. (S/MIME only)
4685 smime_default_key
4689 Type: string
4690 Default: “”
4691 This is the default key-pair to use for S/MIME operations, and
4693 must be set to the keyid (the hash-value that OpenSSL generates)
4694 to work properly.
4695 It will be used for encryption (see $postpone_encrypt and
4697 $smime_self_encrypt).
4698 It will be used for decryption unless
4700 $smime_decrypt_use_default_key is unset.
4701 It will also be used for signing unless $smime_sign_as is set.
4703 The (now deprecated) smime_self_encrypt_as is an alias for this
4705 variable, and should no longer be used. (S/MIME only)
4706 smime_encrypt_command
4710 Type: string
4711 Default: “”
4712 This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages.
4714 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4716 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4717 smime_encrypt_with
4721 Type: string
4722 Default: “aes256”
4723 This sets the algorithm that should be used for encryption.
4725 Valid choices are “aes128”, “aes192”, “aes256”, “des”, “des3”,
4726 “rc2-40”, “rc2-64”, “rc2-128”. (S/MIME only)
4727 smime_get_cert_command
4731 Type: string
4732 Default: “”
4733 This command is used to extract X509 certificates from a PKCS7
4735 structure.
4736 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4738 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4739 smime_get_cert_email_command
4743 Type: string
4744 Default: “”
4745 This command is used to extract the mail address(es) used for
4747 storing X509 certificates, and for verification purposes (to
4748 check whether the certificate was issued for the sender's mail‐
4749 box).
4750 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4752 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4753 smime_get_signer_cert_command
4757 Type: string
4758 Default: “”
4759 This command is used to extract only the signers X509 certifi‐
4761 cate from a S/MIME signature, so that the certificate's owner
4762 may get compared to the email's “From:” field.
4763 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4765 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4766 smime_import_cert_command
4770 Type: string
4771 Default: “”
4772 This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys.
4774 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4776 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4777 smime_is_default
4781 Type: boolean
4782 Default: no
4783 The default behavior of mutt is to use PGP on all
4785 auto-sign/encryption operations. To override and to use OpenSSL
4786 instead this must be set. However, this has no effect while
4787 replying, since mutt will automatically select the same applica‐
4788 tion that was used to sign/encrypt the original message. (Note
4789 that this variable can be overridden by unsetting
4790 $crypt_autosmime.) (S/MIME only)
4791 smime_keys
4795 Type: path
4796 Default: “”
4797 Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt
4799 has to handle storage and retrieval of keys/certs by itself.
4800 This is very basic right now, and stores keys and certificates
4801 in two different directories, both named as the hash-value
4802 retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains
4803 mailbox-address keyid pair, and which can be manually edited.
4804 This option points to the location of the private keys. (S/MIME
4805 only)
4806 smime_pk7out_command
4810 Type: string
4811 Default: “”
4812 This command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME sig‐
4814 natures, in order to extract the public X509 certificate(s).
4815 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4817 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4818 smime_self_encrypt
4822 Type: boolean
4823 Default: yes
4824 When set, S/MIME encrypted messages will also be encrypted using
4826 the certificate in $smime_default_key. (S/MIME only)
4827 smime_sign_as
4831 Type: string
4832 Default: “”
4833 If you have a separate key to use for signing, you should set
4835 this to the signing key. Most people will only need to set
4836 $smime_default_key. (S/MIME only)
4837 smime_sign_command
4841 Type: string
4842 Default: “”
4843 This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type multi‐
4845 part/signed, which can be read by all mail clients.
4846 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4848 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. NOTE: %c and %k will
4849 default to $smime_sign_as if set, otherwise $smime_default_key.
4850 (S/MIME only)
4851 smime_sign_digest_alg
4855 Type: string
4856 Default: “sha256”
4857 This sets the algorithm that should be used for the signature
4859 message digest. Valid choices are “md5”, “sha1”, “sha224”,
4860 “sha256”, “sha384”, “sha512”. (S/MIME only)
4861 smime_sign_opaque_command
4865 Type: string
4866 Default: “”
4867 This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type appli‐
4869 cation/x-pkcs7-signature, which can only be handled by mail
4870 clients supporting the S/MIME extension.
