1muttrc(5)                        User Manuals                        muttrc(5)
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NAME

6       muttrc - Configuration file for the Mutt Mail User Agent
7

DESCRIPTION

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
13       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
17       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
26       \ 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
31\\”  means  to insert a literal “\” into the line.  “\n” and “\r” have
32       their usual C meanings of linefeed and carriage-return, respectively.
33
34       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
38       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
42       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

COMMANDS

47       alias [-group name [...]] key address [, address [ ... ]]
48       unalias [ *  | key ]
49
50              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
59       group [-group name] [-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]
60       ungroup [-group name ] [ * | [[-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]]
61
62              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
73              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
77              Once defined, these address groups can be used  in  patterns  to
78              search for and limit the display to messages matching a group.
79
80       alternates [-group name] regexp [ regexp [ ... ]]
81       unalternates [ *  | regexp [ regexp [ ... ]] ]
82
83              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
91       alternative_order type[/subtype] [ ... ]
92       unalternative_order [ *  | type/subtype] [...]
93
94              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
101       auto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
102       unauto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
103
104              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
110       mime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
111       unmime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
112
113              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
119       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
124              Valid maps are: generic, alias, attach, browser, editor,  index,
125              compose, pager, pgp, postpone, mix.
126
127              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
131       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
136       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
141       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
149              iconv-hook iso-8859-1 8859-1
150
151       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
159       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
164              When  several  folder-hooks  match a given mail folder, they are
165              executed in the order given in the configuration file.
166
167       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
172       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
177              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
189              Valid composeobjects  include  header,  security_encrypt,  secu‐
190              rity_sign, security_both, security_none.
191
192              Valid  colors include: white, black, green, magenta, blue, cyan,
193              yellow, red, default, colorN.
194
195              Valid attributes include: none, bold,  underline,  reverse,  and
196              standout.
197
198       mono object attribute [ regexp ]
199       mono index attribute [ pattern ]
200
201              For  terminals  which  don't support color, you can still assign
202              attributes to objects.
203
204       [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
209              The unignore command permits you to define exceptions  from  the
210              above mentioned list of ignored headers.
211
212       lists [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
213       unlists regexp [ regexp ... ]
214       subscribe [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
215       unsubscribe regexp [ regexp ... ]
216
217              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
222              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
230       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
235              The first matching mbox-hook applies.
236
237       mailboxes filename [ filename ... ]
238       unmailboxes [ * | filename ... ]
239
240              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
247       my_hdr string
248       unmy_hdr field
249
250              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
254       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
258       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
262       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
266       fcc-save-hook [!]pattern filename
267              This command is an abbreviation for identical fcc-hook and save-
268              hook commands.
269
270       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
275       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
283              send2-hook execution is not triggered by  use  of  enter-command
284              from the compose menu.
285
286       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
293       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
302       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
307              The  $index_format  expando  %@name@ specifies a placeholder for
308              the injection. Index-format-hooks with the same name are matched
309              using  pattern  against the current message. Matching is done in
310              the order specified in the .muttrc, with the first  match  being
311              used.  The  hook's  format-string is then substituted and evalu‐
312              ated.
313
314       open-hook regexp "command"
315       close-hook regexp "command"
316       append-hook regexp "command"
317
318              These commands provide a way to handle compressed  folders.  The
319              given  regexp  specifies  which  folders are taken as compressed
320              (e.g.  "\\.gz$"). 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
328       push string
329              This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer.
330
331       set [no|inv|&|?]variable[=value] [ ... ]
332       toggle variable [ ... ]
333       unset variable [ ... ]
334       reset variable [ ... ]
335
336              These commands are used  to  set  and  manipulate  configuration
337              variables.
338
339              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
344              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
349              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
358              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
362       source filename
363              The given file will be evaluated as a configuration file.
364
365       spam pattern format
366       nospam pattern
367
368              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
373       subjectrx pattern replacement
374       unsubjectrx [ * | pattern ]
375
376              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
385              Note this well: the replacement value replaces the  entire  sub‐
386              ject, not just the match!
387
388              unsubjectrx  removes  a  given  subjectrx  from the substitution
389              list. If * is used as the pattern,  all  substitutions  will  be
390              removed.
391
392       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
397       mailto_allow header-field [ ... ]
398       unmailto_allow [ * | header-field ... ]
399
400              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
405       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

PATTERNS

411       In various places with mutt, including some of the above mentioned hook
412       commands, you can specify patterns to match messages.
413
414   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
421       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
427       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
435   Simple Patterns
436       Mutt understands the following simple patterns:
437
438       ~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 (consults $from, alternates,  and
480                   local account/hostname information)
481       ~P          messages  from  you  (consults $from, alternates, and local
482                   account/hostname information)
483       ~Q          messages which have been replied to
484       ~r MIN-MAX  messages with “date-received” in a Date range
485       ~R          read messages
486       ~s EXPR     messages having EXPR in the “Subject” field.
487       ~S          superseded messages
488       ~t EXPR     messages addressed to EXPR
489       ~T          tagged messages
490       ~u          messages addressed to a subscribed mailing list (defined by
491                   subscribe commands)
492       ~U          unread messages
493       ~v          message is part of a collapsed thread.
494       ~V          cryptographically verified messages
495       ~x EXPR     messages  which  contain  EXPR  in the “References” or “In-
496                   Reply-To” field
497       ~X MIN-MAX  messages with MIN - MAX attachments
498       ~y EXPR     messages which contain EXPR in the “X-Label” field
499       ~z MIN-MAX  messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX
500       ~=          duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
501       ~$          unreferenced message (requires threaded view)
502       ~(PATTERN)  messages in threads containing messages matching a  certain
503                   pattern,  e.g.  all  threads  containing messages from you:
504                   ~(~P)
505       ~<(PATTERN) messages  whose  immediate  parent  matches  PATTERN,  e.g.
506                   replies to your messages: ~<(~P)
507       ~>(PATTERN) messages  having  an immediate child matching PATTERN, e.g.
508                   messages you replied to: ~>(~P)
509
510       In the above, EXPR is a regular expression.
511
512       With the ~d, ~m, ~n, ~r, ~X, and ~z operators,  you  can  also  specify
513       ranges in the forms <MAX, >MIN, MIN-, and -MAX.
514
515       With  the  ~z operator, the suffixes “K” and “M” are allowed to specify
516       kilobyte and megabyte respectively.
517
518       The ~b, ~B, ~h, ~M, and ~X operators require reading each  message  in,
519       which can be much slower.
520
521       You  can force Mutt to treat EXPR as a simple string instead of a regu‐
522       lar expression by using = instead of ~ in the pattern name.
523
524   Matching dates
525       The ~d and ~r operators are used to match date ranges, which are inter‐
526       preted to be given in your local time zone.
527
528       A  date  is  of  the  form DD[/MM[/[cc]YY]], that is, a two-digit date,
529       optionally followed by a two-digit month, optionally followed by a year
530       specifications.  Omitted fields default to the current month and year.
531
532       Mutt  understands  either  two or four digit year specifications.  When
533       given a two-digit year, mutt will interpret  values  less  than  70  as
534       lying in the 21st century (i.e., “38” means 2038 and not 1938, and “00”
535       is interpreted as 2000), and values greater than  or  equal  to  70  as
536       lying in the 20th century.
537
538       Note  that  this  behavior  is Y2K compliant, but that mutt does have a
539       Y2.07K problem.
540
541       If a date range consists of a single date,  the  operator  in  question
542       will  match  that  precise  date.  If the date range consists of a dash
543       (“-”), followed by a date, this range will match any date before and up
544       to  the  date  given.  Similarly, a date followed by a dash matches the
545       date given and any later point of time.   Two  dates,  separated  by  a
546       dash, match any date which lies in the given range of time.
547
548       You  can  also  modify  any absolute date by giving an error range.  An
549       error range consists of one of the characters +, -, *,  followed  by  a
550       positive  number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d,
551       specifying a unit of years, months, weeks, or days.   +  increases  the
552       maximum  date  matched  by  the given interval of time, - decreases the
553       minimum date matched by the given interval of time, and * increases the
554       maximum date and decreases the minimum date matched by the given inter‐
555       val of time.  It is possible to  give  multiple  error  margins,  which
556       cumulate.  Example: 1/1/2001-1w+2w*3d
557
558       You  can  also specify offsets relative to the current date.  An offset
559       is specified as one of the characters <, >, =, followed by  a  positive
560       number,  followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, d, H, M, or S.
561       > matches dates which are older than the specified amount of  time,  an
562       offset  which  begins with the character < matches dates which are more
563       recent than the specified amount of time, and an  offset  which  begins
564       with  the  character  =  matches points of time which are precisely the
565       given amount of time ago.
566

CONFIGURATION VARIABLES

568       abort_noattach
569              Type: quadoption
570              Default: no
571
572              When the body of the message matches $abort_noattach_regexp  and
573              there  are  no  attachments, this quadoption controls whether to
574              abort sending the message.
575
576
577
578       abort_noattach_regexp
579              Type: regular expression
580              Default: “attach”
581
582              Specifies a regular expression to match against the body of  the
583              message, to determine if an attachment was mentioned but mistak‐
584              enly forgotten.  If it matches,  $abort_noattach  will  be  con‐
585              sulted to determine if message sending will be aborted.
586
587              Like  other regular expressions in Mutt, the search is case sen‐
588              sitive if the pattern contains at least one upper  case  letter,
589              and case insensitive otherwise.
590
591
592
593       abort_nosubject
594              Type: quadoption
595              Default: ask-yes
596
597              If  set  to yes, when composing messages and no subject is given
598              at the subject prompt, composition will be aborted.  If  set  to
599              no,  composing  messages  with  no  subject given at the subject
600              prompt will never be aborted.
601
602
603
604       abort_unmodified
605              Type: quadoption
606              Default: yes
607
608              If set to yes, composition will automatically abort after  edit‐
609              ing  the  message  body if no changes are made to the file (this
610              check only happens after the first edit of the file).  When  set
611              to no, composition will never be aborted.
612
613
614
615       alias_file
616              Type: path
617              Default: “~/.muttrc”
618
619              The  default  file in which to save aliases created by the <cre‐
620              ate-alias> function. Entries added to this file are  encoded  in
621              the  character  set specified by $config_charset if it is set or
622              the current character set otherwise.
623
624              Note: Mutt will not automatically source  this  file;  you  must
625              explicitly  use  the  “source”  command for it to be executed in
626              case this option points to a dedicated alias file.
627
628              The default for this option is the currently used  muttrc  file,
629              or “~/.muttrc” if no user muttrc was found.
630
631
632
633       alias_format
634              Type: string
635              Default: “%4n %2f %t %-10a   %r”
636
637              Specifies the format of the data displayed for the “alias” menu.
638              The following printf(3)-style sequences are available:
639              %a     alias name
640              %f     flags - currently, a “d” for an alias marked for deletion
641              %n     index number
642              %r     address which alias expands to
643              %t     character which indicates if  the  alias  is  tagged  for
644                     inclusion
645
646
647       allow_8bit
648              Type: boolean
649              Default: yes
650
651              Controls  whether  8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either
652              Quoted- Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.
653
654
655
656       allow_ansi
657              Type: boolean
658              Default: no
659
660              Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in
661              rich  text messages) are to be interpreted.  Messages containing
662              these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will
663              be  colored  accordingly. Note that this may override your color
664              choices, and even present a security problem,  since  a  message
665              could include a line like
666
667
668              [-- PGP output follows ...
669
670
671              and  give  it  the same color as your attachment color (see also
672              $crypt_timestamp).
673
674
675
676       arrow_cursor
677              Type: boolean
678              Default: no
679
680              When set, an arrow (“->”) will be used to indicate  the  current
681              entry  in menus instead of highlighting the whole line.  On slow
682              network or modem links this will make  response  faster  because
683              there  is  less that has to be redrawn on the screen when moving
684              to the next or previous entries in the menu.
685
686
687
688       ascii_chars
689              Type: boolean
690              Default: no
691
692              If set, Mutt will use plain  ASCII  characters  when  displaying
693              thread  and attachment trees, instead of the default ACS charac‐
694              ters.
695
696
697
698       askbcc
699              Type: boolean
700              Default: no
701
702              If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipi‐
703              ents before editing an outgoing message.
704
705
706
707       askcc
708              Type: boolean
709              Default: no
710
711              If  set,  Mutt  will  prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients
712              before editing the body of an outgoing message.
713
714
715
716       assumed_charset
717              Type: string
718              Default: “”
719
720              This variable is a colon-separated list  of  character  encoding
721              schemes  for  messages  without  character  encoding indication.
722              Header field values and message body content  without  character
723              encoding  indication  would  be assumed that they are written in
724              one of this list.  By default, all the header fields and message
725              body  without  any  charset  indication  are  assumed  to  be in
726              “us-ascii”.
727
728              For example, Japanese users might prefer this:
729
730
731              set assumed_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
732
733
734              However, only the first content is valid for the message body.
735
736
737
738       attach_charset
739              Type: string
740              Default: “”
741
742              This variable is a colon-separated list  of  character  encoding
743              schemes  for  text  file  attachments. Mutt uses this setting to
744              guess which encoding files being attached are encoded in to con‐
745              vert them to a proper character set given in $send_charset.
746
747              If unset, the value of $charset will be used instead.  For exam‐
748              ple, the following configuration would work  for  Japanese  text
749              handling:
750
751
752              set attach_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
753
754
755              Note:  for  Japanese users, “iso-2022-*” must be put at the head
756              of the value as shown above if included.
757
758
759
760       attach_format
761              Type: string
762              Default: “%u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s] ”
763
764              This variable describes the format  of  the  “attachment”  menu.
765              The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
766              %C     charset
767              %c     requires charset conversion (“n” or “c”)
768              %D     deleted flag
769              %d     description (if none, falls back to %F)
770              %e     MIME content-transfer-encoding
771              %F     filename  in  content-disposition  header (if none, falls
772                     back to %f)
773              %f     filename
774              %I     disposition (“I” for inline, “A” for attachment)
775              %m     major MIME type
776              %M     MIME subtype
777              %n     attachment number
778              %Q     “Q”, if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting
779              %s     size (see formatstrings-size)
780              %t     tagged flag
781              %T     graphic tree characters
782              %u     unlink (=to delete) flag
783              %X     number of qualifying MIME parts  in  this  part  and  its
784                     children (please see the “attachments” section for possi‐
785                     ble speed effects)
786              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
787                     ter “X”
788              %|X    pad to the end of the line with character “X”
789              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
790
791              For  an  explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
792              mentation.
793
794
795
796       attach_sep
797              Type: string
798              Default: “\n”
799
800              The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving,
801              printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.
802
803
804
805       attach_split
806              Type: boolean
807              Default: yes
808
809              If  this  variable  is  unset, when operating (saving, printing,
810              piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments, Mutt will concate‐
811              nate  the  attachments  and  will  operate  on  them as a single
812              attachment.  The  $attach_sep  separator  is  added  after  each
813              attachment.  When  set, Mutt will operate on the attachments one
814              by one.
815
816
817
818       attribution
819              Type: string
820              Default: “On %d, %n wrote:”
821
822              This is the string that will precede a message  which  has  been
823              included   in   a   reply.    For  a  full  listing  of  defined
824              printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.
825
826
827
828       attribution_locale
829              Type: string
830              Default: “”
831
832              The locale used by strftime(3) to format dates in  the  attribu‐
833              tion  string.   Legal values are the strings your system accepts
834              for the locale environment variable $LC_TIME.
835
836              This variable is to allow the attribution date format to be cus‐
837              tomized  by  recipient  or folder using hooks.  By default, Mutt
838              will use your locale environment, so there is  no  need  to  set
839              this except to override that default.
840
841
842
843       auto_subscribe
844              Type: boolean
845              Default: no
846
847              When  set, Mutt assumes the presence of a List-Post header means
848              the recipient is subscribed to the  list.   Unless  the  mailing
849              list is in the “unsubscribe” or “unlist” lists, it will be added
850              to the “subscribe” list.   Parsing  and  checking  these  things
851              slows  header  reading  down,  so  this  option  is  disabled by
852              default.
853
854
855
856       auto_tag
857              Type: boolean
858              Default: no
859
860              When set, functions in the index menu  which  affect  a  message
861              will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any).  When
862              unset, you must first use the <tag-prefix>  function  (bound  to
863              “;”  by  default)  to make the next function apply to all tagged
864              messages.
865
866
867
868       autocrypt
869              Type: boolean
870              Default: no
871
872              When set, enables autocrypt, which provides  passive  encryption
873              protection  with keys exchanged via headers.  See “autocryptdoc”
874              for more details.  (Autocrypt only)
875
876
877
878       autocrypt_acct_format
879              Type: string
880              Default: “%4n %-30a %20p %10s”
881
882              This variable describes the format of  the  “autocrypt  account”
883              menu.  The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood
884              %a     email address
885              %k     gpg keyid
886              %n     current entry number
887              %p     prefer-encrypt flag
888              %s     status flag (active/inactive)
889
890              (Autocrypt only)
891
892
893
894       autocrypt_dir
895              Type: path
896              Default: “~/.mutt/autocrypt”
897
898              This  variable  sets where autocrypt files are stored, including
899              the GPG keyring and sqlite  database.   See  “autocryptdoc”  for
900              more details.  (Autocrypt only)
901
902
903
904       autocrypt_reply
905              Type: boolean
906              Default: yes
907
908              When  set,  replying to an autocrypt email automatically enables
909              autocrypt in the reply.  You may want to unset  this  if  you're
910              using the same key for autocrypt as normal web-of-trust, so that
911              autocrypt isn't forced on for all encrypted replies.  (Autocrypt
912              only)
913
914
915
916       autoedit
917              Type: boolean
918              Default: no
919
920              When  set  along  with $edit_headers, Mutt will skip the initial
921              send-menu (prompting for subject and recipients) and  allow  you
922              to  immediately  begin  editing  the  body of your message.  The
923              send-menu may still be accessed once you have  finished  editing
924              the body of your message.
925
926              Note:  when  this  option is set, you cannot use send-hooks that
927              depend on the recipients when composing a new  (non-reply)  mes‐
928              sage, as the initial list of recipients is empty.
929
930              Also see $fast_reply.
931
932
933
934       beep
935              Type: boolean
936              Default: yes
937
938              When this variable is set, mutt will beep when an error occurs.
939
940
941
942       beep_new
943              Type: boolean
944              Default: no
945
946              When  this  variable is set, mutt will beep whenever it prints a
947              message notifying you of new mail.  This is independent  of  the
948              setting of the $beep variable.
949
950
951
952       bounce
953              Type: quadoption
954              Default: ask-yes
955
956              Controls whether you will be asked to confirm bouncing messages.
957              If set to yes you don't get asked if you want to bounce  a  mes‐
958              sage.  Setting  this variable to no is not generally useful, and
959              thus not recommended, because you are unable to bounce messages.
960
961
962
963       bounce_delivered
964              Type: boolean
965              Default: yes
966
967              When this variable is set, mutt will include Delivered-To  head‐
968              ers  when  bouncing  messages.   Postfix users may wish to unset
969              this variable.
970
971
972
973       braille_friendly
974              Type: boolean
975              Default: no
976
977              When this variable is set, mutt will place  the  cursor  at  the
978              beginning   of   the  current  line  in  menus,  even  when  the
979              $arrow_cursor variable is unset, making it easier for blind per‐
980              sons  using  Braille displays to follow these menus.  The option
981              is unset by default because many visual terminals  don't  permit
982              making the cursor invisible.
983
984
985
986       browser_abbreviate_mailboxes
987              Type: boolean
988              Default: yes
989
990              When this variable is set, mutt will abbreviate mailbox names in
991              the browser mailbox list, using '~' and '=' shortcuts.
992
993              The default ”alpha” setting of $sort_browser  uses  locale-based
994              sorting  (using  strcoll(3)),  which  ignores  some punctuation.
995              This can lead to some situations where the  order  doesn't  make
996              intuitive  sense.   In those cases, it may be desirable to unset
997              this variable.
998
999
1000
1001       browser_sticky_cursor
1002              Type: boolean
1003              Default: yes
1004
1005              When this variable is set, the browser will attempt to keep  the
1006              cursor  on  the  same mailbox when performing various functions.
1007              These include moving up a directory, toggling between  mailboxes
1008              and  directory  listing,  creating/renaming  a mailbox, toggling
1009              subscribed mailboxes, and entering a new mask.
1010
1011
1012
1013       certificate_file
1014              Type: path
1015              Default: “~/.mutt_certificates”
1016
1017              This variable specifies the  file  where  the  certificates  you
1018              trust are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you
1019              are asked if you accept it or not. If you accept  it,  the  cer‐
1020              tificate  can also be saved in this file and further connections
1021              are automatically accepted.
1022
1023              You can also manually add CA  certificates  in  this  file.  Any
1024              server  certificate that is signed with one of these CA certifi‐
1025              cates is also automatically accepted.
1026
1027              Example:
1028
1029
1030              set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035       change_folder_next
1036              Type: boolean
1037              Default: no
1038
1039              When this variable is set, the <change-folder> function  mailbox
1040              suggestion  will  start  at  the next folder in your “mailboxes”
1041              list, instead of starting at the first folder in the list.
