1muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
2
6 muttrc - Configuration file for the Mutt Mail User Agent
7
9 A mutt configuration file consists of a series of “commands”. Each
10 line of the file may contain one or more commands. When multiple com‐
11 mands are used, they must be separated by a semicolon (“;”).
12 The hash mark, or pound sign (“#”), is used as a “comment” character.
14 You can use it to annotate your initialization file. All text after the
15 comment character to the end of the line is ignored.
16 Single quotes (“'”) and double quotes (“"”) can be used to quote
18 strings which contain spaces or other special characters. The differ‐
19 ence between the two types of quotes is similar to that of many popular
20 shell programs, namely that a single quote is used to specify a literal
21 string (one that is not interpreted for shell variables or quoting with
22 a backslash [see next paragraph]), while double quotes indicate a
23 string which should be evaluated. For example, backticks are evaluated
24 inside of double quotes, but not single quotes.
25 \ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh.
27 For example, if want to put quotes (“"”) inside of a string, you can
28 use “\” to force the next character to be a literal instead of inter‐
29 preted character.
30 “\\” means to insert a literal “\” into the line. “\n” and “\r” have
32 their usual C meanings of linefeed and carriage-return, respectively.
33 A “\” at the end of a line can be used to split commands over multiple
35 lines, provided that the split points don't appear in the middle of
36 command names.
37 It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an
39 initialization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in
40 backticks (`command`).
41 UNIX environment variables can be accessed like the way it is done in
43 shells like sh and bash: Prepend the name of the variable by a dollar
44 (“$”) sign.
45
47 alias [-group name [...]] key address [, address [ ... ]]
48 unalias [ * | key ]
49 alias defines an alias key for the given addresses. Each address
51 will be resolved into either an email address (user@example.com)
52 or a named email address (User Name <user@example.com>). The ad‐
53 dress may be specified in either format, or in the format
54 “user@example.com (User Name)”. unalias removes the alias cor‐
55 responding to the given key or all aliases when “*” is used as
56 an argument. The optional -group argument to alias causes the
57 aliased address(es) to be added to the named group.
58 group [-group name] [-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]
60 ungroup [-group name ] [ * | [[-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]]
61 group is used to directly add either addresses or regular ex‐
63 pressions to the specified group or groups. The different cate‐
64 gories of arguments to the group command can be in any order.
65 The flags -rx and -addr specify what the following strings (that
66 cannot begin with a hyphen) should be interpreted as: either a
67 regular expression or an email address, respectively. ungroup
68 is used to remove addresses or regular expressions from the
69 specified group or groups. The syntax is similar to the group
70 command, however the special character * can be used to empty a
71 group of all of its contents.
72 These address groups can also be created implicitly by the
74 alias, lists, subscribe and alternates commands by specifying
75 the optional -group option.
76 Once defined, these address groups can be used in patterns to
78 search for and limit the display to messages matching a group.
79 alternates [-group name] regexp [ regexp [ ... ]]
81 unalternates [ * | regexp [ regexp [ ... ]] ]
82 alternates is used to inform mutt about alternate addresses
84 where you receive mail; you can use regular expressions to spec‐
85 ify alternate addresses. This affects mutt's idea about mes‐
86 sages from you, and messages addressed to you. unalternates re‐
87 moves a regular expression from the list of known alternates.
88 The -group flag causes all of the subsequent regular expressions
89 to be added to the named group.
90 alternative_order type[/subtype] [ ... ]
92 unalternative_order [ * | type/subtype] [...]
93 alternative_order command permits you to define an order of
95 preference which is used by mutt to determine which part of a
96 multipart/alternative body to display. A subtype of “*” matches
97 any subtype, as does an empty subtype. unalternative_order re‐
98 moves entries from the ordered list or deletes the entire list
99 when “*” is used as an argument.
100 attachments [ + | - ]disposition mime-type
102 unattachments [ + | - ]disposition mime-type
103 attachments ?
104 unattachments *
105 attachments specifies what kinds of attachments are used for
107 Mutt's attachment counting and searching support.
108 disposition is the attachment's Content-Disposition type - ei‐
110 ther inline or attachment. You can abbreviate this to I or A.
111 The first part of a message or multipart group, if inline, is
113 counted separately than other inline parts. Specify root or R
114 for disposition to count these as attachments. If this first
115 part is of type multipart/alternative, note that its top-level
116 inline parts are also counted via root disposition (if
117 $count_alternatives is set).
118 disposition is prefixed by either a + symbol or a - symbol. If
120 it's a +, you're saying that you want to allow this disposition
121 and MIME type to qualify. If it's a -, you're saying that this
122 disposition and MIME type is an exception to previous + rules.
123 mime-type is the MIME type of the attachment you want the com‐
125 mand to affect. A MIME type is always of the format major/minor,
126 where major describes the broad category of document you're
127 looking at, and minor describes the specific type within that
128 category. The major part of mime-type must be literal text (or
129 the special token *), but the minor part may be a regular ex‐
130 pression. (Therefore, */.* matches any MIME type.)
131 The MIME types you give to the attachments directive are a kind
133 of pattern. When you use the attachments directive, the patterns
134 you specify are added to a list. When you use unattachments, the
135 pattern is removed from the list. The patterns are not expanded
136 and matched to specific MIME types at this time - they're just
137 text in a list. They're only matched when actually evaluating a
138 message.