4871 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4873 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4874 smime_timeout
4878 Type: number (long)
4879 Default: 300
4880 The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will
4882 expire if not used. (S/MIME only)
4883 smime_verify_command
4887 Type: string
4888 Default: “”
4889 This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type multi‐
4891 part/signed.
4892 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4894 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4895 smime_verify_opaque_command
4899 Type: string
4900 Default: “”
4901 This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type appli‐
4903 cation/x-pkcs7-mime.
4904 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4906 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
4907 smtp_authenticators
4911 Type: string
4912 Default: “”
4913 This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
4915 may attempt to use to log in to an SMTP server, in the order
4916 mutt should try them. Authentication methods are any SASL mech‐
4917 anism, e.g. “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option
4918 is case-insensitive. If it is “unset” (the default) mutt will
4919 try all available methods, in order from most-secure to
4920 least-secure.
4921 Example:
4923 set smtp_authenticators=”digest-md5:cram-md5”
4926 smtp_oauth_refresh_command
4931 Type: string
4932 Default: “”
4933 The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
4935 rizing your connection to your SMTP server. This command will
4936 be run on every connection attempt that uses the OAUTHBEARER
4937 authentication mechanism. See “oauth” for details.
4938 smtp_pass
4942 Type: string
4943 Default: “”
4944 Specifies the password for your SMTP account. If unset, Mutt
4946 will prompt you for your password when you first send mail via
4947 SMTP. See $smtp_url to configure mutt to send mail via SMTP.
4948 Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
4950 fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
4951 trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
4952 smtp_url
4956 Type: string
4957 Default: “”
4958 Defines the SMTP smarthost where sent messages should relayed
4960 for delivery. This should take the form of an SMTP URL, e.g.:
4961 smtp[s]://[user[:pass]@]host[:port]
4964 where “[...]” denotes an optional part. Setting this variable
4967 overrides the value of the $sendmail variable.
4968 sort
4972 Type: sort order
4973 Default: date
4974 Specifies how to sort messages in the “index” menu. Valid val‐
4976 ues are:
4977 ‐ date or date-sent
4978 ‐ date-received
4979 ‐ from
4980 ‐ mailbox-order (unsorted)
4981 ‐ score
4982 ‐ size
4983 ‐ spam
4984 ‐ subject
4985 ‐ threads
4986 ‐ to
4987 You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
4989 sorting order (example: “set sort=reverse-date-sent”).
4990 sort_alias
4994 Type: sort order
4995 Default: alias
4996 Specifies how the entries in the “alias” menu are sorted. The
4998 following are legal values:
4999 ‐ address (sort alphabetically by email address)
5000 ‐ alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
5001 ‐ unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)
5002 sort_aux
5005 Type: sort order
5006 Default: date
5007 This provides a secondary sort for messages in the “index” menu,
5009 used when the $sort value is equal for two messages.
5010 When sorting by threads, this variable controls how threads are
5012 sorted in relation to other threads, and how the branches of the
5013 thread trees are sorted. This can be set to any value that
5014 $sort can, except “threads” (in that case, mutt will just use
5015 “date-sent”). You can also specify the “last-” prefix in addi‐
5016 tion to the “reverse-” prefix, but “last-” must come after
5017 “reverse-”. The “last-” prefix causes messages to be sorted
5018 against its siblings by which has the last descendant, using the
5019 rest of $sort_aux as an ordering. For instance,
5020 set sort_aux=last-date-received
5023 would mean that if a new message is received in a thread, that
5026 thread becomes the last one displayed (or the first, if you have
5027 “set sort=reverse-threads”.)
5028 Note: For reversed-threads $sort order, $sort_aux is reversed
5030 again (which is not the right thing to do, but kept to not break
5031 any existing configuration setting).