1042
1043
1044
1045       charset
1046              Type: string
1047              Default: “”
1048
1049              Character set your terminal uses to display  and  enter  textual
1050              data.  It is also the fallback for $send_charset.
1051
1052              Upon  startup  Mutt  tries to derive this value from environment
1053              variables such as $LC_CTYPE or $LANG.
1054
1055              Note: It should only be set in case Mutt isn't able to determine
1056              the character set used correctly.
1057
1058
1059
1060       check_mbox_size
1061              Type: boolean
1062              Default: no
1063
1064              When  this  variable  is  set, mutt will use file size attribute
1065              instead of access time when checking for new mail  in  mbox  and
1066              mmdf folders.
1067
1068              This  variable  is  unset  by default and should only be enabled
1069              when new mail detection for these folder types is unreliable  or
1070              doesn't work.
1071
1072              Note that enabling this variable should happen before any “mail‐
1073              boxes” directives occur in configuration files regarding mbox or
1074              mmdf  folders  because  mutt  needs to determine the initial new
1075              mail status of such a mailbox by performing a fast mailbox  scan
1076              when  it  is defined.  Afterwards the new mail status is tracked
1077              by file size changes.
1078
1079
1080
1081       check_new
1082              Type: boolean
1083              Default: yes
1084
1085              Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.
1086
1087              When set, Mutt will check for new mail delivered while the mail‐
1088              box  is  open.  Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can
1089              take quite some time since it involves  scanning  the  directory
1090              and  checking each file to see if it has already been looked at.
1091              If this variable is unset, no check for new  mail  is  performed
1092              while the mailbox is open.
1093
1094
1095
1096       collapse_unread
1097              Type: boolean
1098              Default: yes
1099
1100              When  unset,  Mutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any
1101              unread messages.
1102
1103
1104
1105       compose_format
1106              Type: string
1107              Default: “-- Mutt: Compose  [Approx. msg size: %l   Atts: %a]%>-”
1108
1109              Controls the format of the status line displayed  in  the  “com‐
1110              pose”  menu.   This string is similar to $status_format, but has
1111              its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
1112              %a     total number of attachments
1113              %h     local hostname
1114              %l     approximate size (in bytes) of the current  message  (see
1115                     formatstrings-size)
1116              %v     Mutt version string
1117
1118              See  the  text  describing  the  $status_format  option for more
1119              information on how to set $compose_format.
1120
1121
1122
1123       config_charset
1124              Type: string
1125              Default: “”
1126
1127              When defined, Mutt will recode commands in rc  files  from  this
1128              encoding  to  the current character set as specified by $charset
1129              and aliases written to $alias_file from  the  current  character
1130              set.
1131
1132              Please note that if setting $charset it must be done before set‐
1133              ting $config_charset.
1134
1135              Recoding should be avoided as it may render unconvertable  char‐
1136              acters  as  question  marks  which  can  lead  to undesired side
1137              effects (for example in regular expressions).
1138
1139
1140
1141       confirmappend
1142              Type: boolean
1143              Default: yes
1144
1145              When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when appending  mes‐
1146              sages to an existing mailbox.
1147
1148
1149
1150       confirmcreate
1151              Type: boolean
1152              Default: yes
1153
1154              When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages
1155              to a mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.
1156
1157
1158
1159       connect_timeout
1160              Type: number
1161              Default: 30
1162
1163              Causes Mutt to timeout a network connection (for  IMAP,  POP  or
1164              SMTP)  after  this many seconds if the connection is not able to
1165              be established.  A negative value causes Mutt  to  wait  indefi‐
1166              nitely for the connection attempt to succeed.
1167
1168
1169
1170       content_type
1171              Type: string
1172              Default: “text/plain”
1173
1174              Sets  the  default  Content-Type  for the body of newly composed
1175              messages.
1176
1177
1178
1179       copy
1180              Type: quadoption
1181              Default: yes
1182
1183              This variable controls whether or not copies  of  your  outgoing
1184              messages  will be saved for later references.  Also see $record,
1185              $save_name, $force_name and “fcc-hook”.
1186
1187
1188
1189       count_alternatives
1190              Type: boolean
1191              Default: no
1192
1193              When set, Mutt will recurse inside multipart/alternatives  while
1194              performing attachment searching and counting (see attachments).
1195
1196              Traditionally,  multipart/alternative  parts  have simply repre‐
1197              sented different encodings of the main  content  of  the  email.
1198              Unfortunately,  some  mail  clients  have started to place email
1199              attachments inside one of alternatives.  Setting this will allow
1200              Mutt  to  find  and count matching attachments hidden there, and
1201              include them in the index via %X or through ~X pattern matching.
1202
1203
1204
1205       crypt_autoencrypt
1206              Type: boolean
1207              Default: no
1208
1209              Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt  to  PGP
1210              encrypt outgoing messages.  This is probably only useful in con‐
1211              nection to the “send-hook” command.  It can be overridden by use
1212              of  the  pgp menu, when encryption is not required or signing is
1213              requested as well.  If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL is
1214              used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be over‐
1215              ridden by use of the smime menu instead.  (Crypto only)
1216
1217
1218
1219       crypt_autopgp
1220              Type: boolean
1221              Default: yes
1222
1223              This variable controls whether or  not  mutt  may  automatically
1224              enable   PGP   encryption/signing   for   messages.    See  also
1225              $crypt_autoencrypt,    $crypt_replyencrypt,     $crypt_autosign,
1226              $crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.
1227
1228
1229
1230       crypt_autosign
1231              Type: boolean
1232              Default: no
1233
1234              Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cryp‐
1235              tographically sign outgoing messages.  This can be overridden by
1236              use  of the pgp menu, when signing is not required or encryption
1237              is requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then  OpenSSL
1238              is  used  instead  to create S/MIME messages and settings can be
1239              overridden by use of the smime menu instead  of  the  pgp  menu.
1240              (Crypto only)
1241
1242
1243
1244       crypt_autosmime
1245              Type: boolean
1246              Default: yes
1247
1248              This  variable  controls  whether  or not mutt may automatically
1249              enable  S/MIME  encryption/signing  for   messages.   See   also
1250              $crypt_autoencrypt,     $crypt_replyencrypt,    $crypt_autosign,
1251              $crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.
1252
1253
1254
1255       crypt_confirmhook
1256              Type: boolean
1257              Default: yes
1258
1259              If set, then you will be prompted for confirmation of keys  when
1260              using  the  crypt-hook  command.  If unset, no such confirmation
1261              prompt will be presented.  This is generally considered  unsafe,
1262              especially where typos are concerned.
1263
1264
1265
1266       crypt_opportunistic_encrypt
1267              Type: boolean
1268              Default: no
1269
1270              Setting  this  variable  will cause Mutt to automatically enable
1271              and disable encryption, based on whether all  message  recipient
1272              keys can be located by Mutt.
1273
1274              When this option is enabled, Mutt will enable/disable encryption
1275              each time the TO, CC, and BCC lists are edited.  If  $edit_head‐
1276              ers  is  set,  Mutt  will  also  do  so each time the message is
1277              edited.
1278
1279              While this is set, encryption  can't  be  manually  enabled/dis‐
1280              abled.   The pgp or smime menus provide a selection to temporar‐
1281              ily disable this option for the current message.
1282
1283              If $crypt_autoencrypt or $crypt_replyencrypt  enable  encryption
1284              for  a  message,  this option will be disabled for that message.
1285              It can be  manually  re-enabled  in  the  pgp  or  smime  menus.
1286              (Crypto only)
1287
1288
1289
1290       crypt_protected_headers_read
1291              Type: boolean
1292              Default: yes
1293
1294              When set, Mutt will display protected headers (”Memory Hole”) in
1295              the pager, and will update  the  index  and  header  cache  with
1296              revised  headers.   Protected  headers  are  stored  inside  the
1297              encrypted or signed part of an an email, to  prevent  disclosure
1298              or      tampering.       For      more      information      see
1299              https://github.com/autocrypt/memoryhole.   Currently  Mutt  only
1300              supports the Subject header.
1301
1302              Encrypted  messages using protected headers often substitute the
1303              exposed Subject header  with  a  dummy  value  (see  $crypt_pro‐
1304              tected_headers_subject).   Mutt  will  update its concept of the
1305              correct subject after the message is opened, i.e. via the  <dis‐
1306              play-message>  function.  If you reply to a message before open‐
1307              ing it, Mutt will end up using the dummy Subject header,  so  be
1308              sure to open such a message first.  (Crypto only)
1309
1310
1311
1312       crypt_protected_headers_save
1313              Type: boolean
1314              Default: no
1315
1316              When  $crypt_protected_headers_read is set, and a message with a
1317              protected Subject is opened, Mutt will save the updated  Subject
1318              into  the header cache by default.  This allows searching/limit‐
1319              ing based on the protected Subject  header  if  the  mailbox  is
1320              re-opened,  without  having  to  re-open  the message each time.
1321              However, for mbox/mh mailbox types, or if header caching is  not
1322              set  up,  you  would  need  to re-open the message each time the
1323              mailbox was reopened before you could see or search/limit on the
1324              protected subject again.
1325
1326              When this variable is set, Mutt additionally saves the protected
1327              Subject back in the clear-text message headers.   This  provides
1328              better  usability,  but  with  the tradeoff of reduced security.
1329              The protected Subject header, which  may  have  previously  been
1330              encrypted,  is  now stored in clear-text in the message headers.
1331              Copying the message elsewhere, via Mutt or external tools, could
1332              expose  this  previously  encrypted  data.  Please make sure you
1333              understand the consequences of this before you enable this vari‐
1334              able.  (Crypto only)
1335
1336
1337
1338       crypt_protected_headers_subject
1339              Type: string
1340              Default: “Encrypted subject”
1341
1342              When  $crypt_protected_headers_write  is set, and the message is
1343              marked for encryption, this will be substituted into the Subject
1344              field  in  the message headers.  To prevent a subject from being
1345              substituted, unset this variable, or set it to the empty string.
1346              (Crypto only)
1347
1348
1349
1350       crypt_protected_headers_write
1351              Type: boolean
1352              Default: no
1353
1354              When  set,  Mutt will generate protected headers (”Memory Hole”)
1355              for signed and encrypted emails.  Protected headers  are  stored
1356              inside  the  encrypted or signed part of an an email, to prevent
1357              disclosure   or   tampering.    For   more    information    see
1358              https://github.com/autocrypt/memoryhole.   Currently  Mutt  only
1359              supports the Subject header.  (Crypto only)
1360
1361
1362
1363       crypt_replyencrypt
1364              Type: boolean
1365              Default: yes
1366
1367              If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL encrypt replies to messages
1368              which are encrypted.  (Crypto only)
1369
1370
1371
1372       crypt_replysign
1373              Type: boolean
1374              Default: no
1375
1376              If  set,  automatically  PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
1377              which are signed.
1378
1379              Note: this does not work on  messages  that  are  encrypted  and
1380              signed!  (Crypto only)
1381
1382
1383
1384       crypt_replysignencrypted
1385              Type: boolean
1386              Default: no
1387
1388              If  set,  automatically  PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
1389              which are  encrypted.  This  makes  sense  in  combination  with
1390              $crypt_replyencrypt,  because it allows you to sign all messages
1391              which are automatically encrypted.  This works around the  prob‐
1392              lem noted in $crypt_replysign, that mutt is not able to find out
1393              whether an encrypted message is also signed.  (Crypto only)
1394
1395
1396
1397       crypt_timestamp
1398              Type: boolean
1399              Default: yes
1400
1401              If set, mutt will include a time stamp in the lines  surrounding
1402              PGP  or S/MIME output, so spoofing such lines is more difficult.
1403              If you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on  these,
1404              you may unset this setting.  (Crypto only)
1405
1406
1407
1408       crypt_use_gpgme
1409              Type: boolean
1410              Default: no
1411
1412              This variable controls the use of the GPGME-enabled crypto back‐
1413              ends.  If it is set and Mutt was built with gpgme  support,  the
1414              gpgme  code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the clas‐
1415              sic code.  Note that you need to set this option in .muttrc;  it
1416              won't have any effect when used interactively.
1417
1418              Note  that the GPGME backend does not support creating old-style
1419              inline (traditional)  PGP  encrypted  or  signed  messages  (see
1420              $pgp_autoinline).
1421
1422
1423
1424       crypt_use_pka
1425              Type: boolean
1426              Default: no
1427
1428              Controls       whether       mutt       uses       PKA      (see
1429              http://www.g10code.de/docs/pka-intro.de.pdf)  during   signature
1430              verification (only supported by the GPGME backend).
1431
1432
1433
1434       crypt_verify_sig
1435              Type: quadoption
1436              Default: yes
1437
1438              If “yes”, always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures.  If
1439              “ask-*”, ask whether or not to verify the signature.   If  “no”,
1440              never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures.  (Crypto only)
1441
1442
1443
1444       date_format
1445              Type: string
1446              Default: “!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z”
1447
1448              This  variable  controls  the  format of the date printed by the
1449              “%d” sequence in $index_format.  This is  passed  to  the  strf‐
1450              time(3)  function  to process the date, see the man page for the
1451              proper syntax.
1452
1453              Unless the first character in the string is a  bang  (“!”),  the
1454              month  and  week day names are expanded according to the locale.
1455              If the first character in the string is a bang, the bang is dis‐
1456              carded,  and  the  month  and  week day names in the rest of the
1457              string are expanded in the C locale (that is in US English).
1458
1459
1460
1461       default_hook
1462              Type: string
1463              Default: “~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)”
1464
1465              This variable controls how “message-hook”, “reply-hook”,  “send-
1466              hook”,  “send2-hook”, “save-hook”, and “fcc-hook” will be inter‐
1467              preted if they are specified with only a simple regexp,  instead
1468              of  a  matching  pattern.   The hooks are expanded when they are
1469              declared, so a hook will be interpreted according to  the  value
1470              of this variable at the time the hook is declared.
1471
1472              The  default  value matches if the message is either from a user
1473              matching the regular expression given, or if it is from you  (if
1474              the  from  address matches “alternates”) and is to or cc'ed to a
1475              user matching the given regular expression.
1476
1477
1478
1479       delete
1480              Type: quadoption
1481              Default: ask-yes
1482
1483              Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing
1484              or  synchronizing a mailbox.  If set to yes, messages marked for
1485              deleting will automatically be purged without prompting.  If set
1486              to no, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.
1487
1488
1489
1490       delete_untag
1491              Type: boolean
1492              Default: yes
1493
1494              If  this  option  is  set, mutt will untag messages when marking
1495              them for deletion.  This  applies  when  you  either  explicitly
1496              delete a message, or when you save it to another folder.
1497
1498
1499
1500       digest_collapse
1501              Type: boolean
1502              Default: yes
1503
1504              If this option is set, mutt's received-attachments menu will not
1505              show the subparts of individual messages in a  multipart/digest.
1506              To see these subparts, press “v” on that menu.
1507
1508
1509
1510       display_filter
1511              Type: path
1512              Default: “”
1513
1514              When  set,  specifies a command used to filter messages.  When a
1515              message is viewed it  is  passed  as  standard  input  to  $dis‐
1516              play_filter,  and the filtered message is read from the standard
1517              output.
1518
1519
1520
1521       dotlock_program
1522              Type: path
1523              Default: “/usr/bin/mutt_dotlock”
1524
1525              Contains the path of the mutt_dotlock(8) binary to  be  used  by
1526              mutt.
1527
1528
1529
1530       dsn_notify
1531              Type: string
1532              Default: “”
1533
1534              This   variable  sets  the  request  for  when  notification  is
1535              returned.  The string consists of a  comma  separated  list  (no
1536              spaces!)  of  one  or  more  of  the  following: never, to never
1537              request notification, failure, to request notification on trans‐
1538              mission  failure,  delay, to be notified of message delays, suc‐
1539              cess, to be notified of successful transmission.
1540
1541              Example:
1542
1543
1544              set dsn_notify=”failure,delay”
1545
1546
1547              Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should  not  enable
1548              this  unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a
1549              MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting  the
1550              -N   option   for   DSN.  For  SMTP  delivery,  DSN  support  is
1551              auto-detected so that it depends on the server whether DSN  will
1552              be used or not.
1553
1554
1555
1556       dsn_return
1557              Type: string
1558              Default: “”
1559
1560              This  variable  controls how much of your message is returned in
1561              DSN messages.  It may be set to either hdrs to return  just  the
1562              message header, or full to return the full message.
1563
1564              Example:
1565
1566
1567              set dsn_return=hdrs
1568
1569
1570              Note:  when  using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable
1571              this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or  a
1572              MTA  providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the
1573              -R  option  for  DSN.  For  SMTP  delivery,   DSN   support   is
1574              auto-detected  so that it depends on the server whether DSN will
1575              be used or not.
1576
1577
1578
1579       duplicate_threads
1580              Type: boolean
1581              Default: yes
1582
1583              This variable controls  whether  mutt,  when  $sort  is  set  to
1584              threads, threads messages with the same Message-Id together.  If
1585              it is set, it will indicate that it thinks they  are  duplicates
1586              of each other with an equals sign in the thread tree.
1587
1588
1589
1590       edit_headers
1591              Type: boolean
1592              Default: no
1593
1594              This  option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing mes‐
1595              sages along with the body of your message.
1596
1597              Although the compose menu may have localized header labels,  the
1598              labels  passed to your editor will be standard RFC 2822 headers,
1599              (e.g. To:, Cc:, Subject:).  Headers added in  your  editor  must
1600              also be RFC 2822 headers, or one of the pseudo headers listed in
1601              “edit-header”.   Mutt  will  not  understand  localized   header
1602              labels, just as it would not when parsing an actual email.
1603
1604              Note  that changes made to the References: and Date: headers are
1605              ignored for interoperability reasons.
1606
1607
1608
1609       editor
1610              Type: path
1611              Default: “”
1612
1613              This variable specifies  which  editor  is  used  by  mutt.   It
1614              defaults  to  the  value of the $VISUAL, or $EDITOR, environment
1615              variable, or to the string “vi” if neither of those are set.
1616
1617              The $editor string may  contain  a  %s  escape,  which  will  be
1618              replaced by the name of the file to be edited.  If the %s escape
1619              does not appear in $editor, a space and the name  to  be  edited
1620              are appended.
1621
1622              The resulting string is then executed by running
1623
1624
1625              sh -c 'string'
1626
1627
1628              where string is the expansion of $editor described above.
1629
1630
1631
1632       encode_from
1633              Type: boolean
1634              Default: no
1635
1636              When  set,  mutt will quoted-printable encode messages when they
1637              contain the string “From ” (note  the  trailing  space)  in  the
1638              beginning of a line.  This is useful to avoid the tampering cer‐
1639              tain mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages
1640              (in  order  to  prevent tools from misinterpreting the line as a
1641              mbox message separator).
1642
1643
1644
1645       entropy_file
1646              Type: path
1647              Default: “”
1648
1649              The file which includes random data that is used  to  initialize
1650              SSL library functions.
1651
1652
1653
1654       envelope_from_address
1655              Type: e-mail address
1656              Default: “”
1657
1658              Manually  sets  the envelope sender for outgoing messages.  This
1659              value is ignored if $use_envelope_from is unset.
1660
1661
1662
1663       error_history
1664              Type: number
1665              Default: 30
1666
1667              This variable controls the size (in  number  of  strings  remem‐
1668              bered)  of  the  error messages displayed by mutt.  These can be
1669              shown with the <error-history> function.  The history is cleared
1670              each time this variable is set.
1671
1672
1673
1674       escape
1675              Type: string
1676              Default: “~”
1677
1678              Escape character to use for functions in the built-in editor.
1679
1680
1681
1682       fast_reply
1683              Type: boolean
1684              Default: no
1685
1686              When  set,  the  initial  prompt  for recipients and subject are
1687              skipped when replying to messages, and the  initial  prompt  for
1688              subject is skipped when forwarding messages.
1689
1690              Note: this variable has no effect when the $autoedit variable is
1691              set.
1692
1693
1694
1695       fcc_attach
1696              Type: quadoption
1697              Default: yes
1698
1699              This variable controls whether or not  attachments  on  outgoing
1700              messages are saved along with the main body of your message.
1701
1702
1703
1704       fcc_before_send
1705              Type: boolean
1706              Default: no
1707
1708              When  this  variable  is set, FCCs will occur before sending the
1709              message.  Before sending, the message cannot be manipulated,  so
1710              it  will  be  stored  the  exact  same  as sent: $fcc_attach and
1711              $fcc_clear will be ignored (using their default values).
1712
1713              When unset, the default, FCCs will occur after  sending.   Vari‐
1714              ables  $fcc_attach and $fcc_clear will be respected, allowing it
1715              to  be  stored  without  attachments  or  encryption/signing  if
1716              desired.
1717
1718
1719
1720       fcc_clear
1721              Type: boolean
1722              Default: no
1723
1724              When  this  variable is set, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and
1725              unsigned, even when  the  actual  message  is  encrypted  and/or
1726              signed.  (PGP only)
1727
1728
1729
1730       flag_safe
1731              Type: boolean
1732              Default: no
1733
1734              If set, flagged messages cannot be deleted.
1735
1736
1737
1738       folder
1739              Type: path
1740              Default: “~/Mail”
1741
1742              Specifies  the default location of your mailboxes.  A “+” or “=”
1743              at the beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value  of
1744              this  variable.  Note that if you change this variable (from the
1745              default) value you need to make sure that the assignment  occurs
1746              before  you  use “+” or “=” for any other variables since expan‐
1747              sion takes place when handling the “mailboxes” command.