139 auto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
141 unauto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
142 This commands permits you to specify that mutt should automati‐
144 cally convert the given MIME types to text/plain when displaying
145 messages. For this to work, there must be a mailcap(5) entry
146 for the given MIME type with the copiousoutput flag set. A sub‐
147 type of “*” matches any subtype, as does an empty subtype.
148 mime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
150 unmime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
151 This command permits you to define a list of "data" MIME content
153 types for which mutt will try to determine the actual file type
154 from the file name, and not use a mailcap(5) entry given for the
155 original MIME type. For instance, you may add the applica‐
156 tion/octet-stream MIME type to this list.
157 bind map1,map2,... key function
159 This command binds the given key for the given map or maps to
160 the given function. Multiple maps may be specified by separating
161 them with commas (no whitespace is allowed).
162 Valid maps are: generic, alias, attach, browser, editor, index,
164 compose, pager, pgp, postpone, mix.
165 For more information on keys and functions, please consult the
167 Mutt Manual. Note that the function name is to be specified
168 without angle brackets.
169 account-hook [!]regexp command
171 This hook is executed whenever you access a remote mailbox. Use‐
172 ful to adjust configuration settings to different IMAP or POP
173 servers.
174 charset-hook alias charset
176 This command defines an alias for a character set. This is use‐
177 ful to properly display messages which are tagged with a charac‐
178 ter set name not known to mutt.
179 iconv-hook charset local-charset
181 This command defines a system-specific name for a character set.
182 This is useful when your system's iconv(3) implementation does
183 not understand MIME character set names (such as iso-8859-1),
184 but instead insists on being fed with implementation-specific
185 character set names (such as 8859-1). In this specific case,
186 you'd put this into your configuration file:
187 iconv-hook iso-8859-1 8859-1
189 message-hook [!]pattern command
191 Before mutt displays (or formats for replying or forwarding) a
192 message which matches the given pattern (or, when it is preceded
193 by an exclamation mark, does not match the pattern), the given
194 command is executed. When multiple message-hooks match, they
195 are executed in the order in which they occur in the configu‐
196 ration file.
197 folder-hook [!]regexp command
199 When mutt enters a folder which matches regexp (or, when regexp
200 is preceded by an exclamation mark, does not match regexp), the
201 given command is executed.
202 When several folder-hooks match a given mail folder, they are
204 executed in the order given in the configuration file.
205 macro map key sequence [ description ]
207 This command binds the given sequence of keys to the given key
208 in the given map or maps. For valid maps, see bind. To specify
209 multiple maps, put only a comma between the maps.
210 color object [ attribute ... ] foreground background [ regexp ]
212 color index [ attribute ... ] foreground background [ pattern ]
213 color compose composeobject [ attribute ... ] foreground background
214 uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ]
215 If your terminal supports color, these commands can be used to
217 assign foreground/background combinations to certain objects.
218 Valid objects are: attachment, body, bold, error, header, hdrde‐
219 fault, index, indicator, markers, message, normal, prompt,
220 quoted, quotedN, search, signature, status, tilde, tree, under‐
221 line. If the sidebar is enabled the following objects are also
222 valid: sidebar_divider, sidebar_flagged, sidebar_highlight,
223 sidebar_indicator, sidebar_new, sidebar_spoolfile. The body and
224 header objects allow you to restrict the colorization to a regu‐
225 lar expression. The index object permits you to select colored
226 messages by pattern.
227 Valid composeobjects include header, security_encrypt, secu‐
229 rity_sign, security_both, security_none.
230 Valid colors include: white, black, green, magenta, blue, cyan,
232 yellow, red, default, colorN.
233 Valid attributes include: none, bold, underline, reverse, and
235 standout.
236 mono object attribute [ regexp ]
238 mono index attribute [ pattern ]
239 For terminals which don't support color, you can still assign
241 attributes to objects.
242 [un]ignore pattern [ pattern ... ]
244 The ignore command permits you to specify header fields which
245 you usually don't wish to see. Any header field whose tag be‐
246 gins with an “ignored” pattern will be ignored.
247 The unignore command permits you to define exceptions from the
249 above mentioned list of ignored headers.
250 lists [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
252 unlists regexp [ regexp ... ]
253 subscribe [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
254 unsubscribe regexp [ regexp ... ]
255 Mutt maintains two lists of mailing list address patterns, a
257 list of subscribed mailing lists, and a list of known mailing
258 lists. All subscribed mailing lists are known. Patterns use
259 regular expressions.
260 The lists command adds a mailing list address to the list of
262 known mailing lists. The unlists command removes a mailing list
263 from the lists of known and subscribed mailing lists. The sub‐
264 scribe command adds a mailing list to the lists of known and
265 subscribed mailing lists. The unsubscribe command removes it
266 from the list of subscribed mailing lists. The -group flag adds
267 all of the subsequent regular expressions to the named group.
268 mbox-hook [!]regexp mailbox
270 When mutt changes to a mail folder which matches regexp, mailbox
271 will be used as the “mbox” folder, i.e., read messages will be
272 moved to that folder when the mail folder is left.