5032 sort_browser
5036 Type: sort order
5037 Default: alpha
5038 Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser. By default,
5040 the entries are sorted alphabetically. Valid values:
5041 ‐ alpha (alphabetically)
5042 ‐ count
5043 ‐ date
5044 ‐ size
5045 ‐ unread
5046 ‐ unsorted
5047 You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
5049 sorting order (example: “set sort_browser=reverse-date”).
5050 sort_re
5054 Type: boolean
5055 Default: yes
5056 This variable is only useful when sorting by threads with
5058 $strict_threads unset. In that case, it changes the heuristic
5059 mutt uses to thread messages by subject. With $sort_re set,
5060 mutt will only attach a message as the child of another message
5061 by subject if the subject of the child message starts with a
5062 substring matching the setting of $reply_regexp. With $sort_re
5063 unset, mutt will attach the message whether or not this is the
5064 case, as long as the non-$reply_regexp parts of both messages
5065 are identical.
5066 spam_separator
5070 Type: string
5071 Default: “,”
5072 This variable controls what happens when multiple spam headers
5074 are matched: if unset, each successive header will overwrite any
5075 previous matches value for the spam label. If set, each succes‐
5076 sive match will append to the previous, using this variable's
5077 value as a separator.
5078 spoolfile
5082 Type: path
5083 Default: “”
5084 If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where Mutt can‐
5086 not find it, you can specify its location with this variable.
5087 Mutt will initially set this variable to the value of the envi‐
5088 ronment variable $MAIL or $MAILDIR if either is defined.
5089 ssl_ca_certificates_file
5093 Type: path
5094 Default: “/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt”
5095 This variable specifies a file containing trusted CA certifi‐
5097 cates. Any server certificate that is signed with one of these
5098 CA certificates is also automatically accepted. (GnuTLS only)
5099 Example:
5101 set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
5104 ssl_client_cert
5109 Type: path
5110 Default: “”
5111 The file containing a client certificate and its associated pri‐
5113 vate key.
5114 ssl_force_tls
5118 Type: boolean
5119 Default: no
5120 If this variable is set, Mutt will require that all connections
5122 to remote servers be encrypted. Furthermore it will attempt to
5123 negotiate TLS even if the server does not advertise the capabil‐
5124 ity, since it would otherwise have to abort the connection any‐
5125 way. This option supersedes $ssl_starttls.
5126 ssl_min_dh_prime_bits
5130 Type: number
5131 Default: 0
5132 This variable specifies the minimum acceptable prime size (in
5134 bits) for use in any Diffie-Hellman key exchange. A value of 0
5135 will use the default from the GNUTLS library. (GnuTLS only)
5136 ssl_starttls
5140 Type: quadoption
5141 Default: yes
5142 If set (the default), mutt will attempt to use STARTTLS on
5144 servers advertising the capability. When unset, mutt will not
5145 attempt to use STARTTLS regardless of the server's capabilities.
5146 ssl_use_sslv2
5150 Type: boolean
5151 Default: no
5152 If set , Mutt will use SSLv2 when communicating with servers
5154 that request it. N.B. As of 2011, SSLv2 is considered insecure,
5155 and using is inadvisable. See
5156 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6176 . (OpenSSL only)
5157 ssl_use_sslv3
5161 Type: boolean
5162 Default: no
5163 If set , Mutt will use SSLv3 when communicating with servers
5165 that request it. N.B. As of 2015, SSLv3 is considered insecure,
5166 and using it is inadvisable. See
5167 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5168 ssl_use_tlsv1
5172 Type: boolean
5173 Default: no
5174 If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.0 when communicating with servers
5176 that request it. N.B. As of 2015, TLSv1.0 is considered inse‐
5177 cure, and using it is inadvisable. See
5178 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5179 ssl_use_tlsv1_1
5183 Type: boolean
5184 Default: no
5185 If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.1 when communicating with servers
5187 that request it. N.B. As of 2015, TLSv1.1 is considered inse‐
5188 cure, and using it is inadvisable. See
5189 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5190 ssl_use_tlsv1_2
5194 Type: boolean
5195 Default: yes
5196 If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.2 when communicating with servers
5198 that request it.