1748
1749
1750
1751       folder_format
1752              Type: string
1753              Default: “%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f”
1754
1755              This variable allows you to customize the file  browser  display
1756              to  your  personal taste.  This string is similar to $index_for‐
1757              mat, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
1758              %C     current file number
1759              %d     date/time folder was last modified
1760              %D     date/time folder was last modified using $date_format.
1761              %f     filename (“/” is appended to directory names, “@” to sym‐
1762                     bolic links and “*” to executable files)
1763              %F     file permissions
1764              %g     group name (or numeric gid, if missing)
1765              %l     number of hard links
1766              %m     number of messages in the mailbox *
1767              %n     number of unread messages in the mailbox *
1768              %N     N if mailbox has new mail, blank otherwise
1769              %s     size in bytes (see formatstrings-size)
1770              %t     “*” if the file is tagged, blank otherwise
1771              %u     owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)
1772              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
1773                     ter “X”
1774              %|X    pad to the end of the line with character “X”
1775              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
1776
1777              For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the  $index_format  docu‐
1778              mentation.
1779
1780              * = can be optionally printed if nonzero
1781
1782              %m,  %n,  and %N only work for monitored mailboxes.  %m requires
1783              $mail_check_stats to be set.  %n requires  $mail_check_stats  to
1784              be set (except for IMAP mailboxes).
1785
1786
1787
1788       followup_to
1789              Type: boolean
1790              Default: yes
1791
1792              Controls  whether or not the “Mail-Followup-To:” header field is
1793              generated when sending mail.  When set, Mutt will generate  this
1794              field  when  you are replying to a known mailing list, specified
1795              with the “subscribe” or “lists” commands.
1796
1797              This field has two purposes.  First, preventing you from receiv‐
1798              ing  duplicate  copies  of replies to messages which you send to
1799              mailing lists, and second, ensuring that you do get a reply sep‐
1800              arately  for  any  messages sent to known lists to which you are
1801              not subscribed.
1802
1803              The header will contain only the list's address  for  subscribed
1804              lists,  and both the list address and your own email address for
1805              unsubscribed lists.  Without this header, a group reply to  your
1806              message  sent to a subscribed list will be sent to both the list
1807              and your address, resulting in two copies of the same email  for
1808              you.
1809
1810
1811
1812       force_name
1813              Type: boolean
1814              Default: no
1815
1816              This  variable  is  similar to $save_name, except that Mutt will
1817              store a copy of your outgoing message by  the  username  of  the
1818              address you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.
1819
1820              Also see the $record variable.
1821
1822
1823
1824       forward_attachments
1825              Type: quadoption
1826              Default: ask-yes
1827
1828              When  forwarding  inline  (i.e.  $mime_forward unset or answered
1829              with “no” and $forward_decode set), attachments which cannot  be
1830              decoded  in  a  reasonable  manner will be attached to the newly
1831              composed message if this quadoption  is  set  or  answered  with
1832              “yes”.
1833
1834
1835
1836       forward_attribution_intro
1837              Type: string
1838              Default: “----- Forwarded message from %f -----”
1839
1840              This  is  the  string that will precede a message which has been
1841              forwarded in the main body of a message (when  $mime_forward  is
1842              unset).   For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences
1843              see the section on $index_format.  See also $attribution_locale.
1844
1845
1846
1847       forward_attribution_trailer
1848              Type: string
1849              Default: “----- End forwarded message -----”
1850
1851              This is the string that will follow a  message  which  has  been
1852              forwarded  in  the main body of a message (when $mime_forward is
1853              unset).  For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like  sequences
1854              see the section on $index_format.  See also $attribution_locale.
1855
1856
1857
1858       forward_decode
1859              Type: boolean
1860              Default: yes
1861
1862              Controls  the  decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain
1863              when forwarding a message.  The message header is  also  RFC2047
1864              decoded.  This variable is only used, if $mime_forward is unset,
1865              otherwise $mime_forward_decode is used instead.
1866
1867
1868
1869       forward_decrypt
1870              Type: boolean
1871              Default: yes
1872
1873              Controls the handling of encrypted messages  when  forwarding  a
1874              message.   When  set,  the outer layer of encryption is stripped
1875              off.  This variable is only used if  $mime_forward  is  set  and
1876              $mime_forward_decode is unset.  (PGP only)
1877
1878
1879
1880       forward_edit
1881              Type: quadoption
1882              Default: yes
1883
1884              This  quadoption  controls  whether or not the user is automati‐
1885              cally placed in the editor when forwarding messages.  For  those
1886              who  always  want to forward with no modification, use a setting
1887              of “no”.
1888
1889
1890
1891       forward_format
1892              Type: string
1893              Default: “[%a: %s]”
1894
1895              This variable controls the default  subject  when  forwarding  a
1896              message.  It uses the same format sequences as the $index_format
1897              variable.
1898
1899
1900
1901       forward_quote
1902              Type: boolean
1903              Default: no
1904
1905              When set, forwarded messages included in the main  body  of  the
1906              message  (when  $mime_forward  is  unset)  will  be quoted using
1907              $indent_string.
1908
1909
1910
1911       from
1912              Type: e-mail address
1913              Default: “”
1914
1915              When set, this variable contains a default from address.  It can
1916              be  overridden using “my_hdr” (including from a “send-hook”) and
1917              $reverse_name.  This variable is ignored if $use_from is unset.
1918
1919              This setting defaults to the contents of the  environment  vari‐
1920              able $EMAIL.
1921
1922
1923
1924       gecos_mask
1925              Type: regular expression
1926              Default: “^[^,]*”
1927
1928              A  regular expression used by mutt to parse the GECOS field of a
1929              password entry when expanding the alias.  The default value will
1930              return the string up to the first “,” encountered.  If the GECOS
1931              field contains a string  like  “lastname,  firstname”  then  you
1932              should set it to “.*”.
1933
1934              This  can  be  useful  if  you  see  the following behavior: you
1935              address an e-mail to user ID “stevef” whose full name is  “Steve
1936              Franklin”.     If   mutt   expands   “stevef”   to   “”Franklin”
1937              stevef@foo.bar” then you should set the $gecos_mask to a regular
1938              expression  that  will  match the whole name so mutt will expand
1939              “Franklin” to “Franklin, Steve”.
1940
1941
1942
1943       hdrs
1944              Type: boolean
1945              Default: yes
1946
1947              When unset, the header fields normally  added  by  the  “my_hdr”
1948              command  are  not  created.   This variable must be unset before
1949              composing a new message or replying in order to take effect.  If
1950              set,  the user defined header fields are added to every new mes‐
1951              sage.
1952
1953
1954
1955       header
1956              Type: boolean
1957              Default: no
1958
1959              When set, this variable causes Mutt to include the header of the
1960              message  you  are  replying  to into the edit buffer.  The $weed
1961              setting applies.
1962
1963
1964
1965       header_cache
1966              Type: path
1967              Default: “”
1968
1969              This variable points to the header cache database.  If  pointing
1970              to  a  directory  Mutt will contain a header cache database file
1971              per folder, if pointing to a file that file  will  be  a  single
1972              global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching
1973              will be used.
1974
1975              Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP,  IMAP
1976              MH or Maildir folders, see “caching” for details.
1977
1978
1979
1980       header_cache_compress
1981              Type: boolean
1982              Default: yes
1983
1984              When  mutt  is compiled with qdbm, tokyocabinet, or kyotocabinet
1985              as header cache backend,  this  option  determines  whether  the
1986              database  will  be  compressed.  Compression results in database
1987              files roughly being one fifth of the usual  diskspace,  but  the
1988              decompression can result in a slower opening of cached folder(s)
1989              which in general is still much faster than  opening  non  header
1990              cached folders.
1991
1992
1993
1994       header_cache_pagesize
1995              Type: number (long)
1996              Default: 16384
1997
1998              When  mutt  is  compiled  with either gdbm or bdb4 as the header
1999              cache backend, this option changes the database page size.   Too
2000              large  or too small values can waste space, memory, or CPU time.
2001              The default should be more or less optimal for most use cases.
2002
2003
2004
2005       header_color_partial
2006              Type: boolean
2007              Default: no
2008
2009              When set, color header regexps behave like color  body  regexps:
2010              color  is applied to the exact text matched by the regexp.  When
2011              unset, color is applied to the entire header.
2012
2013              One use of this option might be  to  apply  color  to  just  the
2014              header labels.
2015
2016              See “color” for more details.
2017
2018
2019
2020       help
2021              Type: boolean
2022              Default: yes
2023
2024              When set, help lines describing the bindings for the major func‐
2025              tions provided by each menu are displayed on the first  line  of
2026              the screen.
2027
2028              Note:  The  binding will not be displayed correctly if the func‐
2029              tion is bound to a sequence  rather  than  a  single  keystroke.
2030              Also,  the  help line may not be updated if a binding is changed
2031              while Mutt is running.  Since this variable is  primarily  aimed
2032              at new users, neither of these should present a major problem.
2033
2034
2035
2036       hidden_host
2037              Type: boolean
2038              Default: no
2039
2040              When  set,  mutt will skip the host name part of $hostname vari‐
2041              able when adding the domain part to  addresses.   This  variable
2042              does  not  affect the generation of Message-IDs, and it will not
2043              lead to the cut-off of first-level domains.
2044
2045
2046
2047       hide_limited
2048              Type: boolean
2049              Default: no
2050
2051              When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages  that  are
2052              hidden by limiting, in the thread tree.
2053
2054
2055
2056       hide_missing
2057              Type: boolean
2058              Default: yes
2059
2060              When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages in
2061              the thread tree.
2062
2063
2064
2065       hide_thread_subject
2066              Type: boolean
2067              Default: yes
2068
2069              When set, mutt will not show the  subject  of  messages  in  the
2070              thread  tree that have the same subject as their parent or clos‐
2071              est previously displayed sibling.
2072
2073
2074
2075       hide_top_limited
2076              Type: boolean
2077              Default: no
2078
2079              When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages  that  are
2080              hidden  by  limiting,  at the top of threads in the thread tree.
2081              Note that when $hide_limited is set, this option  will  have  no
2082              effect.
2083
2084
2085
2086       hide_top_missing
2087              Type: boolean
2088              Default: yes
2089
2090              When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages at
2091              the  top  of  threads  in  the  thread  tree.   Note  that  when
2092              $hide_missing is set, this option will have no effect.
2093
2094
2095
2096       history
2097              Type: number
2098              Default: 10
2099
2100              This  variable  controls  the  size (in number of strings remem‐
2101              bered) of the string history buffer per category. The buffer  is
2102              cleared each time the variable is set.
2103
2104
2105
2106       history_file
2107              Type: path
2108              Default: “~/.mutthistory”
2109
2110              The file in which Mutt will save its history.
2111
2112              Also see $save_history.
2113
2114
2115
2116       history_remove_dups
2117              Type: boolean
2118              Default: no
2119
2120              When  set,  all of the string history will be scanned for dupli‐
2121              cates when a new entry is added.  Duplicate entries in the $his‐
2122              tory_file  will  also  be  removed  when it is periodically com‐
2123              pacted.
2124
2125
2126
2127       honor_disposition
2128              Type: boolean
2129              Default: no
2130
2131              When set, Mutt will not display attachments with  a  disposition
2132              of “attachment” inline even if it could render the part to plain
2133              text. These MIME parts can only be viewed  from  the  attachment
2134              menu.
2135
2136              If unset, Mutt will render all MIME parts it can properly trans‐
2137              form to plain text.
2138
2139
2140
2141       honor_followup_to
2142              Type: quadoption
2143              Default: yes
2144
2145              This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To  header
2146              is honored when group-replying to a message.
2147
2148
2149
2150       hostname
2151              Type: string
2152              Default: “”
2153
2154              Specifies  the  fully-qualified  hostname  of the system mutt is
2155              running on containing the host's name  and  the  DNS  domain  it
2156              belongs  to. It is used as the domain part (after “@”) for local
2157              email addresses as well as Message-Id headers.
2158
2159              Its value is determined at startup as follows: the node's  host‐
2160              name  is  first determined by the uname(3) function.  The domain
2161              is then looked up using the  gethostname(2)  and  getaddrinfo(3)
2162              functions.   If  those calls are unable to determine the domain,
2163              the full value returned by uname is used.  Optionally, Mutt  can
2164              be  compiled  with  a fixed domain name in which case a detected
2165              one is not used.
2166
2167              Also see $use_domain and $hidden_host.
2168
2169
2170
2171       idn_decode
2172              Type: boolean
2173              Default: yes
2174
2175              When set, Mutt will show you international domain names decoded.
2176              Note:  You  can  use  IDNs  for addresses even if this is unset.
2177              This variable only affects decoding. (IDN only)
2178
2179
2180
2181       idn_encode
2182              Type: boolean
2183              Default: yes
2184
2185              When set, Mutt will encode international domain names using IDN.
2186              Unset this if your SMTP server can handle newer (RFC 6531) UTF-8
2187              encoded domains. (IDN only)
2188
2189
2190
2191       ignore_linear_white_space
2192              Type: boolean
2193              Default: no
2194
2195              This option replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word and
2196              text  to  a  single space to prevent the display of MIME-encoded
2197              “Subject:” field from being divided into multiple lines.
2198
2199
2200
2201       ignore_list_reply_to
2202              Type: boolean
2203              Default: no
2204
2205              Affects the behavior of the <reply> function  when  replying  to
2206              messages  from  mailing  lists (as defined by the “subscribe” or
2207              “lists” commands).  When set, if the “Reply-To:” field is set to
2208              the  same  value  as  the  “To:”  field,  Mutt  assumes that the
2209              “Reply-To:” field was  set  by  the  mailing  list  to  automate
2210              responses  to the list, and will ignore this field.  To direct a
2211              response to the mailing list when this option is  set,  use  the
2212              <list-reply>  function;  <group-reply>  will  reply  to both the
2213              sender and the list.
2214
2215
2216
2217       imap_authenticators
2218              Type: string
2219              Default: “”
2220
2221              This is a colon-delimited list of  authentication  methods  mutt
2222              may  attempt  to  use  to log in to an IMAP server, in the order
2223              mutt should try them.  Authentication methods are either “login”
2224              or  the right side of an IMAP “AUTH=xxx” capability string, e.g.
2225              “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is case-insen‐
2226              sitive.  If it's unset (the default) mutt will try all available
2227              methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.
2228
2229              Example:
2230
2231
2232              set imap_authenticators=”gssapi:cram-md5:login”
2233
2234
2235              Note: Mutt will only fall back to other  authentication  methods
2236              if  the  previous methods are unavailable. If a method is avail‐
2237              able but authentication fails, mutt will not connect to the IMAP
2238              server.
2239
2240
2241
2242       imap_check_subscribed
2243              Type: boolean
2244              Default: no
2245
2246              When  set,  mutt  will  fetch the set of subscribed folders from
2247              your server on connection, and add them to the set of  mailboxes
2248              it  polls  for  new  mail  just  as if you had issued individual
2249              “mailboxes” commands.
2250
2251
2252
2253       imap_condstore
2254              Type: boolean
2255              Default: no
2256
2257              When set, mutt will use the CONDSTORE extension  (RFC  7162)  if
2258              advertised  by  the  server.   Mutt's  current implementation is
2259              basic, used only for initial message fetching and flag updates.
2260
2261              For some IMAP servers, enabling  this  will  slightly  speed  up
2262              downloading  initial  messages.  Unfortunately, Gmail is not one
2263              those,  and  displays  worse  performance  when  enabled.   Your
2264              mileage may vary.
2265
2266
2267
2268       imap_delim_chars
2269              Type: string
2270              Default: “/.”
2271
2272              This  contains  the  list  of characters which you would like to
2273              treat as folder separators for displaying IMAP paths. In partic‐
2274              ular  it  helps  in using the “=” shortcut for your folder vari‐
2275              able.
2276
2277
2278
2279       imap_fetch_chunk_size
2280              Type: number (long)
2281              Default: 0
2282
2283              When set to a value greater than 0, new headers  will  be  down‐
2284              loaded  in sets of this size.  If you have a very large mailbox,
2285              this might prevent a timeout and  disconnect  when  opening  the
2286              mailbox,  by  sending  a FETCH per set of this size instead of a
2287              single FETCH for all new headers.
2288
2289
2290
2291       imap_headers
2292              Type: string
2293              Default: “”
2294
2295              Mutt requests these header fields in  addition  to  the  default
2296              headers  (“Date:”, “From:”, “Sender:”, “Subject:”, “To:”, “Cc:”,
2297              “Message-Id:”, “References:”, “Content-Type:”, “Content-Descrip‐
2298              tion:”,  “In-Reply-To:”,  “Reply-To:”,  “Lines:”,  “List-Post:”,
2299              “X-Label:”) from IMAP servers before displaying the index  menu.
2300              You may want to add more headers for spam detection.
2301
2302              Note:  This is a space separated list, items should be uppercase
2303              and not contain the colon, e.g. “X-BOGOSITY  X-SPAM-STATUS”  for
2304              the “X-Bogosity:” and “X-Spam-Status:” header fields.
2305
2306
2307
2308       imap_idle
2309              Type: boolean
2310              Default: no
2311
2312              When  set,  mutt  will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension to
2313              check for new mail in the current mailbox. Some servers (dovecot
2314              was  the  inspiration  for  this  option)  react badly to mutt's
2315              implementation. If your connection seems to freeze  up  periodi‐
2316              cally, try unsetting this.
2317
2318
2319
2320       imap_keepalive
2321              Type: number
2322              Default: 300
2323
2324              This  variable  specifies  the maximum amount of time in seconds
2325              that mutt will wait before polling  open  IMAP  connections,  to
2326              prevent  the  server  from closing them before mutt has finished
2327              with them. The default is well within the RFC-specified  minimum
2328              amount  of  time  (30  minutes) before a server is allowed to do
2329              this, but in practice the RFC does get violated  every  now  and
2330              then.  Reduce  this  number if you find yourself getting discon‐
2331              nected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.
2332
2333
2334
2335       imap_list_subscribed
2336              Type: boolean
2337              Default: no
2338
2339              This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will  look
2340              for only subscribed folders or all folders.  This can be toggled
2341              in the IMAP browser with the <toggle-subscribed> function.
2342
2343
2344
2345       imap_login
2346              Type: string
2347              Default: “”
2348
2349              Your login name on the IMAP server.
2350
2351              This variable defaults to the value of $imap_user.
2352
2353
2354
2355       imap_oauth_refresh_command
2356              Type: string
2357              Default: “”
2358
2359              The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
2360              rizing  your  connection to your IMAP server.  This command will
2361              be run on every connection attempt  that  uses  the  OAUTHBEARER
2362              authentication mechanism.  See “oauth” for details.
2363
2364
2365
2366       imap_pass
2367              Type: string
2368              Default: “”
2369
2370              Specifies  the  password  for your IMAP account.  If unset, Mutt
2371              will  prompt  you  for  your  password  when  you   invoke   the
2372              <imap-fetch-mail> function or try to open an IMAP folder.
2373
2374              Warning:  you  should  only  use  this  option when you are on a
2375              fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your  mut‐
2376              trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
2377
2378
2379
2380       imap_passive
2381              Type: boolean
2382              Default: yes
2383
2384              When  set,  mutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for
2385              new mail.  Mutt will only check for new mail over existing  IMAP
2386              connections.   This  is  useful if you don't want to be prompted
2387              for user/password pairs on mutt invocation, or  if  opening  the
2388              connection is slow.
2389
2390
2391
2392       imap_peek
2393              Type: boolean
2394              Default: yes
2395
2396              When  set,  mutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read
2397              whenever you fetch a message from the server. This is  generally
2398              a  good  thing,  but  can  make  closing an IMAP folder somewhat
2399              slower. This option exists to appease speed freaks.
2400
2401
2402
2403       imap_pipeline_depth
2404              Type: number
2405              Default: 15
2406
2407              Controls the number of IMAP  commands  that  may  be  queued  up
2408              before  they  are  sent to the server. A deeper pipeline reduces
2409              the amount of time mutt must wait for the server, and  can  make
2410              IMAP servers feel much more responsive. But not all servers cor‐
2411              rectly handle pipelined commands, so if you  have  problems  you
2412              might want to try setting this variable to 0.
2413
2414              Note:  Changes  to  this variable have no effect on open connec‐
2415              tions.
2416
2417
2418
2419       imap_poll_timeout
2420              Type: number
2421              Default: 15
2422
2423              This variable specifies the maximum amount of  time  in  seconds
2424              that mutt will wait for a response when polling IMAP connections
2425              for new mail, before timing out and closing the connection.  Set
2426              to 0 to disable timing out.
2427
2428
2429
2430       imap_qresync
2431              Type: boolean
2432              Default: no
2433
2434              When  set,  mutt  will  use  the QRESYNC extension (RFC 7162) if
2435              advertised by the  server.   Mutt's  current  implementation  is
2436              basic, used only for initial message fetching and flag updates.
2437
2438              Note: this feature is currently experimental.  If you experience
2439              strange behavior, such as duplicate or missing  messages  please
2440              file a bug report to let us know.