273 The first matching mbox-hook applies.
275 mailboxes [[-notify | -nonotify]
277 [-poll | -nopoll]
278 [[-label label] | -nolabel]
279 filename] [ ... ]
280 unmailboxes [ * | filename ... ]
281 The mailboxes specifies folders which can receive mail and which
283 will be checked for new messages. When changing folders, press‐
284 ing space will cycle through folders with new mail. The unmail‐
285 boxes command is used to remove a file name from the list of
286 folders which can receive mail. If "*" is specified as the file
287 name, the list is emptied.
288 my_hdr string
290 unmy_hdr field
291 Using my_hdr, you can define headers which will be added to the
293 messages you compose. unmy_hdr will remove the given user-de‐
294 fined headers.
295 hdr_order header1 header2 [ ... ]
297 With this command, you can specify an order in which mutt will
298 attempt to present headers to you when viewing messages.
299 save-hook [!]pattern filename
301 When a message matches pattern, the default file name when sav‐
302 ing it will be the given filename.
303 fcc-hook [!]pattern filename
305 When an outgoing message matches pattern, the default file name
306 for storing a copy (fcc) will be the given filename.
307 fcc-save-hook [!]pattern filename
309 This command is an abbreviation for identical fcc-hook and save-
310 hook commands.
311 send-hook [!]pattern command
313 When composing a message matching pattern, command is executed.
314 When multiple send-hooks match, they are executed in the order
315 in which they occur in the configuration file.
316 send2-hook [!]pattern command
318 Whenever a message matching pattern is changed (either by edit‐
319 ing it or by using the compose menu), command is executed. When
320 multiple send2-hooks match, they are executed in the order in
321 which they occur in the configuration file. Possible applica‐
322 tions include setting the $sendmail variable when a message's
323 from header is changed.
324 send2-hook execution is not triggered by use of enter-command
326 from the compose menu.
327 reply-hook [!]pattern command
329 When replying to a message matching pattern, command is exe‐
330 cuted. When multiple reply-hooks match, they are executed in
331 the order in which they occur in the configuration file, but all
332 reply-hooks are matched and executed before send-hooks, regard‐
333 less of their order in the configuration file.
334 crypt-hook regexp key-id
336 The crypt-hook command provides a method by which you can spec‐
337 ify the ID of the public key to be used when encrypting messages
338 to a certain recipient. The meaning of "key ID" is to be taken
339 broadly: This can be a different e-mail address, a numerical key
340 ID, or even just an arbitrary search string. You may use multi‐
341 ple crypt-hooks with the same regexp; multiple matching crypt-
342 hooks result in the use of multiple key-ids for a recipient.
343 index-format-hook name [!]pattern format-string
345 This command is used to inject format strings dynamically into
346 $index_format based on pattern matching against the current mes‐
347 sage.
348 The $index_format expando %@name@ specifies a placeholder for
350 the injection. Index-format-hooks with the same name are matched
351 using pattern against the current message. Matching is done in
352 the order specified in the .muttrc, with the first match being
353 used. The hook's format-string is then substituted and evalu‐
354 ated.
355 open-hook regexp "command"
357 close-hook regexp "command"
358 append-hook regexp "command"
359 These commands provide a way to handle compressed folders. The
361 given regexp specifies which folders are taken as compressed
362 (e.g. "\\.gz$"). The commands tell Mutt how to uncompress a
363 folder (open-hook), compress a folder (close-hook) or append a
364 compressed mail to a compressed folder (append-hook). The com‐
365 mand string is the printf(3) like format string, and it should
366 accept two parameters: %f, which is replaced with the (com‐
367 pressed) folder name, and %t which is replaced with the name of
368 the temporary folder to which to write.
369 push string
371 exec function [ ... ]
372 push adds the named string to the keyboard buffer. “exec func‐
374 tion” is equivalent to “push <function>”.
375 run MuttLisp
377 The run command evaluates the MuttLisp argument. The output of
379 the MuttLisp is then executed as a Mutt command, as if it were
380 typed in the muttrc instead.
381 score pattern value
383 unscore [ * | pattern ... ]
384 The score commands adds value to a message's score if pattern
386 matches it. The unscore command removes score entries from the
387 list.
388 set [no|inv|&|?]variable[=value] [ ... ]
390 toggle variable [ ... ]
391 unset variable [ ... ]
392 reset variable [ ... ]
393 These commands are used to set and manipulate configuration
395 variables.
396 Mutt knows four basic types of variables: boolean, number,
398 string and quadoption. Boolean variables can be set (true), un‐
399 set (false), or toggled. Number variables can be assigned a pos‐
400 itive integer value.
401 String variables consist of any number of printable characters.
403 Strings must be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces or
404 tabs. You may also use the “C” escape sequences \n and \t for
405 newline and tab, respectively.
406 Quadoption variables are used to control whether or not to be
408 prompted for certain actions, or to specify a default action. A
409 value of yes will cause the action to be carried out automati‐
410 cally as if you had answered yes to the question. Similarly, a
411 value of no will cause the action to be carried out as if you
412 had answered “no.” A value of ask-yes will cause a prompt with a
413 default answer of “yes” and ask-no will provide a default answer
414 of “no.”