5199 ssl_usesystemcerts
5203 Type: boolean
5204 Default: yes
5205 If set to yes, mutt will use CA certificates in the system-wide
5207 certificate store when checking if a server certificate is
5208 signed by a trusted CA. (OpenSSL only)
5209 ssl_verify_dates
5213 Type: boolean
5214 Default: yes
5215 If set (the default), mutt will not automatically accept a
5217 server certificate that is either not yet valid or already
5218 expired. You should only unset this for particular known hosts,
5219 using the <account-hook> function.
5220 ssl_verify_host
5224 Type: boolean
5225 Default: yes
5226 If set (the default), mutt will not automatically accept a
5228 server certificate whose host name does not match the host used
5229 in your folder URL. You should only unset this for particular
5230 known hosts, using the <account-hook> function.
5231 ssl_verify_partial_chains
5235 Type: boolean
5236 Default: no
5237 This option should not be changed from the default unless you
5239 understand what you are doing.
5240 Setting this variable to yes will permit verifying partial cer‐
5242 tification chains, i. e. a certificate chain where not the root,
5243 but an intermediate certificate CA, or the host certificate, are
5244 marked trusted (in $certificate_file), without marking the root
5245 signing CA as trusted.
5246 (OpenSSL 1.0.2b and newer only).
5248 ssl_ciphers
5252 Type: string
5253 Default: “@SYSTEM”
5254 Contains a colon-seperated list of ciphers to use when using
5256 SSL. For OpenSSL, see ciphers(1) for the syntax of the string.
5257 For GnuTLS, this option will be used in place of ”NORMAL” at the
5259 start of the priority string. See gnutls_priority_init(3) for
5260 the syntax and more details. (Note: GnuTLS version 2.1.7 or
5261 higher is required.)
5262 status_chars
5266 Type: string
5267 Default: “-*%A”
5268 Controls the characters used by the “%r” indicator in $sta‐
5270 tus_format. The first character is used when the mailbox is
5271 unchanged. The second is used when the mailbox has been changed,
5272 and it needs to be resynchronized. The third is used if the
5273 mailbox is in read-only mode, or if the mailbox will not be
5274 written when exiting that mailbox (You can toggle whether to
5275 write changes to a mailbox with the <toggle-write> operation,
5276 bound by default to “%”). The fourth is used to indicate that
5277 the current folder has been opened in attach- message mode (Cer‐
5278 tain operations like composing a new mail, replying, forwarding,
5279 etc. are not permitted in this mode).
5280 status_format
5284 Type: string
5285 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)---”
5286 Controls the format of the status line displayed in the “index”
5288 menu. This string is similar to $index_format, but has its own
5289 set of printf(3)-like sequences:
5290 %b number of mailboxes with new mail *
5291 %d number of deleted messages *
5292 %f the full pathname of the current mailbox
5293 %F number of flagged messages *
5294 %h local hostname
5295 %l size (in bytes) of the current mailbox *
5296 %L size (in bytes) of the messages shown (i.e., which match
5297 the current limit) *
5298 %m the number of messages in the mailbox *
5299 %M the number of messages shown (i.e., which match the cur‐
5300 rent limit) *
5301 %n number of new messages in the mailbox *
5302 %o number of old unread messages *
5303 %p number of postponed messages *
5304 %P percentage of the way through the index
5305 %r modified/read-only/won't-write/attach-message indicator,
5306 according to $status_chars
5307 %R number of read messages *
5308 %s current sorting mode ($sort)
5309 %S current aux sorting method ($sort_aux)
5310 %t number of tagged messages *
5311 %u number of unread messages *
5312 %v Mutt version string
5313 %V currently active limit pattern, if any *
5314 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
5315 %|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
5316 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
5317 For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
5319 mentation.
5320 * = can be optionally printed if nonzero
5322 Some of the above sequences can be used to optionally print a
5324 string if their value is nonzero. For example, you may only
5325 want to see the number of flagged messages if such messages
5326 exist, since zero is not particularly meaningful. To optionally
5327 print a string based upon one of the above sequences, the fol‐
5328 lowing construct is used:
5329 %?<sequence_char>?<optional_string>?