2441
2442
2443
2444       imap_servernoise
2445              Type: boolean
2446              Default: yes
2447
2448              When  set,  mutt  will  display  warning  messages from the IMAP
2449              server as error messages. Since these messages are  often  harm‐
2450              less,  or  generated due to configuration problems on the server
2451              which are out of the users' hands, you may wish to suppress them
2452              at some point.
2453
2454
2455
2456       imap_user
2457              Type: string
2458              Default: “”
2459
2460              The name of the user whose mail you intend to access on the IMAP
2461              server.
2462
2463              This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
2464
2465
2466
2467       implicit_autoview
2468              Type: boolean
2469              Default: no
2470
2471              If set to “yes”, mutt will look for a  mailcap  entry  with  the
2472              “copiousoutput”  flag  set  for every MIME attachment it doesn't
2473              have an internal viewer defined for.  If such an entry is found,
2474              mutt  will  use  the viewer defined in that entry to convert the
2475              body part to text form.
2476
2477
2478
2479       include
2480              Type: quadoption
2481              Default: ask-yes
2482
2483              Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are  reply‐
2484              ing to is included in your reply.
2485
2486
2487
2488       include_encrypted
2489              Type: boolean
2490              Default: no
2491
2492              Controls  whether  or  not  Mutt  includes  separately encrypted
2493              attachment contents when replying.
2494
2495              This variable  was  added  to  prevent  accidental  exposure  of
2496              encrypted  contents  when  replying to an attacker.  If a previ‐
2497              ously encrypted message were  attached  by  the  attacker,  they
2498              could  trick  an  unwary recipient into decrypting and including
2499              the message in their reply.
2500
2501
2502
2503       include_onlyfirst
2504              Type: boolean
2505              Default: no
2506
2507              Controls whether or not Mutt includes only the first  attachment
2508              of the message you are replying.
2509
2510
2511
2512       indent_string
2513              Type: string
2514              Default: “> ”
2515
2516              Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a
2517              message to which you are replying.  You are strongly  encouraged
2518              not to change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanat‐
2519              ical netizens.
2520
2521              The value of this option is  ignored  if  $text_flowed  is  set,
2522              because  the  quoting  mechanism  is  strictly  defined for for‐
2523              mat=flowed.
2524
2525              This option is a format string, please see  the  description  of
2526              $index_format for supported printf(3)-style sequences.
2527
2528
2529
2530       index_format
2531              Type: string
2532              Default: “%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&%4c?) %s”
2533
2534              This  variable allows you to customize the message index display
2535              to your personal taste.
2536
2537              “Format strings” are similar to the strings used in the C  func‐
2538              tion  printf(3)  to  format  output  (see  the man page for more
2539              details).  For an explanation of the %? construct, see the $sta‐
2540              tus_format  description.  The following sequences are defined in
2541              Mutt:
2542              %a     address of the author
2543              %A     reply-to  address  (if  present;  otherwise:  address  of
2544                     author)
2545              %b     filename of the original message folder (think mailbox)
2546              %B     the list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder
2547                     name (%b).
2548              %c     number of characters (bytes) in the message (see  format‐
2549                     strings-size)
2550              %C     current message number
2551              %d     date  and  time of the message in the format specified by
2552                     $date_format converted to sender's time zone
2553              %D     date and time of the message in the format  specified  by
2554                     $date_format converted to the local time zone
2555              %e     current message number in thread
2556              %E     number of messages in current thread
2557              %f     sender   (address   +   real   name),   either  From:  or
2558                     Return-Path:
2559              %F     author name, or recipient name if the message is from you
2560              %H     spam attribute(s) of this message
2561              %i     message-id of the current message
2562              %l     number of lines in the unprocessed message (may not  work
2563                     with maildir, mh, and IMAP folders)
2564              %L     If  an address in the “To:” or “Cc:” header field matches
2565                     an address defined by the users “subscribe” command, this
2566                     displays ”To <list-name>”, otherwise the same as %F.
2567              %m     total number of message in the mailbox
2568              %M     number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.
2569              %N     message score
2570              %n     author's real name (or address if missing)
2571              %O     original  save  folder  where  mutt  would  formerly have
2572                     stashed the message: list name or recipient name  if  not
2573                     sent to a list
2574              %P     progress  indicator  for  the built-in pager (how much of
2575                     the file has been displayed)
2576              %r     comma separated list of “To:” recipients
2577              %R     comma separated list of “Cc:” recipients
2578              %s     subject of the message
2579              %S     single    character     status     of     the     message
2580                     (“N”/“O”/“D”/“d”/“!”/“r”/“*”)
2581              %t     “To:” field (recipients)
2582              %T     the appropriate character from the $to_chars string
2583              %u     user (login) name of the author
2584              %v     first name of the author, or the recipient if the message
2585                     is from you
2586              %X     number of attachments (please see the “attachments”  sec‐
2587                     tion for possible speed effects)
2588              %y     “X-Label:” field, if present
2589              %Y     “X-Label:”  field,  if  present, and (1) not at part of a
2590                     thread  tree,  (2)  at  the  top  of  a  thread,  or  (3)
2591                     “X-Label:”   is   different   from   preceding  message's
2592                     “X-Label:”.
2593              %Z     a three character set of message status flags.  the first
2594                     character         is        new/read/replied        flags
2595                     (“n”/“o”/“r”/“O”/“N”).  the second is deleted or  encryp‐
2596                     tion   flags  (“D”/“d”/“S”/“P”/“s”/“K”).   the  third  is
2597                     either tagged/flagged (“*”/“!”), or one of the characters
2598                     listed in $to_chars.
2599              %@name@
2600                     insert  and  evaluate  format-string  from  the  matching
2601                     “index-format-hook” command
2602              %{fmt} the date and time of the message is converted to sender's
2603                     time  zone, and “fmt” is expanded by the library function
2604                     strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
2605              %[fmt] the date and time of the  message  is  converted  to  the
2606                     local  time  zone,  and  “fmt” is expanded by the library
2607                     function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
2608              %(fmt) the local date and time when the  message  was  received.
2609                     “fmt”  is expanded by the library function strftime(3); a
2610                     leading bang disables locales
2611              %<fmt> the current local time. “fmt” is expanded by the  library
2612                     function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales.
2613              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
2614                     ter “X”
2615              %|X    pad to the end of the line with character “X”
2616              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
2617
2618              Note that for mbox/mmdf, “%l” applies to  the  unprocessed  mes‐
2619              sage,  and  for  maildir/mh,  the  value comes from the “Lines:”
2620              header field when present (the meaning is  normally  the  same).
2621              Thus  the  value  depends on the encodings used in the different
2622              parts of the message and has little meaning in practice.
2623
2624              “Soft-fill” deserves some explanation:  Normal  right-justifica‐
2625              tion  will  print everything to the left of the “%>”, displaying
2626              padding and whatever lies to the right only if there's room.  By
2627              contrast, soft-fill gives priority to the right-hand side, guar‐
2628              anteeing space to display it and showing padding only if there's
2629              still  room.  If necessary, soft-fill will eat text leftwards to
2630              make room for rightward text.
2631
2632              Note that these expandos are  supported  in  “save-hook”,  “fcc-
2633              hook”, “fcc-save-hook”, and “index-format-hook”.
2634
2635              They are also supported in the configuration variables $attribu‐
2636              tion, $forward_attribution_intro,  $forward_attribution_trailer,
2637              $forward_format, $indent_string, $message_format, $pager_format,
2638              and $post_indent_string.
2639
2640
2641
2642       ispell
2643              Type: path
2644              Default: “/usr/bin/hunspell”
2645
2646              How to invoke ispell (GNU's spell-checking software).
2647
2648
2649
2650       keep_flagged
2651              Type: boolean
2652              Default: no
2653
2654              If set, read messages marked as flagged will not be  moved  from
2655              your  spool  mailbox  to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a
2656              “mbox-hook” command.
2657
2658
2659
2660       mail_check
2661              Type: number
2662              Default: 5
2663
2664              This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
2665              for new mail. Also see the $timeout variable.
2666
2667
2668
2669       mail_check_recent
2670              Type: boolean
2671              Default: yes
2672
2673              When set, Mutt will only notify you about new mail that has been
2674              received since the last  time  you  opened  the  mailbox.   When
2675              unset,  Mutt will notify you if any new mail exists in the mail‐
2676              box, regardless of whether you have visited it recently.
2677
2678              When $mark_old is set, Mutt does not  consider  the  mailbox  to
2679              contain new mail if only old messages exist.
2680
2681
2682
2683       mail_check_stats
2684              Type: boolean
2685              Default: no
2686
2687              When set, mutt will periodically calculate message statistics of
2688              a mailbox while polling for new mail.  It will check for unread,
2689              flagged,  and  total  message counts.  Because this operation is
2690              more performance intensive, it defaults to unset, and has a sep‐
2691              arate  option,  $mail_check_stats_interval, to control how often
2692              to update these counts.
2693
2694              Message statistics can also be explicitly calculated by invoking
2695              the <check-stats> function.
2696
2697
2698
2699       mail_check_stats_interval
2700              Type: number
2701              Default: 60
2702
2703              When  $mail_check_stats  is  set,  this  variable configures how
2704              often (in seconds) mutt will update message counts.
2705
2706
2707
2708       mailcap_path
2709              Type: string
2710              Default: “”
2711
2712              This variable specifies which files to consult  when  attempting
2713              to  display  MIME  bodies  not  directly supported by Mutt.  The
2714              default value is generated during  startup:  see  the  “mailcap”
2715              section of the manual.
2716
2717
2718
2719       mailcap_sanitize
2720              Type: boolean
2721              Default: yes
2722
2723              If  set,  mutt  will  restrict  possible characters in mailcap %
2724              expandos to a well-defined set of safe characters.  This is  the
2725              safe  setting,  but  we  are not sure it doesn't break some more
2726              advanced MIME stuff.
2727
2728              DON'T CHANGE THIS SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY  SURE  WHAT  YOU
2729              ARE DOING!
2730
2731
2732
2733       maildir_header_cache_verify
2734              Type: boolean
2735              Default: yes
2736
2737              Check  for Maildir unaware programs other than mutt having modi‐
2738              fied maildir files when the header cache is in use.  This incurs
2739              one  stat(2)  per message every time the folder is opened (which
2740              can be very slow for NFS folders).
2741
2742
2743
2744       maildir_trash
2745              Type: boolean
2746              Default: no
2747
2748              If set, messages marked  as  deleted  will  be  saved  with  the
2749              maildir  trashed  flag  instead  of  unlinked.   Note: this only
2750              applies to maildir-style mailboxes.  Setting  it  will  have  no
2751              effect on other mailbox types.
2752
2753
2754
2755       maildir_check_cur
2756              Type: boolean
2757              Default: no
2758
2759              If  set,  mutt  will  poll both the new and cur directories of a
2760              maildir folder for new messages.  This might be useful if  other
2761              programs  interacting  with the folder (e.g. dovecot) are moving
2762              new messages to the  cur  directory.   Note  that  setting  this
2763              option  may slow down polling for new messages in large folders,
2764              since mutt has to scan all cur messages.
2765
2766
2767
2768       mark_macro_prefix
2769              Type: string
2770              Default: “'”
2771
2772              Prefix for macros created using mark-message.  A new macro auto‐
2773              matically  generated  with <mark-message>a will be composed from
2774              this prefix and the letter a.
2775
2776
2777
2778       mark_old
2779              Type: boolean
2780              Default: yes
2781
2782              Controls whether or not mutt marks new unread messages as old if
2783              you  exit a mailbox without reading them.  With this option set,
2784              the next time you start mutt, the messages will show up with  an
2785              “O”  next  to  them  in the index menu, indicating that they are
2786              old.
2787
2788
2789
2790       markers
2791              Type: boolean
2792              Default: yes
2793
2794              Controls the display of wrapped lines in the internal pager.  If
2795              set,  a  “+”  marker  is  displayed  at the beginning of wrapped
2796              lines.
2797
2798              Also see the $smart_wrap variable.
2799
2800
2801
2802       mask
2803              Type: regular expression
2804              Default: “!^\.[^.]”
2805
2806              A regular expression used in the file browser,  optionally  pre‐
2807              ceded  by  the  not  operator “!”.  Only files whose names match
2808              this mask will be shown. The match is always case-sensitive.
2809
2810
2811
2812       mbox
2813              Type: path
2814              Default: “~/mbox”
2815
2816              This  specifies  the  folder  into  which  read  mail  in   your
2817              $spoolfile folder will be appended.
2818
2819              Also see the $move variable.
2820
2821
2822
2823       mbox_type
2824              Type: folder magic
2825              Default: mbox
2826
2827              The  default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be
2828              any of “mbox”, “MMDF”, “MH” and “Maildir”. This is overridden by
2829              the -m command-line option.
2830
2831
2832
2833       menu_context
2834              Type: number
2835              Default: 0
2836
2837              This  variable  controls the number of lines of context that are
2838              given when scrolling through menus. (Similar to $pager_context.)
2839
2840
2841
2842       menu_move_off
2843              Type: boolean
2844              Default: yes
2845
2846              When unset, the bottom entry of menus will never scroll up  past
2847              the  bottom  of  the  screen, unless there are less entries than
2848              lines.  When set, the bottom entry may move off the bottom.
2849
2850
2851
2852       menu_scroll
2853              Type: boolean
2854              Default: no
2855
2856              When set, menus will be scrolled up or down one  line  when  you
2857              attempt  to move across a screen boundary.  If unset, the screen
2858              is cleared and the next or previous page of  the  menu  is  dis‐
2859              played (useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
2860
2861
2862
2863       message_cache_clean
2864              Type: boolean
2865              Default: no
2866
2867              If  set,  mutt  will clean out obsolete entries from the message
2868              cache when the mailbox is synchronized. You probably  only  want
2869              to  set  it every once in a while, since it can be a little slow
2870              (especially for large folders).
2871
2872
2873
2874       message_cachedir
2875              Type: path
2876              Default: “”
2877
2878              Set this to a directory and mutt will cache copies  of  messages
2879              from  your  IMAP  and  POP  servers here. You are free to remove
2880              entries at any time.
2881
2882              When setting this variable to a directory, mutt needs  to  fetch
2883              every  remote  message only once and can perform regular expres‐
2884              sion searches as fast as for local folders.
2885
2886              Also see the $message_cache_clean variable.
2887
2888
2889
2890       message_format
2891              Type: string
2892              Default: “%s”
2893
2894              This is the  string  displayed  in  the  “attachment”  menu  for
2895              attachments  of  type  message/rfc822.   For  a  full listing of
2896              defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on  $index_for‐
2897              mat.
2898
2899
2900
2901       meta_key
2902              Type: boolean
2903              Default: no
2904
2905              If  set,  forces  Mutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit
2906              (bit 8) set as if the user had pressed the Esc key and  whatever
2907              key  remains after having the high bit removed.  For example, if
2908              the key pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf8, then this is treated
2909              as  if  the  user had pressed Esc then “x”.  This is because the
2910              result of removing the high bit from 0xf8 is 0x78, which is  the
2911              ASCII character “x”.
2912
2913
2914
2915       metoo
2916              Type: boolean
2917              Default: no
2918
2919              If  unset,  Mutt  will remove your address (see the “alternates”
2920              command) from the list of recipients when replying to a message.
2921
2922
2923
2924       mh_purge
2925              Type: boolean
2926              Default: no
2927
2928              When unset, mutt will mimic mh's  behavior  and  rename  deleted
2929              messages  to  ,<old  file  name> in mh folders instead of really
2930              deleting them. This leaves the message on disk  but  makes  pro‐
2931              grams  reading the folder ignore it. If the variable is set, the
2932              message files will simply be deleted.
2933
2934              This option is similar to $maildir_trash for Maildir folders.
2935
2936
2937
2938       mh_seq_flagged
2939              Type: string
2940              Default: “flagged”
2941
2942              The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.
2943
2944
2945
2946       mh_seq_replied
2947              Type: string
2948              Default: “replied”
2949
2950              The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.
2951
2952
2953
2954       mh_seq_unseen
2955              Type: string
2956              Default: “unseen”
2957
2958              The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.
2959
2960
2961
2962       mime_forward
2963              Type: quadoption
2964              Default: no
2965
2966              When set, the message you are forwarding will be attached  as  a
2967              separate  message/rfc822  MIME  part  instead of included in the
2968              main body of the message.  This is useful  for  forwarding  MIME
2969              messages so the receiver can properly view the message as it was
2970              delivered to you. If you like to switch  between  MIME  and  not
2971              MIME  from  mail  to  mail,  set  this  variable  to “ask-no” or
2972              “ask-yes”.
2973
2974              Also see $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode.
2975
2976
2977
2978       mime_forward_decode
2979              Type: boolean
2980              Default: no
2981
2982              Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages  into  text/plain
2983              when  forwarding a message while $mime_forward is set. Otherwise
2984              $forward_decode is used instead.
2985
2986
2987
2988       mime_forward_rest
2989              Type: quadoption
2990              Default: yes
2991
2992              When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from  the
2993              attachment  menu,  attachments which cannot be decoded in a rea‐
2994              sonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if
2995              this option is set.
2996
2997
2998
2999       mime_type_query_command
3000              Type: string
3001              Default: “”
3002
3003              This specifies a command to run, to determine the mime type of a
3004              new   attachment   when    composing    a    message.     Unless
3005              $mime_type_query_first  is  set,  this  will  only be run if the
3006              attachment's extension is not found in the mime.types file.
3007
3008              The string may contain a “%s”, which will  be  substituted  with
3009              the attachment filename.  Mutt will add quotes around the string
3010              substituted for “%s” automatically according  to  shell  quoting
3011              rules, so you should avoid adding your own.  If no “%s” is found
3012              in the string, Mutt will append the attachment filename  to  the
3013              end of the string.
3014
3015              The  command  should output a single line containing the attach‐
3016              ment's mime type.
3017
3018              Suggested values are “xdg-mime query filetype” or “file -bi”.
3019
3020
3021
3022       mime_type_query_first
3023              Type: boolean
3024              Default: no
3025
3026              When set, the $mime_type_query_command will be  run  before  the
3027              mime.types lookup.
3028
3029
3030
3031       mix_entry_format
3032              Type: string
3033              Default: “%4n %c %-16s %a”
3034
3035              This  variable  describes  the  format of a remailer line on the
3036              mixmaster chain selection screen.  The following  printf(3)-like
3037              sequences are supported:
3038              %n     The running number on the menu.
3039              %c     Remailer capabilities.
3040              %s     The remailer's short name.
3041              %a     The remailer's e-mail address.
3042
3043
3044       mixmaster
3045              Type: path
3046              Default: “mixmaster”
3047
3048              This  variable contains the path to the Mixmaster binary on your
3049              system.  It is used with various sets of  parameters  to  gather
3050              the  list  of  known  remailers,  and  to finally send a message
3051              through the mixmaster chain.
3052
3053
3054
3055       move
3056              Type: quadoption
3057              Default: no
3058
3059              Controls whether or not Mutt will move read messages  from  your
3060              spool  mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a “mbox-
3061              hook” command.
3062
3063
3064
3065       narrow_tree
3066              Type: boolean
3067              Default: no
3068
3069              This variable, when set, makes the thread tree narrower,  allow‐
3070              ing deeper threads to fit on the screen.
3071
3072
3073
3074       net_inc
3075              Type: number
3076              Default: 10
3077
3078              Operations  that  expect to transfer a large amount of data over
3079              the network will update their progress every $net_inc kilobytes.
3080              If set to 0, no progress messages will be displayed.
3081
3082              See also $read_inc, $write_inc and $net_inc.
3083
3084
3085
3086       new_mail_command
3087              Type: path
3088              Default: “”
3089
3090              If  set,  Mutt  will  call  this  command after a new message is
3091              received.  See the $status_format documentation for  the  values
3092              that can be formatted into this command.
3093
3094
3095
3096       pager
3097              Type: path
3098              Default: “builtin”
3099
3100              This  variable  specifies  which  pager you would like to use to
3101              view messages. The value “builtin” means  to  use  the  built-in
3102              pager,  otherwise  this  variable should specify the pathname of
3103              the external pager you would like to use.
3104
3105              Using an external pager may have some disadvantages:  Additional
3106              keystrokes  are  necessary because you can't call mutt functions
3107              directly from the pager, and screen resizes cause  lines  longer
3108              than the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.
3109
3110              When  using  an  external  pager,  also  see $prompt_after which
3111              defaults set.
3112
3113
3114
3115       pager_context
3116              Type: number
3117              Default: 0
3118
3119              This variable controls the number of lines of context  that  are
3120              given  when displaying the next or previous page in the internal
3121              pager.  By default, Mutt will display the line  after  the  last
3122              one  on  the screen at the top of the next page (0 lines of con‐
3123              text).
3124
3125              This variable also specifies the amount  of  context  given  for
3126              search  results.  If  positive,  this  many  lines will be given
3127              before a match, if 0, the match will be top-aligned.
3128
3129
3130
3131       pager_format
3132              Type: string
3133              Default: “-%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n   %s%*  -- (%P)”
3134
3135              This variable controls the format of the one-line message  “sta‐
3136              tus”  displayed before each message in either the internal or an
3137              external  pager.   The  valid  sequences  are  listed   in   the
3138              $index_format section.