415 The reset command resets all given variables to the compile time
417 defaults. If you reset the special variable all, all variables
418 will reset to their compile time defaults.
419 setenv [?]variable [ value ]
421 unsetenv variable
422 These alter the environment that Mutt passes on to its child
424 processes. You can also query current environment values by
425 prefixing a “?” character.
426 sidebar_whitelist mailbox [ mailbox ...]
428 unsidebar_whitelist [ * | mailbox ... ]
429 sidebar_whitelist specifies mailboxes that will always be dis‐
431 played in the sidebar, even if $sidebar_new_mail_only is set and
432 the mailbox does not contain new mail.
433 unsidebar_whitelist is used to remove a mailbox from the list of
435 whitelisted mailboxes. Use unsidebar_whitelist * to remove all
436 mailboxes.
437 source filename
439 The given file will be evaluated as a configuration file.
440 spam pattern format
442 nospam pattern
443 These commands define spam-detection patterns from external spam
445 filters, so that mutt can sort, limit, and search on ``spam
446 tags'' or ``spam attributes'', or display them in the index. See
447 the Mutt manual for details.
448 subjectrx pattern replacement
450 unsubjectrx [ * | pattern ]
451 subjectrx specifies a regular expression pattern which, if de‐
453 tected in a message subject, causes the subject to be replaced
454 with the replacement value. The replacement is subject to sub‐
455 stitutions in the same way as for the spam command: %L for the
456 text to the left of the match, %R for text to the right of the
457 match, and %1 for the first subgroup in the match (etc). If you
458 simply want to erase the match, set it to “%L%R”. Any number of
459 subjectrx commands may coexist.
460 Note this well: the replacement value replaces the entire sub‐
462 ject, not just the match!
463 unsubjectrx removes a given subjectrx from the substitution
465 list. If * is used as the pattern, all substitutions will be re‐
466 moved.
467 unhook [ * | hook-type ]
469 This command will remove all hooks of a given type, or all hooks
470 when “*” is used as an argument. hook-type can be any of the
471 -hook commands documented above.
472 mailto_allow header-field [ ... ]
474 unmailto_allow [ * | header-field ... ]
475 These commands allow the user to modify the list of allowed
477 header fields in a mailto: URL that Mutt will include in the the
478 generated message. By default the list contains only subject
479 and body, as specified by RFC2368.
480 echo message
482 Prints message to the message window. After printing the mes‐
483 sage, echo will pause for the number of seconds specified by
484 $sleep_time.
485 cd directory
487 Changes the current working directory.
488
490 In various places with mutt, including some of the above mentioned hook
491 commands, you can specify patterns to match messages.
492 Constructing Patterns
494 A simple pattern consists of a modifier of the form “~character”, pos‐
495 sibly followed by a parameter against which mutt is supposed to match
496 the object specified by this modifier. For some characters, the ~ may
497 be replaced by another character to alter the behavior of the match.
498 These are described in the list of modifiers, below.
499 With some of these modifiers, the object to be matched consists of sev‐
501 eral e-mail addresses. In these cases, the object is matched if at
502 least one of these e-mail addresses matches. You can prepend a hat
503 (“^”) character to such a pattern to indicate that all addresses must
504 match in order to match the object.
505 You can construct complex patterns by combining simple patterns with
507 logical operators. Logical AND is specified by simply concatenating
508 two simple patterns, for instance “~C mutt-dev ~s bug”. Logical OR is
509 specified by inserting a vertical bar (“|”) between two patterns, for
510 instance “~C mutt-dev | ~s bug”. Additionally, you can negate a pat‐
511 tern by prepending a bang (“!”) character. For logical grouping, use
512 braces (“()”). Example: “!(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins”.
513 Simple Patterns
515 Mutt understands the following simple patterns:
516 ~A all messages
518 ~b EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message body.
519 =b STRING If IMAP is enabled, like ~b but searches for STRING on the
520 server, rather than downloading each message and searching
521 it locally.
522 ~B EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole message.
523 =B STRING If IMAP is enabled, like ~B but searches for STRING on the
524 server, rather than downloading each message and searching
525 it locally.
526 ~c EXPR messages carbon-copied to EXPR
527 %c GROUP messages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP
528 ~C EXPR messages either to: or cc: EXPR
529 %C GROUP messages either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP
530 ~d MIN-MAX messages with “date-sent” in a Date range
531 ~D deleted messages
532 ~e EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “Sender” field
533 %e GROUP messages which contain a member of GROUP in the “Sender”
534 field
535 ~E expired messages
536 ~f EXPR messages originating from EXPR
537 %f GROUP messages originating from any member of GROUP
538 ~F flagged messages
539 ~g PGP signed messages
540 ~G PGP encrypted messages
541 ~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message header
542 =h STRING If IMAP is enabled, like ~h but searches for STRING on the
543 server, rather than downloading each message and searching
544 it locally. STRING must be of the form “header: substring”
545 ~H EXPR messages with spam tags matching EXPR
546 ~i EXPR messages which match EXPR in the “Message-ID” field
547 ~k messages containing PGP key material
548 ~l messages addressed to a known mailing list (defined by ei‐
549 ther subscribe or list)
550 ~L EXPR messages either originated or received by EXPR
551 %L GROUP messages either originated or received by any member of
552 GROUP
553 ~m MIN-MAX message in the range MIN to MAX
554 ~M EXPR messages which contain a mime Content-Type matching EXPR
555 ~n MIN-MAX messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX
556 ~N new messages
557 ~O old messages
558 ~p messages addressed to you (consults $from, alternates, and
559 local account/hostname information)
560 ~P messages from you (consults $from, alternates, and local
561 account/hostname information)
562 ~Q messages which have been replied to
563 ~r MIN-MAX messages with “date-received” in a Date range
564 ~R read messages
565 ~s EXPR messages having EXPR in the “Subject” field.