5331 where sequence_char is a character from the table above, and
5333 optional_string is the string you would like printed if
5334 sequence_char is nonzero. optional_string may contain other
5335 sequences as well as normal text, but you may not nest optional
5336 strings.
5337 Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the num‐
5339 ber of new messages in a mailbox:
5340 %?n?%n new messages.?
5342 You can also switch between two strings using the following con‐
5344 struct:
5345 %?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>?
5347 If the value of sequence_char is non-zero, if_string will be
5349 expanded, otherwise else_string will be expanded.
5350 You can force the result of any printf(3)-like sequence to be
5352 lowercase by prefixing the sequence character with an underscore
5353 (“_”) sign. For example, if you want to display the local host‐
5354 name in lowercase, you would use: “%_h”.
5355 If you prefix the sequence character with a colon (“:”) charac‐
5357 ter, mutt will replace any dots in the expansion by underscores.
5358 This might be helpful with IMAP folders that don't like dots in
5359 folder names.
5360 status_on_top
5364 Type: boolean
5365 Default: no
5366 Setting this variable causes the “status bar” to be displayed on
5368 the first line of the screen rather than near the bottom. If
5369 $help is set, too it'll be placed at the bottom.
5370 strict_threads
5374 Type: boolean
5375 Default: no
5376 If set, threading will only make use of the “In-Reply-To” and
5378 “References:” fields when you $sort by message threads. By
5379 default, messages with the same subject are grouped together in
5380 “pseudo threads.”. This may not always be desirable, such as in
5381 a personal mailbox where you might have several unrelated mes‐
5382 sages with the subjects like “hi” which will get grouped
5383 together. See also $sort_re for a less drastic way of control‐
5384 ling this behavior.
5385 suspend
5389 Type: boolean
5390 Default: yes
5391 When unset, mutt won't stop when the user presses the terminal's
5393 susp key, usually “^Z”. This is useful if you run mutt inside an
5394 xterm using a command like “xterm -e mutt”.
5395 text_flowed
5399 Type: boolean
5400 Default: no
5401 When set, mutt will generate “format=flowed” bodies with a con‐
5403 tent type of “text/plain; format=flowed”. This format is easier
5404 to handle for some mailing software, and generally just looks
5405 like ordinary text. To actually make use of this format's fea‐
5406 tures, you'll need support in your editor.
5407 Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.
5409 thorough_search
5413 Type: boolean
5414 Default: yes
5415 Affects the ~b and ~h search operations described in section
5417 “patterns”. If set, the headers and body/attachments of mes‐
5418 sages to be searched are decoded before searching. If unset,
5419 messages are searched as they appear in the folder.
5420 Users searching attachments or for non-ASCII characters should
5422 set this value because decoding also includes MIME pars‐
5423 ing/decoding and possible character set conversions. Otherwise
5424 mutt will attempt to match against the raw message received (for
5425 example quoted-printable encoded or with encoded headers) which
5426 may lead to incorrect search results.
5427 thread_received
5431 Type: boolean
5432 Default: no
5433 When set, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent
5435 to thread messages by subject.
5436 tilde
5440 Type: boolean
5441 Default: no
5442 When set, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the bottom
5444 of the screen with a tilde (“~”).
5445 time_inc
5449 Type: number
5450 Default: 0
5451 Along with $read_inc, $write_inc, and $net_inc, this variable
5453 controls the frequency with which progress updates are dis‐
5454 played. It suppresses updates less than $time_inc milliseconds
5455 apart. This can improve throughput on systems with slow termi‐
5456 nals, or when running mutt on a remote system.
5457 Also see the “tuning” section of the manual for performance con‐
5459 siderations.
5460 timeout
5464 Type: number
5465 Default: 600
5466 When Mutt is waiting for user input either idling in menus or in
5468 an interactive prompt, Mutt would block until input is present.
5469 Depending on the context, this would prevent certain operations
5470 from working, like checking for new mail or keeping an IMAP con‐
5471 nection alive.