3139
3140
3141
3142       pager_index_lines
3143              Type: number
3144              Default: 0
3145
3146              Determines  the  number  of lines of a mini-index which is shown
3147              when in the pager.  The current message, unless near the top  or
3148              bottom  of the folder, will be roughly one third of the way down
3149              this mini-index, giving the reader the context of a few messages
3150              before  and  after the message.  This is useful, for example, to
3151              determine how many messages remain to be  read  in  the  current
3152              thread.   One  of  the lines is reserved for the status bar from
3153              the index, so a setting of 6 will  only  show  5  lines  of  the
3154              actual index.  A value of 0 results in no index being shown.  If
3155              the number of messages  in  the  current  folder  is  less  than
3156              $pager_index_lines,  then  the index will only use as many lines
3157              as it needs.
3158
3159
3160
3161       pager_stop
3162              Type: boolean
3163              Default: no
3164
3165              When set, the internal-pager will not move to the  next  message
3166              when  you are at the end of a message and invoke the <next-page>
3167              function.
3168
3169
3170
3171       pgp_auto_decode
3172              Type: boolean
3173              Default: no
3174
3175              If set, mutt will automatically attempt to  decrypt  traditional
3176              PGP messages whenever the user performs an operation which ordi‐
3177              narily would result in the contents of the message  being  oper‐
3178              ated  on.   For  example, if the user displays a pgp-traditional
3179              message which has not been manually checked with the <check-tra‐
3180              ditional-pgp>  function,  mutt will automatically check the mes‐
3181              sage for traditional pgp.
3182
3183
3184
3185       pgp_autoinline
3186              Type: boolean
3187              Default: no
3188
3189              This option controls whether  Mutt  generates  old-style  inline
3190              (traditional)  PGP  encrypted  or  signed messages under certain
3191              circumstances.  This can be overridden by use of the  pgp  menu,
3192              when inline is not required.  The GPGME backend does not support
3193              this option.
3194
3195              Note that Mutt might automatically  use  PGP/MIME  for  messages
3196              which consist of more than a single MIME part.  Mutt can be con‐
3197              figured to ask before  sending  PGP/MIME  messages  when  inline
3198              (traditional) would not work.
3199
3200              Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
3201
3202              Also  note  that  using  the  old-style  PGP  message  format is
3203              strongly deprecated.  (PGP only)
3204
3205
3206
3207       pgp_check_exit
3208              Type: boolean
3209              Default: yes
3210
3211              If set, mutt will check the exit code of the PGP subprocess when
3212              signing or encrypting.  A non-zero exit code means that the sub‐
3213              process failed.  (PGP only)
3214
3215
3216
3217       pgp_check_gpg_decrypt_status_fd
3218              Type: boolean
3219              Default: yes
3220
3221              If set, mutt will check the status  file  descriptor  output  of
3222              $pgp_decrypt_command  and  $pgp_decode_command  for GnuPG status
3223              codes indicating successful decryption.  This will check for the
3224              presence  of  DECRYPTION_OKAY, absence of DECRYPTION_FAILED, and
3225              that all  PLAINTEXT  occurs  between  the  BEGIN_DECRYPTION  and
3226              END_DECRYPTION status codes.
3227
3228              If  unset,  mutt will instead match the status fd output against
3229              $pgp_decryption_okay.  (PGP only)
3230
3231
3232
3233       pgp_clearsign_command
3234              Type: string
3235              Default: “”
3236
3237              This format is used to create  an  old-style  “clearsigned”  PGP
3238              message.   Note  that  the use of this format is strongly depre‐
3239              cated.
3240
3241              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3242              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3243
3244
3245
3246       pgp_decode_command
3247              Type: string
3248              Default: “”
3249
3250              This  format strings specifies a command which is used to decode
3251              application/pgp attachments.
3252
3253              The PGP command formats have their  own  set  of  printf(3)-like
3254              sequences:
3255              %p     Expands  to  PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is needed, to
3256                     an empty string otherwise. Note: This may be used with  a
3257                     %? construct.
3258              %f     Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
3259              %s     Expands  to  the  name of a file containing the signature
3260                     part
3261                                of a multipart/signed attachment when  verify‐
3262                     ing it.
3263              %a     The  value of $pgp_sign_as if set, otherwise the value of
3264                     $pgp_default_key.
3265              %r     One or more key IDs (or fingerprints if available).
3266
3267              For examples on how to configure these formats for  the  various
3268              versions  of  PGP which are floating around, see the pgp and gpg
3269              sample configuration files in the  samples/  subdirectory  which
3270              has  been  installed on your system alongside the documentation.
3271              (PGP only)
3272
3273
3274
3275       pgp_decrypt_command
3276              Type: string
3277              Default: “”
3278
3279              This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message.
3280
3281              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3282              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3283
3284
3285
3286       pgp_decryption_okay
3287              Type: regular expression
3288              Default: “”
3289
3290              If  you assign text to this variable, then an encrypted PGP mes‐
3291              sage is only considered successfully  decrypted  if  the  output
3292              from  $pgp_decrypt_command  contains  the text.  This is used to
3293              protect  against  a  spoofed  encrypted  message,  with   multi‐
3294              part/encrypted  headers but containing a block that is not actu‐
3295              ally encrypted.  (e.g. simply signed and ascii armored text).
3296
3297              Note that if $pgp_check_gpg_decrypt_status_fd is set, this vari‐
3298              able is ignored.  (PGP only)
3299
3300
3301
3302       pgp_default_key
3303              Type: string
3304              Default: “”
3305
3306              This is the default key-pair to use for PGP operations.  It will
3307              be   used   for   encryption    (see    $postpone_encrypt    and
3308              $pgp_self_encrypt).
3309
3310              It will also be used for signing unless $pgp_sign_as is set.
3311
3312              The  (now  deprecated)  pgp_self_encrypt_as is an alias for this
3313              variable, and should no longer be used.  (PGP only)
3314
3315
3316
3317       pgp_encrypt_only_command
3318              Type: string
3319              Default: “”
3320
3321              This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
3322
3323              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3324              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3325
3326
3327
3328       pgp_encrypt_sign_command
3329              Type: string
3330              Default: “”
3331
3332              This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part.
3333
3334              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3335              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3336
3337
3338
3339       pgp_entry_format
3340              Type: string
3341              Default: “%4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u”
3342
3343              This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu
3344              to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_format,
3345              but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
3346              %n     number
3347              %k     key id
3348              %u     user id
3349              %a     algorithm
3350              %l     key length
3351              %f     flags
3352              %c     capabilities
3353              %t     trust/validity of the key-uid association
3354              %[<s>] date of the key where <s> is an strftime(3) expression
3355
3356              (PGP only)
3357
3358
3359
3360       pgp_export_command
3361              Type: string
3362              Default: “”
3363
3364              This command is used to export a public key from the user's  key
3365              ring.
3366
3367              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3368              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3369
3370
3371
3372       pgp_getkeys_command
3373              Type: string
3374              Default: “”
3375
3376              This command is invoked whenever Mutt needs to fetch the  public
3377              key  associated  with  an  email address.  Of the sequences sup‐
3378              ported by $pgp_decode_command, %r  is  the  only  printf(3)-like
3379              sequence  used  with  this  format.   Note that in this case, %r
3380              expands to the email address, not the public key ID (the key  ID
3381              is  unknown,  which is why Mutt is invoking this command).  (PGP
3382              only)
3383
3384
3385
3386       pgp_good_sign
3387              Type: regular expression
3388              Default: “”
3389
3390              If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP  signature  is
3391              only  considered verified if the output from $pgp_verify_command
3392              contains the text. Use this variable if the exit code  from  the
3393              command is 0 even for bad signatures.  (PGP only)
3394
3395
3396
3397       pgp_ignore_subkeys
3398              Type: boolean
3399              Default: yes
3400
3401              Setting this variable will cause Mutt to ignore OpenPGP subkeys.
3402              Instead, the principal key will inherit the  subkeys'  capabili‐
3403              ties.   Unset this if you want to play interesting key selection
3404              games.  (PGP only)
3405
3406
3407
3408       pgp_import_command
3409              Type: string
3410              Default: “”
3411
3412              This command is used to import a key from  a  message  into  the
3413              user's public key ring.
3414
3415              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3416              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3417
3418
3419
3420       pgp_list_pubring_command
3421              Type: string
3422              Default: “”
3423
3424              This command is used to list the  public  key  ring's  contents.
3425              The output format must be analogous to the one used by
3426
3427
3428              gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
3429
3430
3431              This  format is also generated by the mutt_pgpring utility which
3432              comes with mutt.
3433
3434              Note: gpg's fixed-list-mode option should not be used.  It  pro‐
3435              duces  a  different date format which may result in mutt showing
3436              incorrect key generation dates.
3437
3438              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3439              possible  printf(3)-like  sequences.  Note that in this case, %r
3440              expands to the search string, which is a list  of  one  or  more
3441              quoted values such as email address, name, or keyid.  (PGP only)
3442
3443
3444
3445       pgp_list_secring_command
3446              Type: string
3447              Default: “”
3448
3449              This  command  is  used  to list the secret key ring's contents.
3450              The output format must be analogous to the one used by:
3451
3452
3453              gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
3454
3455
3456              This format is also generated by the mutt_pgpring utility  which
3457              comes with mutt.
3458
3459              Note:  gpg's fixed-list-mode option should not be used.  It pro‐
3460              duces a different date format which may result in  mutt  showing
3461              incorrect key generation dates.
3462
3463              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3464              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  Note that in this  case,  %r
3465              expands  to  the  search  string, which is a list of one or more
3466              quoted values such as email address, name, or keyid.  (PGP only)
3467
3468
3469
3470       pgp_long_ids
3471              Type: boolean
3472              Default: yes
3473
3474              If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs, if unset use the normal  32  bit
3475              key  IDs.  NOTE: Internally, Mutt has transitioned to using fin‐
3476              gerprints (or long key IDs as a fallback).  This option now only
3477              controls  the display of key IDs in the key selection menu and a
3478              few other places.  (PGP only)
3479
3480
3481
3482       pgp_mime_auto
3483              Type: quadoption
3484              Default: ask-yes
3485
3486              This option controls whether Mutt will prompt you for  automati‐
3487              cally  sending  a (signed/encrypted) message using PGP/MIME when
3488              inline (traditional) fails (for any reason).
3489
3490              Also note  that  using  the  old-style  PGP  message  format  is
3491              strongly deprecated.  (PGP only)
3492
3493
3494
3495       pgp_replyinline
3496              Type: boolean
3497              Default: no
3498
3499              Setting  this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cre‐
3500              ate an inline (traditional) message when replying to  a  message
3501              which is PGP encrypted/signed inline.  This can be overridden by
3502              use of the pgp menu, when inline is not required.   This  option
3503              does  not  automatically  detect  if the (replied-to) message is
3504              inline; instead it  relies  on  Mutt  internals  for  previously
3505              checked/flagged messages.
3506
3507              Note  that  Mutt  might  automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
3508              which consist of more than a single MIME part.  Mutt can be con‐
3509              figured  to  ask  before  sending  PGP/MIME messages when inline
3510              (traditional) would not work.
3511
3512              Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
3513
3514              Also note  that  using  the  old-style  PGP  message  format  is
3515              strongly deprecated.  (PGP only)
3516
3517
3518
3519       pgp_retainable_sigs
3520              Type: boolean
3521              Default: no
3522
3523              If  set,  signed  and  encrypted messages will consist of nested
3524              multipart/signed and multipart/encrypted body parts.
3525
3526              This is useful for applications like encrypted and signed  mail‐
3527              ing  lists,  where  the outer layer (multipart/encrypted) can be
3528              easily  removed,  while  the  inner  multipart/signed  part   is
3529              retained.  (PGP only)
3530
3531
3532
3533       pgp_self_encrypt
3534              Type: boolean
3535              Default: yes
3536
3537              When  set,  PGP  encrypted messages will also be encrypted using
3538              the key in $pgp_default_key.  (PGP only)
3539
3540
3541
3542       pgp_show_unusable
3543              Type: boolean
3544              Default: yes
3545
3546              If set, mutt will display non-usable keys on the PGP key  selec‐
3547              tion  menu.   This  includes  keys which have been revoked, have
3548              expired, or have been marked as “disabled” by  the  user.   (PGP
3549              only)
3550
3551
3552
3553       pgp_sign_as
3554              Type: string
3555              Default: “”
3556
3557              If  you have a different key pair to use for signing, you should
3558              set this to the signing key.  Most people will only need to  set
3559              $pgp_default_key.  It is recommended that you use the keyid form
3560              to specify your key (e.g. 0x00112233).  (PGP only)
3561
3562
3563
3564       pgp_sign_command
3565              Type: string
3566              Default: “”
3567
3568              This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for  a
3569              multipart/signed PGP/MIME body part.
3570
3571              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3572              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3573
3574
3575
3576       pgp_sort_keys
3577              Type: sort order
3578              Default: address
3579
3580              Specifies how the entries in the pgp menu are sorted.  The  fol‐
3581              lowing are legal values:
3582              address
3583                     sort alphabetically by user id
3584              keyid  sort alphabetically by key id
3585              date   sort by key creation date
3586              trust  sort by the trust of the key
3587
3588              If  you prefer reverse order of the above values, prefix it with
3589              “reverse-”.  (PGP only)
3590
3591
3592
3593       pgp_strict_enc
3594              Type: boolean
3595              Default: yes
3596
3597              If set, Mutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed  messages
3598              as  quoted-printable.   Please note that unsetting this variable
3599              may lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only
3600              change this if you know what you are doing.  (PGP only)
3601
3602
3603
3604       pgp_timeout
3605              Type: number (long)
3606              Default: 300
3607
3608              The  number  of  seconds  after  which  a cached passphrase will
3609              expire if not used.  (PGP only)
3610
3611
3612
3613       pgp_use_gpg_agent
3614              Type: boolean
3615              Default: no
3616
3617              If set, mutt expects a gpg-agent(1) process will handle  private
3618              key  passphrase  prompts.   If  unset,  mutt will prompt for the
3619              passphrase and pass it via stdin to the pgp command.
3620
3621              Note that as of version 2.1, GnuPG automatically spawns an agent
3622              and requires the agent be used for passphrase management.  Since
3623              that  version  is  increasingly  prevalent,  this  variable  now
3624              defaults set.
3625
3626              Mutt  works with a GUI or curses pinentry program.  A TTY pinen‐
3627              try should not be used.
3628
3629              If you are using an older version of GnuPG without an agent run‐
3630              ning,  or  another encryption program without an agent, you will
3631              need to unset this variable.  (PGP only)
3632
3633
3634
3635       pgp_verify_command
3636              Type: string
3637              Default: “”
3638
3639              This command is used to verify PGP signatures.
3640
3641              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3642              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3643
3644
3645
3646       pgp_verify_key_command
3647              Type: string
3648              Default: “”
3649
3650              This  command  is  used  to  verify key information from the key
3651              selection menu.
3652
3653              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3654              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
3655
3656
3657
3658       pipe_decode
3659              Type: boolean
3660              Default: no
3661
3662              Used in connection with the <pipe-message> command.  When unset,
3663              Mutt will pipe the messages without any preprocessing. When set,
3664              Mutt  will  weed headers and will attempt to decode the messages
3665              first.
3666
3667
3668
3669       pipe_sep
3670              Type: string
3671              Default: “\n”
3672
3673              The separator to add between messages  when  piping  a  list  of
3674              tagged messages to an external Unix command.
3675
3676
3677
3678       pipe_split
3679              Type: boolean
3680              Default: no
3681
3682              Used  in  connection  with the <pipe-message> function following
3683              <tag-prefix>.  If this variable is unset, when piping a list  of
3684              tagged messages Mutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe
3685              them all concatenated.  When set, Mutt will  pipe  the  messages
3686              one by one.  In both cases the messages are piped in the current
3687              sorted order, and the $pipe_sep separator is  added  after  each
3688              message.
3689
3690
3691
3692       pop_auth_try_all
3693              Type: boolean
3694              Default: yes
3695
3696              If  set,  Mutt  will  try  all available authentication methods.
3697              When unset, Mutt will only fall  back  to  other  authentication
3698              methods  if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is
3699              available but authentication fails, Mutt will not connect to the
3700              POP server.
3701
3702
3703
3704       pop_authenticators
3705              Type: string
3706              Default: “”
3707
3708              This  is  a  colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
3709              may attempt to use to log in to an POP server, in the order mutt
3710              should  try  them.   Authentication  methods  are either “user”,
3711              “apop” or any SASL mechanism,  e.g.  “digest-md5”,  “gssapi”  or
3712              “cram-md5”.   This option is case-insensitive. If this option is
3713              unset (the default) mutt will  try  all  available  methods,  in
3714              order from most-secure to least-secure.
3715
3716              Example:
3717
3718
3719              set pop_authenticators=”digest-md5:apop:user”
3720
3721
3722
3723
3724       pop_checkinterval
3725              Type: number
3726              Default: 60
3727
3728              This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
3729              for new mail in the currently selected mailbox if it  is  a  POP
3730              mailbox.
3731
3732
3733
3734       pop_delete
3735              Type: quadoption
3736              Default: ask-no
3737
3738              If  set,  Mutt will delete successfully downloaded messages from
3739              the POP server  when  using  the  <fetch-mail>  function.   When
3740              unset,  Mutt  will  download messages but also leave them on the
3741              POP server.
3742
3743
3744
3745       pop_host
3746              Type: string
3747              Default: “”
3748
3749              The name of your POP server for the <fetch-mail> function.   You
3750              can  also  specify  an  alternative port, username and password,
3751              i.e.:
3752
3753
3754              [pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]
3755
3756
3757              where “[...]” denotes an optional part.
3758
3759
3760
3761       pop_last
3762              Type: boolean
3763              Default: no
3764
3765              If this variable is set, mutt will try to  use  the  “LAST”  POP
3766              command  for retrieving only unread messages from the POP server
3767              when using the <fetch-mail> function.
3768
3769
3770
3771       pop_oauth_refresh_command
3772              Type: string
3773              Default: “”
3774
3775              The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
3776              rizing your connection to your POP server.  This command will be
3777              run on  every  connection  attempt  that  uses  the  OAUTHBEARER
3778              authentication mechanism.  See “oauth” for details.
3779
3780
3781
3782       pop_pass
3783              Type: string
3784              Default: “”
3785
3786              Specifies  the  password  for  your POP account.  If unset, Mutt
3787              will prompt you for your password when you open a POP mailbox.
3788
3789              Warning: you should only use this  option  when  you  are  on  a
3790              fairly  secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
3791              trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
3792
3793
3794
3795       pop_reconnect
3796              Type: quadoption
3797              Default: ask-yes
3798
3799              Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect  to  the  POP
3800              server if the connection is lost.
3801
3802
3803
3804       pop_user
3805              Type: string
3806              Default: “”
3807
3808              Your login name on the POP server.
3809
3810              This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
3811
3812
3813
3814       post_indent_string
3815              Type: string
3816              Default: “”
3817
3818              Similar  to  the  $attribution  variable,  Mutt will append this
3819              string after the inclusion of a message which is  being  replied
3820              to.   For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see
3821              the section on $index_format.
3822
3823
3824
3825       postpone
3826              Type: quadoption
3827              Default: ask-yes
3828
3829              Controls whether or not messages are  saved  in  the  $postponed
3830              mailbox when you elect not to send immediately.
3831
3832              Also see the $recall variable.
3833
3834
3835
3836       postponed
3837              Type: path
3838              Default: “~/postponed”
3839
3840              Mutt  allows  you  to  indefinitely “postpone sending a message”
3841              which you are editing.  When you choose to postpone  a  message,
3842              Mutt saves it in the mailbox specified by this variable.
3843
3844              Also see the $postpone variable.
3845
3846
3847
3848       postpone_encrypt
3849              Type: boolean
3850              Default: no
3851
3852              When set, postponed messages that are marked for encryption will
3853              be self-encrypted.  Mutt will first try  to  encrypt  using  the
3854              value  specified  in $pgp_default_key or $smime_default_key.  If
3855              those  are  not  set,  it  will  try   the   deprecated   $post‐
3856              pone_encrypt_as.  (Crypto only)
3857
3858
3859
3860       postpone_encrypt_as
3861              Type: string
3862              Default: “”
3863
3864              This  is  a deprecated fall-back variable for $postpone_encrypt.
3865              Please  use  $pgp_default_key  or  $smime_default_key.   (Crypto
3866              only)
3867
3868
3869
3870       preconnect
3871              Type: string
3872              Default: “”
3873
3874              If  set,  a shell command to be executed if mutt fails to estab‐
3875              lish a connection to the server. This is useful for  setting  up
3876              secure  connections,  e.g. with ssh(1). If the command returns a
3877              nonzero status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:
3878
3879
3880              set preconnect=”ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net \
3881              sleep 20 < /dev/null > /dev/null”
3882
3883
3884              Mailbox “foo” on “mailhost.net” can now be reached  as  “{local‐
3885              host:1234}foo”.
3886
3887              Note:  For  this  example to work, you must be able to log in to
3888              the remote machine without having to enter a password.
3889
3890
3891
3892       print
3893              Type: quadoption
3894              Default: ask-no
3895
3896              Controls whether or not Mutt really prints  messages.   This  is
3897              set to “ask-no” by default, because some people accidentally hit
3898              “p” often.