566 ~S superseded messages
567 ~t EXPR messages addressed to EXPR
568 ~T tagged messages
569 ~u messages addressed to a subscribed mailing list (defined by
570 subscribe commands)
571 ~U unread messages
572 ~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
573 ~V cryptographically verified messages
574 ~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “References” or “In-Re‐
575 ply-To” field
576 ~X MIN-MAX messages with MIN - MAX attachments
577 ~y EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “X-Label” field
578 ~z MIN-MAX messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX
579 ~= duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
580 ~$ unreferenced message (requires threaded view)
581 ~(PATTERN) messages in threads containing messages matching a certain
582 pattern, e.g. all threads containing messages from you:
583 ~(~P)
584 ~<(PATTERN) messages whose immediate parent matches PATTERN, e.g.
585 replies to your messages: ~<(~P)
586 ~>(PATTERN) messages having an immediate child matching PATTERN, e.g.
587 messages you replied to: ~>(~P)
588 In the above, EXPR is a regular expression.
590 With the ~d, ~m, ~n, ~r, ~X, and ~z modifiers, you can also specify
592 ranges in the forms <MAX, >MIN, MIN-, and -MAX.
593 With the ~z modifier, the suffixes “K” and “M” are allowed to specify
595 kilobyte and megabyte respectively.
596 The ~b, ~B, ~h, ~M, and ~X modifiers require reading each message in,
598 which can be much slower.
599 You can force Mutt to treat EXPR as a simple string instead of a regu‐
601 lar expression by using = instead of ~ in the pattern name.
602 Matching dates
604 The ~d and ~r modifiers are used to match date ranges, which are inter‐
605 preted to be given in your local time zone.
606 A date is of the form DD[/MM[/[cc]YY]], that is, a two-digit date, op‐
608 tionally followed by a two-digit month, optionally followed by a year
609 specifications. Omitted fields default to the current month and year.
610 Mutt understands either two or four digit year specifications. When
612 given a two-digit year, mutt will interpret values less than 70 as ly‐
613 ing in the 21st century (i.e., “38” means 2038 and not 1938, and “00”
614 is interpreted as 2000), and values greater than or equal to 70 as ly‐
615 ing in the 20th century.
616 Note that this behavior is Y2K compliant, but that mutt does have a
618 Y2.07K problem.
619 Alternatively, you may use YYYYMMDD to specify a date.
621 If a date range consists of a single date, the modifier in question
623 will match that precise date. If the date range consists of a dash
624 (“-”), followed by a date, this range will match any date before and up
625 to the date given. Similarly, a date followed by a dash matches the
626 date given and any later point of time. Two dates, separated by a
627 dash, match any date which lies in the given range of time.
628 You can also modify any absolute date by giving an error range. An er‐
630 ror range consists of one of the characters +, -, *, followed by a pos‐
631 itive number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d,
632 specifying a unit of years, months, weeks, or days. + increases the
633 maximum date matched by the given interval of time, - decreases the
634 minimum date matched by the given interval of time, and * increases the
635 maximum date and decreases the minimum date matched by the given inter‐
636 val of time. It is possible to give multiple error margins, which cu‐
637 mulate. Example: 1/1/2001-1w+2w*3d
638 You can also specify offsets relative to the current date. An offset
640 is specified as one of the characters <, >, =, followed by a positive
641 number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, d, H, M, or S.
642 > matches dates which are older than the specified amount of time, an
643 offset which begins with the character < matches dates which are more
644 recent than the specified amount of time, and an offset which begins
645 with the character = matches points of time which are precisely the
646 given amount of time ago.
647
649 abort_noattach
650 Type: quadoption
651 Default: no
652 When the body of the message matches $abort_noattach_regexp and
654 there are no attachments, this quadoption controls whether to
655 abort sending the message.
656 abort_noattach_regexp
660 Type: regular expression
661 Default: “attach”
662 Specifies a regular expression to match against the body of the
664 message, to determine if an attachment was mentioned but mistak‐
665 enly forgotten. If it matches, $abort_noattach will be con‐
666 sulted to determine if message sending will be aborted.
667 Like other regular expressions in Mutt, the search is case sen‐
669 sitive if the pattern contains at least one upper case letter,
670 and case insensitive otherwise.
671 abort_nosubject
675 Type: quadoption
676 Default: ask-yes
677 If set to yes, when composing messages and no subject is given
679 at the subject prompt, composition will be aborted. If set to
680 no, composing messages with no subject given at the subject
681 prompt will never be aborted.
682 abort_unmodified
686 Type: quadoption
687 Default: yes
688 If set to yes, composition will automatically abort after edit‐
690 ing the message body if no changes are made to the file (this
691 check only happens after the first edit of the file). When set
692 to no, composition will never be aborted.