5472 This variable controls how many seconds Mutt will at most wait
5474 until it aborts waiting for input, performs these operations and
5475 continues to wait for input.
5476 A value of zero or less will cause Mutt to never time out.
5478 tmpdir
5482 Type: path
5483 Default: “”
5484 This variable allows you to specify where Mutt will place its
5486 temporary files needed for displaying and composing messages.
5487 If this variable is not set, the environment variable $TMPDIR is
5488 used. If $TMPDIR is not set then “/tmp” is used.
5489 to_chars
5493 Type: string
5494 Default: “ +TCFL”
5495 Controls the character used to indicate mail addressed to you.
5497 The first character is the one used when the mail is not
5498 addressed to your address. The second is used when you are the
5499 only recipient of the message. The third is when your address
5500 appears in the “To:” header field, but you are not the only
5501 recipient of the message. The fourth character is used when
5502 your address is specified in the “Cc:” header field, but you are
5503 not the only recipient. The fifth character is used to indicate
5504 mail that was sent by you. The sixth character is used to indi‐
5505 cate when a mail was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to.
5506 trash
5510 Type: path
5511 Default: “”
5512 If set, this variable specifies the path of the trash folder
5514 where the mails marked for deletion will be moved, instead of
5515 being irremediably purged.
5516 NOTE: When you delete a message in the trash folder, it is
5518 really deleted, so that you have a way to clean the trash.
5519 ts_icon_format
5523 Type: string
5524 Default: “M%?n?AIL&ail?”
5525 Controls the format of the icon title, as long as “$ts_enabled”
5527 is set. This string is identical in formatting to the one used
5528 by “$status_format”.
5529 ts_enabled
5533 Type: boolean
5534 Default: no
5535 Controls whether mutt tries to set the terminal status line and
5537 icon name. Most terminal emulators emulate the status line in
5538 the window title.
5539 ts_status_format
5543 Type: string
5544 Default: “Mutt with %?m?%m messages&no messages?%?n? [%n NEW]?”
5545 Controls the format of the terminal status line (or window
5547 title), provided that “$ts_enabled” has been set. This string is
5548 identical in formatting to the one used by “$status_format”.
5549 tunnel
5553 Type: string
5554 Default: “”
5555 Setting this variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to a com‐
5557 mand instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set
5558 up preauthenticated connections to your IMAP/POP3/SMTP server.
5559 Example:
5560 set tunnel=”ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd”
5563 Note: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the
5566 remote machine without having to enter a password.
5567 When set, Mutt uses the tunnel for all remote connections.
5569 Please see “account-hook” in the manual for how to use different
5570 tunnel commands per connection.
5571 uncollapse_jump
5575 Type: boolean
5576 Default: no
5577 When set, Mutt will jump to the next unread message, if any,
5579 when the current thread is uncollapsed.
5580 uncollapse_new
5584 Type: boolean
5585 Default: yes
5586 When set, Mutt will automatically uncollapse any collapsed
5588 thread that receives a new message. When unset, collapsed
5589 threads will remain collapsed. the presence of the new message
5590 will still affect index sorting, though.
5591 use_8bitmime
5595 Type: boolean
5596 Default: no
5597 Warning: do not set this variable unless you are using a version
5599 of sendmail which supports the -B8BITMIME flag (such as sendmail
5600 8.8.x) or you may not be able to send mail.
5601 When set, Mutt will invoke $sendmail with the -B8BITMIME flag
5603 when sending 8-bit messages to enable ESMTP negotiation.
5604 use_domain
5608 Type: boolean
5609 Default: yes
5610 When set, Mutt will qualify all local addresses (ones without
5612 the “@host” portion) with the value of $hostname. If unset, no
5613 addresses will be qualified.
5614 use_envelope_from
5618 Type: boolean
5619 Default: no
5620 When set, mutt will set the envelope sender of the message. If
5622 $envelope_from_address is set, it will be used as the sender
5623 address. If unset, mutt will attempt to derive the sender from
5624 the “From:” header.