3899
3900
3901
3902       print_command
3903              Type: path
3904              Default: “lpr”
3905
3906              This specifies the command pipe that should  be  used  to  print
3907              messages.
3908
3909
3910
3911       print_decode
3912              Type: boolean
3913              Default: yes
3914
3915              Used  in  connection  with the <print-message> command.  If this
3916              option is set, the message is decoded before it is passed to the
3917              external command specified by $print_command.  If this option is
3918              unset, no processing will be applied to the message when  print‐
3919              ing  it.  The latter setting may be useful if you are using some
3920              advanced printer filter which is able to properly format  e-mail
3921              messages for printing.
3922
3923
3924
3925       print_split
3926              Type: boolean
3927              Default: no
3928
3929              Used  in  connection  with the <print-message> command.  If this
3930              option is set, the command specified by $print_command  is  exe‐
3931              cuted  once  for  each  message which is to be printed.  If this
3932              option is unset, the command specified by $print_command is exe‐
3933              cuted  only  once, and all the messages are concatenated, with a
3934              form feed as the message separator.
3935
3936              Those who use the enscript(1) program's mail-printing mode  will
3937              most likely want to set this option.
3938
3939
3940
3941       prompt_after
3942              Type: boolean
3943              Default: yes
3944
3945              If  you use an external $pager, setting this variable will cause
3946              Mutt to prompt you for a command when  the  pager  exits  rather
3947              than returning to the index menu.  If unset, Mutt will return to
3948              the index menu when the external pager exits.
3949
3950
3951
3952       query_command
3953              Type: path
3954              Default: “”
3955
3956              This specifies the  command  Mutt  will  use  to  make  external
3957              address  queries.   The string may contain a “%s”, which will be
3958              substituted with the query string the user types.  Mutt will add
3959              quotes  around  the  string  substituted  for “%s” automatically
3960              according to shell quoting rules, so  you  should  avoid  adding
3961              your  own.   If no “%s” is found in the string, Mutt will append
3962              the user's query to the end of the string.  See “query” for more
3963              information.
3964
3965
3966
3967       query_format
3968              Type: string
3969              Default: “%4c %t %-25.25a %-25.25n %?e?(%e)?”
3970
3971              This variable describes the format of the “query” menu. The fol‐
3972              lowing printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
3973              %a     destination address
3974              %c     current entry number
3975              %e     extra information *
3976              %n     destination name
3977              %t     “*” if current entry is tagged, a space otherwise
3978              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
3979              %|X    pad to the end of the line with “X”
3980              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
3981
3982              For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the  $index_format  docu‐
3983              mentation.
3984
3985              * = can be optionally printed if nonzero, see the $status_format
3986              documentation.
3987
3988
3989
3990       quit
3991              Type: quadoption
3992              Default: yes
3993
3994              This variable controls whether “quit” and “exit”  actually  quit
3995              from mutt.  If this option is set, they do quit, if it is unset,
3996              they have no effect, and if it is set to ask-yes or ask-no,  you
3997              are prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.
3998
3999
4000
4001       quote_regexp
4002              Type: regular expression
4003              Default: “^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+”
4004
4005              A  regular  expression  used  in the internal pager to determine
4006              quoted sections of text in the body of a  message.  Quoted  text
4007              may  be  filtered out using the <toggle-quoted> command, or col‐
4008              ored according to the “color quoted” family of directives.
4009
4010              Higher levels of quoting  may  be  colored  differently  (“color
4011              quoted1”,  “color  quoted2”,  etc.). The quoting level is deter‐
4012              mined by removing the last character from the matched  text  and
4013              recursively  reapplying the regular expression until it fails to
4014              produce a match.
4015
4016              Match detection  may  be  overridden  by  the  $smileys  regular
4017              expression.
4018
4019
4020
4021       read_inc
4022              Type: number
4023              Default: 10
4024
4025              If  set  to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display which mes‐
4026              sage it is currently on when reading a mailbox or when  perform‐
4027              ing  search  actions  such  as  search and limit. The message is
4028              printed after this many messages  have  been  read  or  searched
4029              (e.g.,  if  set  to  25, Mutt will print a message when it is at
4030              message 25, and then again when it gets to  message  50).   This
4031              variable is meant to indicate progress when reading or searching
4032              large mailboxes which may take some time.  When set to 0, only a
4033              single message will appear before the reading the mailbox.
4034
4035              Also  see  the  $write_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and
4036              the “tuning” section of the manual  for  performance  considera‐
4037              tions.
4038
4039
4040
4041       read_only
4042              Type: boolean
4043              Default: no
4044
4045              If set, all folders are opened in read-only mode.
4046
4047
4048
4049       realname
4050              Type: string
4051              Default: “”
4052
4053              This variable specifies what “real” or “personal” name should be
4054              used when sending messages.
4055
4056              By default, this is the GECOS field from /etc/passwd.  Note that
4057              this variable will not be used when the user has set a real name
4058              in the $from variable.
4059
4060
4061
4062       recall
4063              Type: quadoption
4064              Default: ask-yes
4065
4066              Controls whether or not Mutt  recalls  postponed  messages  when
4067              composing a new message.
4068
4069              Setting  this  variable to yes is not generally useful, and thus
4070              not recommended.  Note that the <recall-message> function can be
4071              used to manually recall postponed messages.
4072
4073              Also see $postponed variable.
4074
4075
4076
4077       record
4078              Type: path
4079              Default: “~/sent”
4080
4081              This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should
4082              be appended.  (This is meant as the primary method for saving  a
4083              copy  of  your messages, but another way to do this is using the
4084              “my_hdr” command to  create  a  “Bcc:”  field  with  your  email
4085              address in it.)
4086
4087              The  value  of  $record  is  overridden  by  the $force_name and
4088              $save_name variables, and  the  “fcc-hook”  command.   Also  see
4089              $copy and $write_bcc.
4090
4091
4092
4093       reflow_space_quotes
4094              Type: boolean
4095              Default: yes
4096
4097              This  option controls how quotes from format=flowed messages are
4098              displayed in the pager  and  when  replying  (with  $text_flowed
4099              unset).   When  set, this option adds spaces after each level of
4100              quote marks, turning ”>>>foo” into ”> > > foo”.
4101
4102              Note: If $reflow_text is  unset,  this  option  has  no  effect.
4103              Also,  this  option does not affect replies when $text_flowed is
4104              set.
4105
4106
4107
4108       reflow_text
4109              Type: boolean
4110              Default: yes
4111
4112              When set, Mutt will  reformat  paragraphs  in  text/plain  parts
4113              marked  format=flowed.   If  unset, Mutt will display paragraphs
4114              unaltered from how they appear in the message body.  See RFC3676
4115              for details on the format=flowed format.
4116
4117              Also see $reflow_wrap, and $wrap.
4118
4119
4120
4121       reflow_wrap
4122              Type: number
4123              Default: 78
4124
4125              This  variable  controls the maximum paragraph width when refor‐
4126              matting text/plain parts when $reflow_text  is  set.   When  the
4127              value  is  0, paragraphs will be wrapped at the terminal's right
4128              margin.  A positive value sets the paragraph width  relative  to
4129              the left margin.  A negative value set the paragraph width rela‐
4130              tive to the right margin.
4131
4132              Also see $wrap.
4133
4134
4135
4136       reply_regexp
4137              Type: regular expression
4138              Default: “^(re([\[0-9\]+])*|aw):[ \t]*”
4139
4140              A regular expression  used  to  recognize  reply  messages  when
4141              threading  and  replying.  The  default value corresponds to the
4142              English ”Re:” and the German ”Aw:”.
4143
4144
4145
4146       reply_self
4147              Type: boolean
4148              Default: no
4149
4150              If unset and you are replying to a message  sent  by  you,  Mutt
4151              will  assume  that  you  want to reply to the recipients of that
4152              message rather than to yourself.
4153
4154              Also see the “alternates” command.
4155
4156
4157
4158       reply_to
4159              Type: quadoption
4160              Default: ask-yes
4161
4162              If set, when replying to a message, Mutt will  use  the  address
4163              listed  in  the  Reply-to: header as the recipient of the reply.
4164              If unset, it will use the address  in  the  From:  header  field
4165              instead.   This option is useful for reading a mailing list that
4166              sets the Reply-To: header field to the list address and you want
4167              to send a private message to the author of a message.
4168
4169
4170
4171       resolve
4172              Type: boolean
4173              Default: yes
4174
4175              When  set, the cursor will be automatically advanced to the next
4176              (possibly undeleted) message whenever a  command  that  modifies
4177              the current message is executed.
4178
4179
4180
4181       resume_draft_files
4182              Type: boolean
4183              Default: no
4184
4185              If  set,  draft  files (specified by -H on the command line) are
4186              processed  similarly  to  when  resuming  a  postponed  message.
4187              Recipients  are  not prompted for; send-hooks are not evaluated;
4188              no alias expansion takes place; user-defined headers and  signa‐
4189              tures are not added to the message.
4190
4191
4192
4193       resume_edited_draft_files
4194              Type: boolean
4195              Default: yes
4196
4197              If  set, draft files previously edited (via -E -H on the command
4198              line) will have $resume_draft_files automatically set when  they
4199              are used as a draft file again.
4200
4201              The  first  time  a draft file is saved, mutt will add a header,
4202              X-Mutt-Resume-Draft to the saved file.  The next time the  draft
4203              file  is  read  in,  if  mutt  sees  the  header,  it  will  set
4204              $resume_draft_files.
4205
4206              This  option  is  designed  to  prevent   multiple   signatures,
4207              user-defined  headers,  and  other processing effects from being
4208              made multiple times to the draft file.
4209
4210
4211
4212       reverse_alias
4213              Type: boolean
4214              Default: no
4215
4216              This variable controls whether or  not  Mutt  will  display  the
4217              “personal”  name from your aliases in the index menu if it finds
4218              an alias that matches the message's sender.  For example, if you
4219              have the following alias:
4220
4221
4222              alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
4223
4224
4225              and then you receive mail which contains the following header:
4226
4227
4228              From: abd30425@somewhere.net
4229
4230
4231              It would be displayed in the index menu as “Joe User” instead of
4232              “abd30425@somewhere.net.”  This  is  useful  when  the  person's
4233              e-mail address is not human friendly.
4234
4235
4236
4237       reverse_name
4238              Type: boolean
4239              Default: no
4240
4241              It  may  sometimes  arrive  that  you  receive mail to a certain
4242              machine, move the messages to another machine, and reply to some
4243              the  messages  from there.  If this variable is set, the default
4244              From: line of the reply messages  is  built  using  the  address
4245              where  you  received  the  messages  you are replying to if that
4246              address matches your “alternates”.  If the variable is unset, or
4247              the  address that would be used doesn't match your “alternates”,
4248              the From: line will use your address on the current machine.
4249
4250              Also see the “alternates” command and $reverse_realname.
4251
4252
4253
4254       reverse_realname
4255              Type: boolean
4256              Default: yes
4257
4258              This variable fine-tunes the behavior of the $reverse_name  fea‐
4259              ture.
4260
4261              When  it  is  unset,  Mutt  will  remove the real name part of a
4262              matching address.  This allows the  use  of  the  email  address
4263              without  having to also use what the sender put in the real name
4264              field.
4265
4266              When it is set, Mutt will use the matching address as-is.
4267
4268              In either case, a missing real name will be filled in afterwards
4269              using the value of $realname.
4270
4271
4272
4273       rfc2047_parameters
4274              Type: boolean
4275              Default: no
4276
4277              When this variable is set, Mutt will decode RFC2047-encoded MIME
4278              parameters. You want to set this variable when mutt suggests you
4279              to save attachments to files named like:
4280
4281
4282              =?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
4283
4284
4285              When  this  variable  is  set interactively, the change won't be
4286              active until you change folders.
4287
4288              Note that this use of RFC2047's encoding is  explicitly  prohib‐
4289              ited by the standard, but nevertheless encountered in the wild.
4290
4291              Also  note  that setting this parameter will not have the effect
4292              that mutt generates this kind of encoding.  Instead,  mutt  will
4293              unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC2231.
4294
4295
4296
4297       save_address
4298              Type: boolean
4299              Default: no
4300
4301              If set, mutt will take the sender's full address when choosing a
4302              default folder for saving a mail. If $save_name  or  $force_name
4303              is  set  too, the selection of the Fcc folder will be changed as
4304              well.
4305
4306
4307
4308       save_empty
4309              Type: boolean
4310              Default: yes
4311
4312              When unset, mailboxes which contain no saved  messages  will  be
4313              removed  when closed (the exception is $spoolfile which is never
4314              removed).  If set, mailboxes are never removed.
4315
4316              Note: This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders, Mutt does  not
4317              delete MH and Maildir directories.
4318
4319
4320
4321       save_history
4322              Type: number
4323              Default: 0
4324
4325              This  variable  controls  the size of the history (per category)
4326              saved in the $history_file file.
4327
4328
4329
4330       save_name
4331              Type: boolean
4332              Default: no
4333
4334              This variable controls  how  copies  of  outgoing  messages  are
4335              saved.   When set, a check is made to see if a mailbox specified
4336              by the recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a
4337              mailbox  in  the $folder directory with the username part of the
4338              recipient address).  If the mailbox exists, the outgoing message
4339              will be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to
4340              the $record mailbox.
4341
4342              Also see the $force_name variable.
4343
4344
4345
4346       score
4347              Type: boolean
4348              Default: yes
4349
4350              When this variable is unset, scoring is turned off.  This can be
4351              useful  to  selectively disable scoring for certain folders when
4352              the $score_threshold_delete variable and related are used.
4353
4354
4355
4356       score_threshold_delete
4357              Type: number
4358              Default: -1
4359
4360              Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
4361              the value of this variable are automatically marked for deletion
4362              by mutt.  Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal  to
4363              zero,  the  default  setting  of this variable will never mark a
4364              message for deletion.
4365
4366
4367
4368       score_threshold_flag
4369              Type: number
4370              Default: 9999
4371
4372              Messages which have been assigned a score greater than or  equal
4373              to this variable's value are automatically marked ”flagged”.
4374
4375
4376
4377       score_threshold_read
4378              Type: number
4379              Default: -1
4380
4381              Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
4382              the value of this variable are automatically marked as  read  by
4383              mutt.   Since  mutt  scores  are always greater than or equal to
4384              zero, the default setting of this variable  will  never  mark  a
4385              message read.
4386
4387
4388
4389       search_context
4390              Type: number
4391              Default: 0
4392
4393              For the pager, this variable specifies the number of lines shown
4394              before search  results.  By  default,  search  results  will  be
4395              top-aligned.
4396
4397
4398
4399       send_charset
4400              Type: string
4401              Default: “us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8”
4402
4403              A  colon-delimited list of character sets for outgoing messages.
4404              Mutt will use the first character set into which the text can be
4405              converted  exactly.   If  your  $charset is not “iso-8859-1” and
4406              recipients may  not  understand  “UTF-8”,  it  is  advisable  to
4407              include  in the list an appropriate widely used standard charac‐
4408              ter set (such as “iso-8859-2”, “koi8-r” or “iso-2022-jp”) either
4409              instead of or after “iso-8859-1”.
4410
4411              In  case the text cannot be converted into one of these exactly,
4412              mutt uses $charset as a fallback.
4413
4414
4415
4416       send_multipart_alternative
4417              Type: quadoption
4418              Default: no
4419
4420              If set, Mutt will generate a multipart/alternative container and
4421              an  alternative  part  using  the  filter  script  specified  in
4422              $send_multipart_alternative_filter.  See the section “MIME  Mul‐
4423              tipart/Alternative” (alternative-order).
4424
4425              Note  that enabling multipart/alternative is not compatible with
4426              inline PGP encryption.  Mutt will prompt to use PGP/MIME in that
4427              case.
4428
4429
4430
4431       send_multipart_alternative_filter
4432              Type: path
4433              Default: “”
4434
4435              This  specifies  a  filter  script,  which will convert the main
4436              (composed) message of the email to an alternative  format.   The
4437              message  will be piped to the filter's stdin.  The expected out‐
4438              put of the filter is the generated mime  type,  e.g.  text/html,
4439              followed  by  a blank line, and then the converted content.  See
4440              the section “MIME Multipart/Alternative” (alternative-order).
4441
4442
4443
4444       sendmail
4445              Type: path
4446              Default: “/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi”
4447
4448              Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by
4449              Mutt.   Mutt expects that the specified program interprets addi‐
4450              tional arguments  as  recipient  addresses.   Mutt  appends  all
4451              recipients after adding a -- delimiter (if not already present).
4452              Additional flags, such as for $use_8bitmime, $use_envelope_from,
4453              $dsn_notify, or $dsn_return will be added before the delimiter.
4454
4455              See also: $write_bcc.
4456
4457
4458
4459       sendmail_wait
4460              Type: number
4461              Default: 0
4462
4463              Specifies  the  number  of  seconds  to  wait  for the $sendmail
4464              process to finish before giving up and putting delivery  in  the
4465              background.
4466
4467              Mutt interprets the value of this variable as follows:
4468              >0     number  of  seconds to wait for sendmail to finish before
4469                     continuing
4470              0      wait forever for sendmail to finish
4471              <0     always put sendmail in the background without waiting
4472
4473              Note that if you specify a value other than 0, the output of the
4474              child process will be put in a temporary file.  If there is some
4475              error, you will be informed as to where to find the output.
4476
4477
4478
4479       shell
4480              Type: path
4481              Default: “”
4482
4483              Command to use when spawning a subshell.  By default, the user's
4484              login shell from /etc/passwd is used.
4485
4486
4487
4488       sidebar_delim_chars
4489              Type: string
4490              Default: “/.”
4491
4492              This  contains  the  list  of characters which you would like to
4493              treat as folder separators for displaying paths in the sidebar.
4494
4495              Local mail is often arranged  in  directories:  `dir1/dir2/mail‐
4496              box'.
4497
4498
4499              set sidebar_delim_chars='/'
4500
4501
4502              IMAP mailboxes are often named: `folder1.folder2.mailbox'.
4503
4504
4505              set sidebar_delim_chars='.'
4506
4507
4508              See  also:  $sidebar_short_path,  $sidebar_folder_indent, $side‐
4509              bar_indent_string.
4510
4511
4512
4513       sidebar_divider_char
4514              Type: string
4515              Default: “|”
4516
4517              This specifies the characters to be drawn  between  the  sidebar
4518              (when  visible)  and  the  other  Mutt panels. ASCII and Unicode
4519              line-drawing characters are supported.
4520
4521
4522
4523       sidebar_folder_indent
4524              Type: boolean
4525              Default: no
4526
4527              Set this to indent mailboxes in the sidebar.
4528
4529              See also:  $sidebar_short_path,  $sidebar_indent_string,  $side‐
4530              bar_delim_chars.
4531
4532
4533
4534       sidebar_format
4535              Type: string
4536              Default: “%B%*  %n”
4537
4538              This  variable allows you to customize the sidebar display. This
4539              string is similar to $index_format,  but  has  its  own  set  of
4540              printf(3)-like sequences:
4541              %B     Name of the mailbox
4542              %S     * Size of mailbox (total number of messages)
4543              %N     * Number of unread messages in the mailbox
4544              %n     N if mailbox has new mail, blank otherwise
4545              %F     * Number of Flagged messages in the mailbox
4546              %!     “!”  :  one flagged message; “!!” : two flagged messages;
4547                     “n!” : n flagged messages (for n > 2).  Otherwise  prints
4548                     nothing.
4549              %d     * @ Number of deleted messages
4550              %L     * @ Number of messages after limiting
4551              %t     * @ Number of tagged messages
4552              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
4553              %|X    pad to the end of the line with “X”
4554              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
4555
4556              *  = Can be optionally printed if nonzero @ = Only applicable to
4557              the current folder
4558
4559              In order to use %S, %N, %F, and %!,  $mail_check_stats  must  be
4560              set.   When  thus  set,  a  suggested  value  for this option is
4561              ”%B%?F? [%F]?%* %?N?%N/?%S”.
4562
4563
4564
4565       sidebar_indent_string
4566              Type: string
4567              Default: “  ”
4568
4569              This specifies the string that is used to  indent  mailboxes  in
4570              the sidebar.  It defaults to two spaces.
4571
4572              See  also:  $sidebar_short_path,  $sidebar_folder_indent, $side‐
4573              bar_delim_chars.
4574
4575
4576
4577       sidebar_new_mail_only
4578              Type: boolean
4579              Default: no
4580
4581              When set, the sidebar will  only  display  mailboxes  containing
4582              new, or flagged, mail.
4583
4584              See also: sidebar_whitelist.
4585
4586
4587
4588       sidebar_next_new_wrap
4589              Type: boolean
4590              Default: no
4591
4592              When  set,  the <sidebar-next-new> command will not stop and the
4593              end of the list of mailboxes, but wrap around to the  beginning.
4594              The  <sidebar-prev-new>  command is similarly affected, wrapping
4595              around to the end of the list.
4596
4597
4598
4599       sidebar_relative_shortpath_indent
4600              Type: boolean
4601              Default: no
4602
4603              When set, this option changes how $sidebar_short_path and $side‐
4604              bar_folder_indent  perform shortening and indentation: both will
4605              look at the previous sidebar entries and shorten/indent relative
4606              to the most recent parent.