693 alias_file
697 Type: path
698 Default: “~/.muttrc”
699 The default file in which to save aliases created by the <cre‐
701 ate-alias> function. Entries added to this file are encoded in
702 the character set specified by $config_charset if it is set or
703 the current character set otherwise.
704 Note: Mutt will not automatically source this file; you must ex‐
706 plicitly use the “source” command for it to be executed in case
707 this option points to a dedicated alias file.
708 The default for this option is the currently used muttrc file,
710 or “~/.muttrc” if no user muttrc was found.
711 alias_format
715 Type: string
716 Default: “%4n %2f %t %-10a %r”
717 Specifies the format of the data displayed for the “alias” menu.
719 The following printf(3)-style sequences are available:
720 %a alias name
721 %f flags - currently, a “d” for an alias marked for deletion
722 %n index number
723 %r address which alias expands to
724 %t character which indicates if the alias is tagged for in‐
725 clusion
726 allow_8bit
729 Type: boolean
730 Default: yes
731 Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either
733 Quoted- Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.
734 allow_ansi
738 Type: boolean
739 Default: no
740 Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in
742 rich text messages) are to be interpreted. Messages containing
743 these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will
744 be colored accordingly. Note that this may override your color
745 choices, and even present a security problem, since a message
746 could include a line like
747 [-- PGP output follows ...
750 and give it the same color as your attachment color (see also
753 $crypt_timestamp).
754 arrow_cursor
758 Type: boolean
759 Default: no
760 When set, an arrow (“->”) will be used to indicate the current
762 entry in menus instead of highlighting the whole line. On slow
763 network or modem links this will make response faster because
764 there is less that has to be redrawn on the screen when moving
765 to the next or previous entries in the menu.
766 ascii_chars
770 Type: boolean
771 Default: no
772 If set, Mutt will use plain ASCII characters when displaying
774 thread and attachment trees, instead of the default ACS charac‐
775 ters.
776 askbcc
780 Type: boolean
781 Default: no
782 If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipi‐
784 ents before editing an outgoing message.
785 askcc
789 Type: boolean
790 Default: no
791 If set, Mutt will prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients be‐
793 fore editing the body of an outgoing message.
794 assumed_charset
798 Type: string
799 Default: “”
800 This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
802 schemes for messages without character encoding indication.
803 Header field values and message body content without character
804 encoding indication would be assumed that they are written in
805 one of this list. By default, all the header fields and message
806 body without any charset indication are assumed to be in
807 “us-ascii”.
808 For example, Japanese users might prefer this:
810 set assumed_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
813 However, only the first content is valid for the message body.
816 attach_charset
820 Type: string
821 Default: “”
822 This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
824 schemes for text file attachments. Mutt uses this setting to
825 guess which encoding files being attached are encoded in to con‐
826 vert them to a proper character set given in $send_charset.
827 If unset, the value of $charset will be used instead. For exam‐
829 ple, the following configuration would work for Japanese text
830 handling:
831 set attach_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
834 Note: for Japanese users, “iso-2022-*” must be put at the head
837 of the value as shown above if included.
838 attach_format
842 Type: string
843 Default: “%u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s] ”
844 This variable describes the format of the “attachment” menu.
846 The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
847 %C charset
848 %c requires charset conversion (“n” or “c”)
849 %D deleted flag
850 %d description (if none, falls back to %F)
851 %e MIME content-transfer-encoding
852 %F filename in content-disposition header (if none, falls
853 back to %f)
854 %f filename
855 %I disposition (“I” for inline, “A” for attachment)
856 %m major MIME type
857 %M MIME subtype
858 %n attachment number
859 %Q “Q”, if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting
860 %s size (see formatstrings-size)
861 %t tagged flag
862 %T graphic tree characters
863 %u unlink (=to delete) flag
864 %X number of qualifying MIME parts in this part and its
865 children (please see the “attachments” section for possi‐
866 ble speed effects)
867 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
868 ter “X”
869 %|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
870 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
871 For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
873 mentation.
874 attach_save_charset_convert
878 Type: quadoption
879 Default: ask-yes
880 When saving received text-type attachments, this quadoption
882 prompts to convert the character set if the encoding of the at‐
883 tachment (or $assumed_charset if none is specified) differs from
884 charset.
885 attach_save_dir
889 Type: path
890 Default: “”
891 The default directory to save attachments from the “attachment”
893 menu. If it doesn't exist, Mutt will prompt to create the di‐
894 rectory before saving.
895 If the path is invalid (e.g. not a directory, or cannot be
897 chdir'ed to), Mutt will fall back to using the current direc‐
898 tory.
899 attach_sep
903 Type: string
904 Default: “\n”
905 The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving,
907 printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.
908 attach_split
912 Type: boolean
913 Default: yes
914 If this variable is unset, when operating (saving, printing,
916 piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments, Mutt will concate‐
917 nate the attachments and will operate on them as a single at‐
918 tachment. The $attach_sep separator is added after each attach‐
919 ment. When set, Mutt will operate on the attachments one by one.
920 attribution
924 Type: string (localized)
925 Default: “On %d, %n wrote:”
926 This is the string that will precede a message which has been
928 included in a reply. For a full listing of defined
929 printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.