5625 Note that this information is passed to sendmail command using
5627 the -f command line switch. Therefore setting this option is not
5628 useful if the $sendmail variable already contains -f or if the
5629 executable pointed to by $sendmail doesn't support the -f
5630 switch.
5631 use_from
5635 Type: boolean
5636 Default: yes
5637 When set, Mutt will generate the “From:” header field when send‐
5639 ing messages. If unset, no “From:” header field will be gener‐
5640 ated unless the user explicitly sets one using the “my_hdr” com‐
5641 mand.
5642 use_ipv6
5646 Type: boolean
5647 Default: yes
5648 When set, Mutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to
5650 contact. If this option is unset, Mutt will restrict itself to
5651 IPv4 addresses. Normally, the default should work.
5652 user_agent
5656 Type: boolean
5657 Default: yes
5658 When set, mutt will add a “User-Agent:” header to outgoing mes‐
5660 sages, indicating which version of mutt was used for composing
5661 them.
5662 visual
5666 Type: path
5667 Default: “”
5668 Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the “~v” command is
5670 given in the built-in editor.
5671 wait_key
5675 Type: boolean
5676 Default: yes
5677 Controls whether Mutt will ask you to press a key after an
5679 external command has been invoked by these functions:
5680 <shell-escape>, <pipe-message>, <pipe-entry>, <print-message>,
5681 and <print-entry> commands.
5682 It is also used when viewing attachments with “auto_view”, pro‐
5684 vided that the corresponding mailcap entry has a needsterminal
5685 flag, and the external program is interactive.
5686 When set, Mutt will always ask for a key. When unset, Mutt will
5688 wait for a key only if the external command returned a non-zero
5689 status.
5690 weed
5694 Type: boolean
5695 Default: yes
5696 When set, mutt will weed headers when displaying, forwarding,
5698 printing, or replying to messages.
5699 wrap
5703 Type: number
5704 Default: 0
5705 When set to a positive value, mutt will wrap text at $wrap char‐
5707 acters. When set to a negative value, mutt will wrap text so
5708 that there are $wrap characters of empty space on the right side
5709 of the terminal. Setting it to zero makes mutt wrap at the ter‐
5710 minal width.
5711 Also see $reflow_wrap.
5713 wrap_headers
5717 Type: number
5718 Default: 78
5719 This option specifies the number of characters to use for wrap‐
5721 ping an outgoing message's headers. Allowed values are between
5722 78 and 998 inclusive.
5723 Note: This option usually shouldn't be changed. RFC5233 recom‐
5725 mends a line length of 78 (the default), so please only change
5726 this setting when you know what you're doing.
5727 wrap_search
5731 Type: boolean
5732 Default: yes
5733 Controls whether searches wrap around the end.
5735 When set, searches will wrap around the first (or last) item.
5737 When unset, incremental searches will not wrap.
5738 wrapmargin
5742 Type: number
5743 Default: 0
5744 (DEPRECATED) Equivalent to setting $wrap with a negative value.
5746 write_bcc
5750 Type: boolean
5751 Default: yes
5752 Controls whether mutt writes out the “Bcc:” header when prepar‐
5754 ing messages to be sent. Exim users may wish to unset this. If
5755 mutt is set to deliver directly via SMTP (see $smtp_url), this
5756 option does nothing: mutt will never write out the “Bcc:” header
5757 in this case.
5758 write_inc
5762 Type: number
5763 Default: 10
5764 When writing a mailbox, a message will be printed every
5766 $write_inc messages to indicate progress. If set to 0, only a
5767 single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.
5768 Also see the $read_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and the
5770 “tuning” section of the manual for performance considerations.
5771
5775 iconv(1), iconv(3), mailcap(5), maildir(5), mbox(5), mutt(1),
5776 printf(3), regex(7), strftime(3)
5777 The Mutt Manual
5779 The Mutt home page: http://www.mutt.org/
5781
5783 Michael Elkins, and others. Use <mutt-dev@mutt.org> to contact the
5784 developers.
5785Unix January 2019 muttrc(5)