4607
4608              An example of this option set/unset for mailboxes listed in this
4609              order, with $sidebar_short_path=yes, $sidebar_folder_indent=yes,
4610              and $sidebar_indent_string=”→”:
4611              mailbox
4612                     set unset
4613              =a.b   =a.b →b
4614              =a.b.c.d
4615                     →c.d →→→d
4616              =a.b.e →e →→e
4617
4618              The second line illustrates most clearly.  With this option set,
4619              =a.b.c.d is shortened relative to =a.b, becoming c.d; it is also
4620              indented  one  place  relative  to =a.b.  With this option unset
4621              =a.b.c.d is always shortened to the last part of the mailbox,  d
4622              and  is  indented  three places, with respect to $folder (repre‐
4623              sented by '=').
4624
4625              When set, the third line will also  be  indented  and  shortened
4626              relative to the first line.
4627
4628
4629
4630       sidebar_short_path
4631              Type: boolean
4632              Default: no
4633
4634              By default the sidebar will show the mailbox's path, relative to
4635              the $folder variable. Setting sidebar_shortpath=yes will shorten
4636              the names relative to the previous name. Here's an example:
4637              shortpath=no
4638                     shortpath=yes       shortpath=yes,      folderindent=yes,
4639                     indentstr=”..”
4640              fruit  fruit fruit
4641              fruit.apple
4642                     apple ..apple
4643              fruit.banana
4644                     banana ..banana
4645              fruit.cherry
4646                     cherry ..cherry
4647
4648              See also: $sidebar_delim_chars,  $sidebar_folder_indent,  $side‐
4649              bar_indent_string.
4650
4651
4652
4653       sidebar_sort_method
4654              Type: sort order
4655              Default: order
4656
4657              Specifies  how to sort entries in the file browser.  By default,
4658              the entries are sorted alphabetically.  Valid values:
4659              ‐ alpha (alphabetically)
4660              ‐ count (all message count)
4661              ‐ flagged (flagged message count)
4662              ‐ name (alphabetically)
4663              ‐ new (unread message count)
4664              ‐ path (alphabetically)
4665              ‐ unread (unread message count)
4666              ‐ unsorted
4667
4668              You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify  reverse
4669              sorting order (example: “set sort_browser=reverse-date”).
4670
4671
4672
4673       sidebar_use_mailbox_shortcuts
4674              Type: boolean
4675              Default: no
4676
4677              When  set,  sidebar  mailboxes  will  be  displayed with mailbox
4678              shortcut prefixes ”=” or ”~”.
4679
4680              When unset, the sidebar will trim off a matching $folder  prefix
4681              but otherwise not use mailbox shortcuts.
4682
4683
4684
4685       sidebar_visible
4686              Type: boolean
4687              Default: no
4688
4689              This specifies whether or not to show sidebar. The sidebar shows
4690              a list of all your mailboxes.
4691
4692              See also: $sidebar_format, $sidebar_width
4693
4694
4695
4696       sidebar_width
4697              Type: number
4698              Default: 30
4699
4700              This controls the width of  the  sidebar.   It  is  measured  in
4701              screen  columns.  For example: sidebar_width=20 could display 20
4702              ASCII characters, or 10 Chinese characters.
4703
4704
4705
4706       sig_dashes
4707              Type: boolean
4708              Default: yes
4709
4710              If set, a line containing “-- ” (note the trailing  space)  will
4711              be  inserted before your $signature.  It is strongly recommended
4712              that you not unset this variable unless your signature  contains
4713              just  your  name.   The reason for this is because many software
4714              packages use “-- \n” to detect  your  signature.   For  example,
4715              Mutt  has  the ability to highlight the signature in a different
4716              color in the built-in pager.
4717
4718
4719
4720       sig_on_top
4721              Type: boolean
4722              Default: no
4723
4724              If set, the signature will be included before any quoted or for‐
4725              warded  text.   It  is  strongly recommended that you do not set
4726              this variable unless you really know what you are doing, and are
4727              prepared to take some heat from netiquette guardians.
4728
4729
4730
4731       signature
4732              Type: path
4733              Default: “~/.signature”
4734
4735              Specifies  the  filename of your signature, which is appended to
4736              all outgoing messages.   If the filename ends with a pipe (“|”),
4737              it  is assumed that filename is a shell command and input should
4738              be read from its standard output.
4739
4740
4741
4742       simple_search
4743              Type: string
4744              Default: “~f %s | ~s %s”
4745
4746              Specifies how Mutt should expand a simple  search  into  a  real
4747              search  pattern.   A  simple search is one that does not contain
4748              any of the “~”  pattern  operators.   See  “patterns”  for  more
4749              information on search patterns.
4750
4751              For  example,  if  you  simply  type  “joe” at a search or limit
4752              prompt, Mutt will automatically expand it to the value specified
4753              by  this  variable  by  replacing “%s” with the supplied string.
4754              For the default value, “joe” would be expanded to: “~f joe |  ~s
4755              joe”.
4756
4757
4758
4759       size_show_bytes
4760              Type: boolean
4761              Default: no
4762
4763              If  set, message sizes will display bytes for values less than 1
4764              kilobyte.  See formatstrings-size.
4765
4766
4767
4768       size_show_fractions
4769              Type: boolean
4770              Default: yes
4771
4772              If set, message sizes will be displayed with  a  single  decimal
4773              value  for  sizes  from 0 to 10 kilobytes and 1 to 10 megabytes.
4774              See formatstrings-size.
4775
4776
4777
4778       size_show_mb
4779              Type: boolean
4780              Default: yes
4781
4782              If set, message sizes will display megabytes for values  greater
4783              than or equal to 1 megabyte.  See formatstrings-size.
4784
4785
4786
4787       size_units_on_left
4788              Type: boolean
4789              Default: no
4790
4791              If set, message sizes units will be displayed to the left of the
4792              number.  See formatstrings-size.
4793
4794
4795
4796       sleep_time
4797              Type: number
4798              Default: 1
4799
4800              Specifies time, in seconds, to pause  while  displaying  certain
4801              informational  messages,  while moving from folder to folder and
4802              after expunging messages from the current folder.   The  default
4803              is  to pause one second, so a value of zero for this option sup‐
4804              presses the pause.
4805
4806
4807
4808       smart_wrap
4809              Type: boolean
4810              Default: yes
4811
4812              Controls the display of lines longer than the  screen  width  in
4813              the  internal  pager.  If  set, long lines are wrapped at a word
4814              boundary.  If unset, lines are  simply  wrapped  at  the  screen
4815              edge. Also see the $markers variable.
4816
4817
4818
4819       smileys
4820              Type: regular expression
4821              Default: “(>From )|(:[-^]?[][)(><}{|/DP])”
4822
4823              The  pager  uses  this variable to catch some common false posi‐
4824              tives of $quote_regexp, most notably smileys and not consider  a
4825              line  quoted  text if it also matches $smileys. This mostly hap‐
4826              pens at the beginning of a line.
4827
4828
4829
4830       smime_ask_cert_label
4831              Type: boolean
4832              Default: yes
4833
4834              This flag controls whether you want to be asked to enter a label
4835              for  a  certificate about to be added to the database or not. It
4836              is set by default.  (S/MIME only)
4837
4838
4839
4840       smime_ca_location
4841              Type: path
4842              Default: “”
4843
4844              This variable contains the name of either a directory, or a file
4845              which  contains  trusted  certificates  for  use  with  OpenSSL.
4846              (S/MIME only)
4847
4848
4849
4850       smime_certificates
4851              Type: path
4852              Default: “”
4853
4854              Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with  PGP,  mutt
4855              has  to  handle storage and retrieval of keys by itself. This is
4856              very basic right now, and keys and certificates  are  stored  in
4857              two   different   directories,  both  named  as  the  hash-value
4858              retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an index  file  which  contains
4859              mailbox-address  keyid  pairs, and which can be manually edited.
4860              This option points to the location of the certificates.  (S/MIME
4861              only)
4862
4863
4864
4865       smime_decrypt_command
4866              Type: string
4867              Default: “”
4868
4869              This  format string specifies a command which is used to decrypt
4870              application/x-pkcs7-mime attachments.
4871
4872              The OpenSSL command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like
4873              sequences similar to PGP's:
4874              %f     Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
4875              %s     Expands  to  the  name of a file containing the signature
4876                     part
4877                                of a multipart/signed attachment when  verify‐
4878                     ing it.
4879              %k     The key-pair specified with $smime_default_key
4880              %c     One or more certificate IDs.
4881              %a     The algorithm used for encryption.
4882              %d     The    message    digest    algorithm    specified   with
4883                     $smime_sign_digest_alg.
4884              %C     CA location:  Depending on whether $smime_ca_location
4885                                points to a directory or file, this expands to
4886                                “-CApath   $smime_ca_location”   or   “-CAfile
4887                     $smime_ca_location”.
4888
4889              For examples on how to configure these formats, see the smime.rc
4890              in the samples/ subdirectory which has been  installed  on  your
4891              system alongside the documentation.  (S/MIME only)
4892
4893
4894
4895       smime_decrypt_use_default_key
4896              Type: boolean
4897              Default: yes
4898
4899              If  set  (default)  this  tells  mutt to use the default key for
4900              decryption.   Otherwise,   if   managing    multiple    certifi‐
4901              cate-key-pairs,  mutt  will  try  to  use the mailbox-address to
4902              determine the key to use. It will ask you to supply a key, if it
4903              can't find one.  (S/MIME only)
4904
4905
4906
4907       smime_default_key
4908              Type: string
4909              Default: “”
4910
4911              This  is  the default key-pair to use for S/MIME operations, and
4912              must be set to the keyid (the hash-value that OpenSSL generates)
4913              to work properly.
4914
4915              It  will  be  used  for  encryption  (see  $postpone_encrypt and
4916              $smime_self_encrypt).
4917
4918              It     will     be     used      for      decryption      unless
4919              $smime_decrypt_use_default_key is unset.
4920
4921              It will also be used for signing unless $smime_sign_as is set.
4922
4923              The  (now deprecated) smime_self_encrypt_as is an alias for this
4924              variable, and should no longer be used.  (S/MIME only)
4925
4926
4927
4928       smime_encrypt_command
4929              Type: string
4930              Default: “”
4931
4932              This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages.
4933
4934              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
4935              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
4936
4937
4938
4939       smime_encrypt_with
4940              Type: string
4941              Default: “aes256”
4942
4943              This  sets  the  algorithm  that  should be used for encryption.
4944              Valid choices are “aes128”, “aes192”, “aes256”,  “des”,  “des3”,
4945              “rc2-40”, “rc2-64”, “rc2-128”.  (S/MIME only)
4946
4947
4948
4949       smime_get_cert_command
4950              Type: string
4951              Default: “”
4952
4953              This  command  is used to extract X509 certificates from a PKCS7
4954              structure.
4955
4956              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
4957              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
4958
4959
4960
4961       smime_get_cert_email_command
4962              Type: string
4963              Default: “”
4964
4965              This  command  is  used to extract the mail address(es) used for
4966              storing X509 certificates, and  for  verification  purposes  (to
4967              check  whether the certificate was issued for the sender's mail‐
4968              box).
4969
4970              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
4971              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
4972
4973
4974
4975       smime_get_signer_cert_command
4976              Type: string
4977              Default: “”
4978
4979              This  command  is used to extract only the signers X509 certifi‐
4980              cate from a S/MIME signature, so that  the  certificate's  owner
4981              may get compared to the email's “From:” field.
4982
4983              This  is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
4984              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
4985
4986
4987
4988       smime_import_cert_command
4989              Type: string
4990              Default: “”
4991
4992              This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys.
4993
4994              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
4995              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
4996
4997
4998
4999       smime_is_default
5000              Type: boolean
5001              Default: no
5002
5003              The   default   behavior   of   mutt   is  to  use  PGP  on  all
5004              auto-sign/encryption operations. To override and to use  OpenSSL
5005              instead  this  must  be  set.  However, this has no effect while
5006              replying, since mutt will automatically select the same applica‐
5007              tion  that was used to sign/encrypt the original message.  (Note
5008              that   this   variable   can   be   overridden   by    unsetting
5009              $crypt_autosmime.)  (S/MIME only)
5010
5011
5012
5013       smime_keys
5014              Type: path
5015              Default: “”
5016
5017              Since  for  S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt
5018              has to handle storage and retrieval  of  keys/certs  by  itself.
5019              This  is  very basic right now, and stores keys and certificates
5020              in two different  directories,  both  named  as  the  hash-value
5021              retrieved  from  OpenSSL.  There is an index file which contains
5022              mailbox-address keyid pair, and which can  be  manually  edited.
5023              This option points to the location of the private keys.  (S/MIME
5024              only)
5025
5026
5027
5028       smime_pk7out_command
5029              Type: string
5030              Default: “”
5031
5032              This command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME  sig‐
5033              natures, in order to extract the public X509 certificate(s).
5034
5035              This  is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5036              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
5037
5038
5039
5040       smime_self_encrypt
5041              Type: boolean
5042              Default: yes
5043
5044              When set, S/MIME encrypted messages will also be encrypted using
5045              the certificate in $smime_default_key.  (S/MIME only)
5046
5047
5048
5049       smime_sign_as
5050              Type: string
5051              Default: “”
5052
5053              If  you  have  a separate key to use for signing, you should set
5054              this to the signing key. Most  people  will  only  need  to  set
5055              $smime_default_key.  (S/MIME only)
5056
5057
5058
5059       smime_sign_command
5060              Type: string
5061              Default: “”
5062
5063              This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type multi‐
5064              part/signed, which can be read by all mail clients.
5065
5066              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
5067              for  possible  printf(3)-like  sequences.   NOTE: %c and %k will
5068              default to $smime_sign_as if set, otherwise  $smime_default_key.
5069              (S/MIME only)
5070
5071
5072
5073       smime_sign_digest_alg
5074              Type: string
5075              Default: “sha256”
5076
5077              This  sets  the  algorithm that should be used for the signature
5078              message digest.  Valid  choices  are  “md5”,  “sha1”,  “sha224”,
5079              “sha256”, “sha384”, “sha512”.  (S/MIME only)
5080
5081
5082
5083       smime_sign_opaque_command
5084              Type: string
5085              Default: “”
5086
5087              This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type appli‐
5088              cation/x-pkcs7-signature, which can  only  be  handled  by  mail
5089              clients supporting the S/MIME extension.
5090
5091              This  is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5092              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
5093
5094
5095
5096       smime_timeout
5097              Type: number (long)
5098              Default: 300
5099
5100              The number of seconds  after  which  a  cached  passphrase  will
5101              expire if not used.  (S/MIME only)
5102
5103
5104
5105       smime_verify_command
5106              Type: string
5107              Default: “”
5108
5109              This  command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type multi‐
5110              part/signed.
5111
5112              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
5113              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
5114
5115
5116
5117       smime_verify_opaque_command
5118              Type: string
5119              Default: “”
5120
5121              This  command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type appli‐
5122              cation/x-pkcs7-mime.
5123
5124              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
5125              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
5126
5127
5128
5129       smtp_authenticators
5130              Type: string
5131              Default: “”
5132
5133              This  is  a  colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
5134              may attempt to use to log in to an SMTP  server,  in  the  order
5135              mutt should try them.  Authentication methods are any SASL mech‐
5136              anism, e.g.  “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”.  This  option
5137              is  case-insensitive.  If  it is “unset” (the default) mutt will
5138              try  all  available  methods,  in  order  from  most-secure   to
5139              least-secure.
5140
5141              Example:
5142
5143
5144              set smtp_authenticators=”digest-md5:cram-md5”
5145
5146
5147
5148
5149       smtp_oauth_refresh_command
5150              Type: string
5151              Default: “”
5152
5153              The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
5154              rizing your connection to your SMTP server.  This  command  will
5155              be  run  on  every  connection attempt that uses the OAUTHBEARER
5156              authentication mechanism.  See “oauth” for details.
5157
5158
5159
5160       smtp_pass
5161              Type: string
5162              Default: “”
5163
5164              Specifies the password for your SMTP account.   If  unset,  Mutt
5165              will  prompt  you for your password when you first send mail via
5166              SMTP.  See $smtp_url to configure mutt to send mail via SMTP.
5167
5168              Warning: you should only use this  option  when  you  are  on  a
5169              fairly  secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
5170              trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
5171
5172
5173
5174       smtp_url
5175              Type: string
5176              Default: “”
5177
5178              Defines the SMTP smarthost where sent  messages  should  relayed
5179              for delivery. This should take the form of an SMTP URL, e.g.:
5180
5181
5182              smtp[s]://[user[:pass]@]host[:port]
5183
5184
5185              where  “[...]”  denotes an optional part.  Setting this variable
5186              overrides the value of the $sendmail variable.
5187
5188              Also see $write_bcc.
5189
5190
5191
5192       sort
5193              Type: sort order
5194              Default: date
5195
5196              Specifies how to sort messages in the “index” menu.  Valid  val‐
5197              ues are:
5198              ‐ date or date-sent
5199              ‐ date-received
5200              ‐ from
5201              ‐ mailbox-order (unsorted)
5202              ‐ score
5203              ‐ size
5204              ‐ spam
5205              ‐ subject
5206              ‐ threads
5207              ‐ to
5208
5209              You  may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
5210              sorting order (example: “set sort=reverse-date-sent”).
5211
5212
5213
5214       sort_alias
5215              Type: sort order
5216              Default: alias
5217
5218              Specifies how the entries in the “alias” menu are  sorted.   The
5219              following are legal values:
5220              ‐ address (sort alphabetically by email address)
5221              ‐ alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
5222              ‐ unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)
5223
5224
5225       sort_aux
5226              Type: sort order
5227              Default: date
5228
5229              This provides a secondary sort for messages in the “index” menu,
5230              used when the $sort value is equal for two messages.
5231
5232              When sorting by threads, this variable controls how threads  are
5233              sorted in relation to other threads, and how the branches of the
5234              thread trees are sorted.  This can be  set  to  any  value  that
5235              $sort  can,  except  “threads” (in that case, mutt will just use
5236              “date-sent”).  You can also specify the “last-” prefix in  addi‐
5237              tion  to  the  “reverse-”  prefix,  but  “last-” must come after
5238              “reverse-”.  The “last-” prefix causes  messages  to  be  sorted
5239              against its siblings by which has the last descendant, using the
5240              rest of $sort_aux as an ordering.  For instance,
5241
5242
5243              set sort_aux=last-date-received
5244
5245
5246              would mean that if a new message is received in a  thread,  that
5247              thread becomes the last one displayed (or the first, if you have
5248              “set sort=reverse-threads”.)
5249
5250              Note: For reversed-threads $sort order,  $sort_aux  is  reversed
5251              again (which is not the right thing to do, but kept to not break
5252              any existing configuration setting).
5253
5254
5255
5256       sort_browser
5257              Type: sort order
5258              Default: alpha
5259
5260              Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser.  By  default,
5261              the entries are sorted alphabetically.  Valid values:
5262              ‐ alpha (alphabetically)
5263              ‐ count
5264              ‐ date
5265              ‐ size
5266              ‐ unread
5267              ‐ unsorted
5268
5269              You  may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
5270              sorting order (example: “set sort_browser=reverse-date”).
5271
5272
5273
5274       sort_re
5275              Type: boolean
5276              Default: yes
5277
5278              This variable is  only  useful  when  sorting  by  threads  with
5279              $strict_threads  unset.   In that case, it changes the heuristic
5280              mutt uses to thread messages by  subject.   With  $sort_re  set,
5281              mutt  will only attach a message as the child of another message
5282              by subject if the subject of the child  message  starts  with  a
5283              substring  matching the setting of $reply_regexp.  With $sort_re
5284              unset, mutt will attach the message whether or not this  is  the
5285              case,  as  long  as the non-$reply_regexp parts of both messages
5286              are identical.
5287
5288
5289
5290       spam_separator
5291              Type: string
5292              Default: “,”
5293
5294              This variable controls what happens when multiple  spam  headers
5295              are matched: if unset, each successive header will overwrite any
5296              previous matches value for the spam label. If set, each  succes‐
5297              sive  match  will  append to the previous, using this variable's
5298              value as a separator.
5299
5300
5301
5302       spoolfile
5303              Type: path
5304              Default: “”
5305
5306              If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where Mutt  can‐
5307              not  find  it,  you can specify its location with this variable.
5308              Mutt will initially set this variable to the value of the  envi‐
5309              ronment variable $MAIL or $MAILDIR if either is defined.
5310
5311
5312
5313       ssl_ca_certificates_file
5314              Type: path
5315              Default: “/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt”
5316
5317              This  variable  specifies  a file containing trusted CA certifi‐
5318              cates.  Any server certificate that is signed with one of  these
5319              CA certificates is also automatically accepted. (GnuTLS only)
5320
5321              Example:
5322
5323
5324              set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
5325
5326
5327
5328
5329       ssl_client_cert
5330              Type: path
5331              Default: “”
5332
5333              The file containing a client certificate and its associated pri‐
5334              vate key.
5335
5336
5337
5338       ssl_force_tls
5339              Type: boolean
5340              Default: no
5341
5342              If this variable is set, Mutt will require that all  connections
5343              to  remote  servers be encrypted. Furthermore it will attempt to
5344              negotiate TLS even if the server does not advertise the capabil‐
5345              ity,  since it would otherwise have to abort the connection any‐
5346              way. This option supersedes $ssl_starttls.