930 attribution_locale
934 Type: string
935 Default: “”
936 The locale used by strftime(3) to format dates in the attribu‐
938 tion string. Legal values are the strings your system accepts
939 for the locale environment variable $LC_TIME.
940 This variable is to allow the attribution date format to be cus‐
942 tomized by recipient or folder using hooks. By default, Mutt
943 will use your locale environment, so there is no need to set
944 this except to override that default.
945 auto_subscribe
949 Type: boolean
950 Default: no
951 When set, Mutt assumes the presence of a List-Post header means
953 the recipient is subscribed to the list. Unless the mailing
954 list is in the “unsubscribe” or “unlist” lists, it will be added
955 to the “subscribe” list. Parsing and checking these things
956 slows header reading down, so this option is disabled by de‐
957 fault.
958 auto_tag
962 Type: boolean
963 Default: no
964 When set, functions in the index menu which affect a message
966 will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any). When
967 unset, you must first use the <tag-prefix> function (bound to
968 “;” by default) to make the next function apply to all tagged
969 messages.
970 autocrypt
974 Type: boolean
975 Default: no
976 When set, enables autocrypt, which provides passive encryption
978 protection with keys exchanged via headers. See “autocryptdoc”
979 for more details. (Autocrypt only)
980 autocrypt_acct_format
984 Type: string
985 Default: “%4n %-30a %20p %10s”
986 This variable describes the format of the “autocrypt account”
988 menu. The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood
989 %a email address
990 %k gpg keyid
991 %n current entry number
992 %p prefer-encrypt flag
993 %s status flag (active/inactive)
994 (Autocrypt only)
996 autocrypt_dir
1000 Type: path
1001 Default: “~/.mutt/autocrypt”
1002 This variable sets where autocrypt files are stored, including
1004 the GPG keyring and sqlite database. See “autocryptdoc” for
1005 more details. (Autocrypt only)
1006 autocrypt_reply
1010 Type: boolean
1011 Default: yes
1012 When set, replying to an autocrypt email automatically enables
1014 autocrypt in the reply. You may want to unset this if you're
1015 using the same key for autocrypt as normal web-of-trust, so that
1016 autocrypt isn't forced on for all encrypted replies. (Autocrypt
1017 only)
1018 autoedit
1022 Type: boolean
1023 Default: no
1024 When set along with $edit_headers, Mutt will skip the initial
1026 send-menu (prompting for subject and recipients) and allow you
1027 to immediately begin editing the body of your message. The
1028 send-menu may still be accessed once you have finished editing
1029 the body of your message.
1030 Note: when this option is set, you cannot use send-hooks that
1032 depend on the recipients when composing a new (non-reply) mes‐
1033 sage, as the initial list of recipients is empty.
1034 Also see $fast_reply.
1036 background_edit
1040 Type: boolean
1041 Default: no
1042 When set, Mutt will run $editor in the background during message
1044 composition. A landing page will display, waiting for the $edi‐
1045 tor to exit. The landing page may be exited, allowing perusal
1046 of the mailbox, or even for other messages to be composed.
1047 Backgrounded sessions may be returned to via the <back‐
1048 ground-compose-menu> function.
1049 For background editing to work properly, $editor must be set to
1051 an editor that does not try to use the Mutt terminal: for exam‐
1052 ple a graphical editor, or a script launching (and waiting for)
1053 the editor in another Gnu Screen window.
1054 For more details, see “bgedit” (”Background Editing” in the man‐
1056 ual).
1057 background_confirm_quit
1061 Type: boolean
1062 Default: yes
1063 When set, if there are any background edit sessions, you will be
1065 prompted to confirm exiting Mutt, in addition to the $quit
1066 prompt.
1067 background_format
1071 Type: string
1072 Default: “%10S %7p %s”
1073 This variable describes the format of the “background compose”
1075 menu. The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
1076 %i parent message id (for replies and forwarded messages)
1077 %n the running number on the menu
1078 %p pid of the $editor process
1079 %r comma separated list of “To:” recipients
1080 %R comma separated list of “Cc:” recipients
1081 %s subject of the message
1082 %S status of the $editor process: running/finished
1083 beep
1086 Type: boolean
1087 Default: yes
1088 When this variable is set, mutt will beep when an error occurs.
1090 beep_new
1094 Type: boolean
1095 Default: no
1096 When this variable is set, mutt will beep whenever it prints a
1098 message notifying you of new mail. This is independent of the
1099 setting of the $beep variable.
1100 bounce
1104 Type: quadoption
1105 Default: ask-yes
1106 Controls whether you will be asked to confirm bouncing messages.
1108 If set to yes you don't get asked if you want to bounce a mes‐
1109 sage. Setting this variable to no is not generally useful, and
1110 thus not recommended, because you are unable to bounce messages.
1111 bounce_delivered
1115 Type: boolean
1116 Default: yes
1117 When this variable is set, mutt will include Delivered-To head‐
1119 ers when bouncing messages. Postfix users may wish to unset
1120 this variable.