5347
5348
5349
5350       ssl_min_dh_prime_bits
5351              Type: number
5352              Default: 0
5353
5354              This variable specifies the minimum acceptable  prime  size  (in
5355              bits)  for  use in any Diffie-Hellman key exchange. A value of 0
5356              will use the default from the GNUTLS library. (GnuTLS only)
5357
5358
5359
5360       ssl_starttls
5361              Type: quadoption
5362              Default: yes
5363
5364              If set (the default), mutt  will  attempt  to  use  STARTTLS  on
5365              servers  advertising  the  capability. When unset, mutt will not
5366              attempt to use STARTTLS regardless of the server's capabilities.
5367
5368
5369
5370       ssl_use_sslv2
5371              Type: boolean
5372              Default: no
5373
5374              If set , Mutt will use SSLv2  when  communicating  with  servers
5375              that  request it. N.B. As of 2011, SSLv2 is considered insecure,
5376              and         using          is          inadvisable.          See
5377              https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6176 .  (OpenSSL only)
5378
5379
5380
5381       ssl_use_sslv3
5382              Type: boolean
5383              Default: no
5384
5385              If  set  ,  Mutt  will use SSLv3 when communicating with servers
5386              that request it. N.B. As of 2015, SSLv3 is considered  insecure,
5387              and        using        it       is       inadvisable.       See
5388              https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5389
5390
5391
5392       ssl_use_tlsv1
5393              Type: boolean
5394              Default: no
5395
5396              If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.0 when communicating  with  servers
5397              that  request  it.  N.B. As of 2015, TLSv1.0 is considered inse‐
5398              cure,     and     using     it     is      inadvisable.      See
5399              https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5400
5401
5402
5403       ssl_use_tlsv1_1
5404              Type: boolean
5405              Default: no
5406
5407              If  set  , Mutt will use TLSv1.1 when communicating with servers
5408              that request it. N.B. As of 2015, TLSv1.1  is  considered  inse‐
5409              cure,      and      using     it     is     inadvisable.     See
5410              https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5411
5412
5413
5414       ssl_use_tlsv1_2
5415              Type: boolean
5416              Default: yes
5417
5418              If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.2 when communicating  with  servers
5419              that request it.
5420
5421
5422
5423       ssl_use_tlsv1_3
5424              Type: boolean
5425              Default: yes
5426
5427              If  set  , Mutt will use TLSv1.3 when communicating with servers
5428              that request it.
5429
5430
5431
5432       ssl_usesystemcerts
5433              Type: boolean
5434              Default: yes
5435
5436              If set to yes, mutt will use CA certificates in the  system-wide
5437              certificate  store  when  checking  if  a  server certificate is
5438              signed by a trusted CA. (OpenSSL only)
5439
5440
5441
5442       ssl_verify_dates
5443              Type: boolean
5444              Default: yes
5445
5446              If set (the default),  mutt  will  not  automatically  accept  a
5447              server  certificate  that  is  either  not  yet valid or already
5448              expired. You should only unset this for particular known  hosts,
5449              using the <account-hook> function.
5450
5451
5452
5453       ssl_verify_host
5454              Type: boolean
5455              Default: yes
5456
5457              If  set  (the  default),  mutt  will  not automatically accept a
5458              server certificate whose host name does not match the host  used
5459              in  your  folder  URL. You should only unset this for particular
5460              known hosts, using the <account-hook> function.
5461
5462
5463
5464       ssl_verify_partial_chains
5465              Type: boolean
5466              Default: no
5467
5468              This option should not be changed from the  default  unless  you
5469              understand what you are doing.
5470
5471              Setting  this variable to yes will permit verifying partial cer‐
5472              tification chains, i. e. a certificate chain where not the root,
5473              but an intermediate certificate CA, or the host certificate, are
5474              marked trusted (in $certificate_file), without marking the  root
5475              signing CA as trusted.
5476
5477              (OpenSSL 1.0.2b and newer only).
5478
5479
5480
5481       ssl_ciphers
5482              Type: string
5483              Default: “@SYSTEM”
5484
5485              Contains  a  colon-seperated  list  of ciphers to use when using
5486              SSL.  For OpenSSL, see ciphers(1) for the syntax of the string.
5487
5488              For GnuTLS, this option will be used in place of ”NORMAL” at the
5489              start  of  the priority string.  See gnutls_priority_init(3) for
5490              the syntax and more details.  (Note:  GnuTLS  version  2.1.7  or
5491              higher is required.)
5492
5493
5494
5495       status_chars
5496              Type: string
5497              Default: “-*%A”
5498
5499              Controls  the  characters  used  by  the “%r” indicator in $sta‐
5500              tus_format. The first character is  used  when  the  mailbox  is
5501              unchanged. The second is used when the mailbox has been changed,
5502              and it needs to be resynchronized. The  third  is  used  if  the
5503              mailbox  is  in  read-only  mode,  or if the mailbox will not be
5504              written when exiting that mailbox (You  can  toggle  whether  to
5505              write  changes  to  a mailbox with the <toggle-write> operation,
5506              bound by default to “%”). The fourth is used  to  indicate  that
5507              the current folder has been opened in attach- message mode (Cer‐
5508              tain operations like composing a new mail, replying, forwarding,
5509              etc. are not permitted in this mode).
5510
5511
5512
5513       status_format
5514              Type: string
5515              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)---”
5516
5517              Controls  the format of the status line displayed in the “index”
5518              menu.  This string is similar to $index_format, but has its  own
5519              set of printf(3)-like sequences:
5520              %b     number of mailboxes with new mail *
5521              %d     number of deleted messages *
5522              %f     the full pathname of the current mailbox
5523              %F     number of flagged messages *
5524              %h     local hostname
5525              %l     size  (in  bytes)  of  the  current  mailbox (see format‐
5526                     strings-size) *
5527              %L     size (in bytes) of the messages shown (i.e., which  match
5528                     the current limit) (see formatstrings-size) *
5529              %m     the number of messages in the mailbox *
5530              %M     the  number of messages shown (i.e., which match the cur‐
5531                     rent limit) *
5532              %n     number of new messages in the mailbox *
5533              %o     number of old unread messages *
5534              %p     number of postponed messages *
5535              %P     percentage of the way through the index
5536              %r     modified/read-only/won't-write/attach-message  indicator,
5537                     according to $status_chars
5538              %R     number of read messages *
5539              %s     current sorting mode ($sort)
5540              %S     current aux sorting method ($sort_aux)
5541              %t     number of tagged messages *
5542              %u     number of unread messages *
5543              %v     Mutt version string
5544              %V     currently active limit pattern, if any *
5545              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
5546              %|X    pad to the end of the line with “X”
5547              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
5548
5549              For  an  explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
5550              mentation.
5551
5552              * = can be optionally printed if nonzero
5553
5554              Some of the above sequences can be used to  optionally  print  a
5555              string  if  their  value  is nonzero.  For example, you may only
5556              want to see the number of  flagged  messages  if  such  messages
5557              exist, since zero is not particularly meaningful.  To optionally
5558              print a string based upon one of the above sequences,  the  fol‐
5559              lowing construct is used:
5560
5561              %?<sequence_char>?<optional_string>?
5562
5563              where  sequence_char  is  a  character from the table above, and
5564              optional_string  is  the  string  you  would  like  printed   if
5565              sequence_char  is  nonzero.   optional_string  may contain other
5566              sequences as well as normal text, but you may not nest  optional
5567              strings.
5568
5569              Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the num‐
5570              ber of new messages in a mailbox:
5571
5572              %?n?%n new messages.?
5573
5574              You can also switch between two strings using the following con‐
5575              struct:
5576
5577              %?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>?
5578
5579              If  the  value  of  sequence_char is non-zero, if_string will be
5580              expanded, otherwise else_string will be expanded.
5581
5582              You can force the result of any printf(3)-like  sequence  to  be
5583              lowercase by prefixing the sequence character with an underscore
5584              (“_”) sign.  For example, if you want to display the local host‐
5585              name in lowercase, you would use: “%_h”.
5586
5587              If  you prefix the sequence character with a colon (“:”) charac‐
5588              ter, mutt will replace any dots in the expansion by underscores.
5589              This  might be helpful with IMAP folders that don't like dots in
5590              folder names.
5591
5592
5593
5594       status_on_top
5595              Type: boolean
5596              Default: no
5597
5598              Setting this variable causes the “status bar” to be displayed on
5599              the  first  line  of  the screen rather than near the bottom. If
5600              $help is set, too it'll be placed at the bottom.
5601
5602
5603
5604       strict_threads
5605              Type: boolean
5606              Default: no
5607
5608              If set, threading will only make use of  the  “In-Reply-To”  and
5609              “References:”  fields  when  you  $sort  by message threads.  By
5610              default, messages with the same subject are grouped together  in
5611              “pseudo  threads.”. This may not always be desirable, such as in
5612              a personal mailbox where you might have several  unrelated  mes‐
5613              sages  with  the  subjects  like  “hi”  which  will  get grouped
5614              together. See also $sort_re for a less drastic way  of  control‐
5615              ling this behavior.
5616
5617
5618
5619       suspend
5620              Type: boolean
5621              Default: yes
5622
5623              When unset, mutt won't stop when the user presses the terminal's
5624              susp key, usually “^Z”. This is useful if you run mutt inside an
5625              xterm using a command like “xterm -e mutt”.
5626
5627
5628
5629       text_flowed
5630              Type: boolean
5631              Default: no
5632
5633              When  set, mutt will generate “format=flowed” bodies with a con‐
5634              tent type of “text/plain; format=flowed”.  This format is easier
5635              to  handle  for  some mailing software, and generally just looks
5636              like ordinary text.  To actually make use of this format's  fea‐
5637              tures, you'll need support in your editor.
5638
5639              The  option  only  controls  newly composed messages.  Postponed
5640              messages, resent messages, and draft messages  (via  -H  on  the
5641              command line) will use the content-type of the source message.
5642
5643              Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.
5644
5645
5646
5647       thorough_search
5648              Type: boolean
5649              Default: yes
5650
5651              Affects  the  ~b  and  ~h search operations described in section
5652              “patterns”.  If set, the headers and  body/attachments  of  mes‐
5653              sages  to  be  searched  are decoded before searching. If unset,
5654              messages are searched as they appear in the folder.
5655
5656              Users searching attachments or for non-ASCII  characters  should
5657              set  this  value  because  decoding  also  includes  MIME  pars‐
5658              ing/decoding and possible character set  conversions.  Otherwise
5659              mutt will attempt to match against the raw message received (for
5660              example quoted-printable encoded or with encoded headers)  which
5661              may lead to incorrect search results.
5662
5663
5664
5665       thread_received
5666              Type: boolean
5667              Default: no
5668
5669              When  set, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent
5670              to thread messages by subject.
5671
5672
5673
5674       tilde
5675              Type: boolean
5676              Default: no
5677
5678              When set, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the  bottom
5679              of the screen with a tilde (“~”).
5680
5681
5682
5683       time_inc
5684              Type: number
5685              Default: 0
5686
5687              Along  with  $read_inc,  $write_inc, and $net_inc, this variable
5688              controls the frequency with  which  progress  updates  are  dis‐
5689              played.  It  suppresses updates less than $time_inc milliseconds
5690              apart. This can improve throughput on systems with  slow  termi‐
5691              nals, or when running mutt on a remote system.
5692
5693              Also see the “tuning” section of the manual for performance con‐
5694              siderations.
5695
5696
5697
5698       timeout
5699              Type: number
5700              Default: 600
5701
5702              When Mutt is waiting for user input either idling in menus or in
5703              an  interactive prompt, Mutt would block until input is present.
5704              Depending on the context, this would prevent certain  operations
5705              from working, like checking for new mail or keeping an IMAP con‐
5706              nection alive.
5707
5708              This variable controls how many seconds Mutt will at  most  wait
5709              until it aborts waiting for input, performs these operations and
5710              continues to wait for input.
5711
5712              A value of zero or less will cause Mutt to never time out.
5713
5714
5715
5716       tmpdir
5717              Type: path
5718              Default: “”
5719
5720              This variable allows you to specify where Mutt  will  place  its
5721              temporary  files  needed  for displaying and composing messages.
5722              If this variable is not set, the environment variable $TMPDIR is
5723              used.  If $TMPDIR is not set then “/tmp” is used.
5724
5725
5726
5727       to_chars
5728              Type: string
5729              Default: “ +TCFL”
5730
5731              Controls  the  character used to indicate mail addressed to you.
5732              The first character is  the  one  used  when  the  mail  is  not
5733              addressed  to your address.  The second is used when you are the
5734              only recipient of the message.  The third is when  your  address
5735              appears  in  the  “To:”  header  field, but you are not the only
5736              recipient of the message.  The fourth  character  is  used  when
5737              your address is specified in the “Cc:” header field, but you are
5738              not the only recipient.  The fifth character is used to indicate
5739              mail that was sent by you.  The sixth character is used to indi‐
5740              cate when a mail was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to.
5741
5742
5743
5744       trash
5745              Type: path
5746              Default: “”
5747
5748              If set, this variable specifies the path  of  the  trash  folder
5749              where  the  mails  marked for deletion will be moved, instead of
5750              being irremediably purged.
5751
5752              NOTE: When you delete a message  in  the  trash  folder,  it  is
5753              really deleted, so that you have a way to clean the trash.
5754
5755
5756
5757       ts_icon_format
5758              Type: string
5759              Default: “M%?n?AIL&ail?”
5760
5761              Controls  the format of the icon title, as long as “$ts_enabled”
5762              is set.  This string is identical in formatting to the one  used
5763              by “$status_format”.
5764
5765
5766
5767       ts_enabled
5768              Type: boolean
5769              Default: no
5770
5771              Controls  whether mutt tries to set the terminal status line and
5772              icon name.  Most terminal emulators emulate the status  line  in
5773              the window title.
5774
5775
5776
5777       ts_status_format
5778              Type: string
5779              Default: “Mutt with %?m?%m messages&no messages?%?n? [%n NEW]?”
5780
5781              Controls  the  format  of  the  terminal  status line (or window
5782              title), provided that “$ts_enabled” has been set. This string is
5783              identical in formatting to the one used by “$status_format”.
5784
5785
5786
5787       tunnel
5788              Type: string
5789              Default: “”
5790
5791              Setting  this  variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to a com‐
5792              mand instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set
5793              up  preauthenticated  connections to your IMAP/POP3/SMTP server.
5794              Example:
5795
5796
5797              set tunnel=”ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd”
5798
5799
5800              Note: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the
5801              remote machine without having to enter a password.
5802
5803              When  set,  Mutt  uses  the  tunnel  for all remote connections.
5804              Please see “account-hook” in the manual for how to use different
5805              tunnel commands per connection.
5806
5807
5808
5809       uncollapse_jump
5810              Type: boolean
5811              Default: no
5812
5813              When  set,  Mutt  will  jump to the next unread message, if any,
5814              when the current thread is uncollapsed.
5815
5816
5817
5818       uncollapse_new
5819              Type: boolean
5820              Default: yes
5821
5822              When set,  Mutt  will  automatically  uncollapse  any  collapsed
5823              thread  that  receives  a  new  message.  When  unset, collapsed
5824              threads will remain collapsed. the presence of the  new  message
5825              will still affect index sorting, though.
5826
5827
5828
5829       use_8bitmime
5830              Type: boolean
5831              Default: no
5832
5833              Warning: do not set this variable unless you are using a version
5834              of sendmail which supports the -B8BITMIME flag (such as sendmail
5835              8.8.x) or you may not be able to send mail.
5836
5837              When  set,  Mutt  will invoke $sendmail with the -B8BITMIME flag
5838              when sending 8-bit messages to enable ESMTP negotiation.
5839
5840
5841
5842       use_domain
5843              Type: boolean
5844              Default: yes
5845
5846              When set, Mutt will qualify all local  addresses  (ones  without
5847              the  “@host” portion) with the value of $hostname.  If unset, no
5848              addresses will be qualified.
5849
5850
5851
5852       use_envelope_from
5853              Type: boolean
5854              Default: no
5855
5856              When set, mutt will set the envelope sender of the message.   If
5857              $envelope_from_address  is  set,  it  will be used as the sender
5858              address. If unset, mutt will attempt to derive the  sender  from
5859              the “From:” header.
5860
5861              Note  that  this information is passed to sendmail command using
5862              the -f command line switch. Therefore setting this option is not
5863              useful  if  the $sendmail variable already contains -f or if the
5864              executable pointed  to  by  $sendmail  doesn't  support  the  -f
5865              switch.
5866
5867
5868
5869       use_from
5870              Type: boolean
5871              Default: yes
5872
5873              When set, Mutt will generate the “From:” header field when send‐
5874              ing messages.  If unset, no “From:” header field will be  gener‐
5875              ated unless the user explicitly sets one using the “my_hdr” com‐
5876              mand.
5877
5878
5879
5880       use_ipv6
5881              Type: boolean
5882              Default: yes
5883
5884              When set, Mutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to
5885              contact.   If this option is unset, Mutt will restrict itself to
5886              IPv4 addresses.  Normally, the default should work.
5887
5888
5889
5890       user_agent
5891              Type: boolean
5892              Default: no
5893
5894              When set, mutt will add a “User-Agent:” header to outgoing  mes‐
5895              sages,  indicating  which version of mutt was used for composing
5896              them.
5897
5898
5899
5900       visual
5901              Type: path
5902              Default: “”
5903
5904              Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the “~v”  command  is
5905              given in the built-in editor.
5906
5907
5908
5909       wait_key
5910              Type: boolean
5911              Default: yes
5912
5913              Controls  whether  Mutt  will  ask  you  to press a key after an
5914              external  command  has  been   invoked   by   these   functions:
5915              <shell-escape>,  <pipe-message>,  <pipe-entry>, <print-message>,
5916              and <print-entry> commands.
5917
5918              It is also used when viewing attachments with “auto_view”,  pro‐
5919              vided  that  the corresponding mailcap entry has a needsterminal
5920              flag, and the external program is interactive.
5921
5922              When set, Mutt will always ask for a key. When unset, Mutt  will
5923              wait  for a key only if the external command returned a non-zero
5924              status.
5925
5926
5927
5928       weed
5929              Type: boolean
5930              Default: yes
5931
5932              When set, mutt will weed headers  when  displaying,  forwarding,
5933              printing, or replying to messages.
5934
5935
5936
5937       wrap
5938              Type: number
5939              Default: 0
5940
5941              When set to a positive value, mutt will wrap text at $wrap char‐
5942              acters.  When set to a negative value, mutt will  wrap  text  so
5943              that there are $wrap characters of empty space on the right side
5944              of the terminal. Setting it to zero makes mutt wrap at the  ter‐
5945              minal width.
5946
5947              Also see $reflow_wrap.
5948
5949
5950
5951       wrap_headers
5952              Type: number
5953              Default: 78
5954
5955              This  option specifies the number of characters to use for wrap‐
5956              ping an outgoing message's headers. Allowed values  are  between
5957              78 and 998 inclusive.
5958
5959              Note:  This  option usually shouldn't be changed. RFC5233 recom‐
5960              mends a line length of 78 (the default), so please  only  change
5961              this setting when you know what you're doing.
5962
5963
5964
5965       wrap_search
5966              Type: boolean
5967              Default: yes
5968
5969              Controls whether searches wrap around the end.
5970
5971              When  set,  searches  will wrap around the first (or last) item.
5972              When unset, incremental searches will not wrap.
5973
5974
5975
5976       wrapmargin
5977              Type: number
5978              Default: 0
5979
5980              (DEPRECATED) Equivalent to setting $wrap with a negative value.
5981
5982
5983
5984       write_bcc
5985              Type: boolean
5986              Default: no
5987
5988              Controls whether mutt writes out the “Bcc:” header when  prepar‐
5989              ing  messages  to be sent.  Some MTAs, such as Exim and Courier,
5990              do not strip the “Bcc:” header; so it is advisable to leave this
5991              unset  unless you have a particular need for the header to be in
5992              the sent message.
5993
5994              If mutt is set to deliver directly  via  SMTP  (see  $smtp_url),
5995              this  option  does nothing: mutt will never write out the “Bcc:”
5996              header in this case.
5997
5998              Note this option only affects the sending of  messages.   Fcc'ed
5999              copies of a message will always contain the “Bcc:” header if one
6000              exists.
6001
6002
6003
6004       write_inc
6005              Type: number
6006              Default: 10
6007
6008              When  writing  a  mailbox,  a  message  will  be  printed  every
6009              $write_inc  messages  to indicate progress.  If set to 0, only a
6010              single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.
6011
6012              Also see the $read_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and the
6013              “tuning” section of the manual for performance considerations.
6014
6015
6016

SEE ALSO

6018       iconv(1),   iconv(3),   mailcap(5),   maildir(5),   mbox(5),   mutt(1),
6019       printf(3), regex(7), strftime(3)
6020
6021       The Mutt Manual
6022
6023       The Mutt home page: http://www.mutt.org/
6024

AUTHOR

6026       Michael Elkins, and others.  Use  <mutt-dev@mutt.org>  to  contact  the
6027       developers.
6028
6029
6030
6031Unix                             January 2019                        muttrc(5)
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