1121 braille_friendly
1125 Type: boolean
1126 Default: no
1127 When this variable is set, mutt will place the cursor at the be‐
1129 ginning of the current line in menus, even when the $arrow_cur‐
1130 sor variable is unset, making it easier for blind persons using
1131 Braille displays to follow these menus. The option is unset by
1132 default because many visual terminals don't permit making the
1133 cursor invisible.
1134 browser_abbreviate_mailboxes
1138 Type: boolean
1139 Default: yes
1140 When this variable is set, mutt will abbreviate mailbox names in
1142 the browser mailbox list, using '~' and '=' shortcuts.
1143 The default ”alpha” setting of $sort_browser uses locale-based
1145 sorting (using strcoll(3)), which ignores some punctuation.
1146 This can lead to some situations where the order doesn't make
1147 intuitive sense. In those cases, it may be desirable to unset
1148 this variable.
1149 browser_sticky_cursor
1153 Type: boolean
1154 Default: yes
1155 When this variable is set, the browser will attempt to keep the
1157 cursor on the same mailbox when performing various functions.
1158 These include moving up a directory, toggling between mailboxes
1159 and directory listing, creating/renaming a mailbox, toggling
1160 subscribed mailboxes, and entering a new mask.
1161 certificate_file
1165 Type: path
1166 Default: “~/.mutt_certificates”
1167 This variable specifies the file where the certificates you
1169 trust are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you
1170 are asked if you accept it or not. If you accept it, the cer‐
1171 tificate can also be saved in this file and further connections
1172 are automatically accepted.
1173 You can also manually add CA certificates in this file. Any
1175 server certificate that is signed with one of these CA certifi‐
1176 cates is also automatically accepted.
1177 Example:
1179 set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
1182 (OpenSSL and GnuTLS only)
1185 change_folder_next
1189 Type: boolean
1190 Default: no
1191 When this variable is set, the <change-folder> function mailbox
1193 suggestion will start at the next folder in your “mailboxes”
1194 list, instead of starting at the first folder in the list.
1195 charset
1199 Type: string
1200 Default: “”
1201 Character set your terminal uses to display and enter textual
1203 data. It is also the fallback for $send_charset.
1204 Upon startup Mutt tries to derive this value from environment
1206 variables such as $LC_CTYPE or $LANG.
1207 Note: It should only be set in case Mutt isn't able to determine
1209 the character set used correctly.
1210 check_mbox_size
1214 Type: boolean
1215 Default: no
1216 When this variable is set, mutt will use file size attribute in‐
1218 stead of access time when checking for new mail in mbox and mmdf
1219 folders.
1220 This variable is unset by default and should only be enabled
1222 when new mail detection for these folder types is unreliable or
1223 doesn't work.
1224 Note that enabling this variable should happen before any “mail‐
1226 boxes” directives occur in configuration files regarding mbox or
1227 mmdf folders because mutt needs to determine the initial new
1228 mail status of such a mailbox by performing a fast mailbox scan
1229 when it is defined. Afterwards the new mail status is tracked
1230 by file size changes.
1231 check_new
1235 Type: boolean
1236 Default: yes
1237 Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.
1239 When set, Mutt will check for new mail delivered while the mail‐
1241 box is open. Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can
1242 take quite some time since it involves scanning the directory
1243 and checking each file to see if it has already been looked at.
1244 If this variable is unset, no check for new mail is performed
1245 while the mailbox is open.
1246 collapse_unread
1250 Type: boolean
1251 Default: yes
1252 When unset, Mutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any
1254 unread messages.
1255 compose_confirm_detach_first
1259 Type: boolean
1260 Default: yes
1261 When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when trying to use
1263 <detach-file> on the first entry in the compose menu. This is
1264 to help prevent irreversible loss of the typed message by acci‐
1265 dentally hitting 'D' in the menu.
1266 Note: Mutt only prompts for the first entry. It doesn't keep
1268 track of which message is the typed message if the entries are
1269 reordered, or if the first entry was already deleted.
1270 compose_format
1274 Type: string (localized)
1275 Default: “-- Mutt: Compose [Approx. msg size: %l Atts: %a]%>-”
1276 Controls the format of the status line displayed in the “com‐
1278 pose” menu. This string is similar to $status_format, but has
1279 its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
1280 %a total number of attachments
1281 %h local hostname
1282 %l approximate size (in bytes) of the current message (see
1283 formatstrings-size)
1284 %v Mutt version string
1285 See the text describing the $status_format option for more in‐
1287 formation on how to set $compose_format.
1288 config_charset
1292 Type: string
1293 Default: “”
1294 When defined, Mutt will recode commands in rc files from this
1296 encoding to the current character set as specified by $charset
1297 and aliases written to $alias_file from the current character
1298 set.
1299 Please note that if setting $charset it must be done before set‐
1301 ting $config_charset.
1302 Recoding should be avoided as it may render unconvertable char‐
1304 acters as question marks which can lead to undesired side ef‐
1305 fects (for example in regular expressions).
1306 confirmappend
1310 Type: boolean
1311 Default: yes
1312 When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when appending mes‐
1314 sages to an existing mailbox.
1315 confirmcreate
1319 Type: boolean
1320 Default: yes
1321 When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages
1323 to a mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.
1324 connect_timeout
1328 Type: number
1329 Default: 30
1330 Causes Mutt to timeout a network connection (for IMAP, POP or
1332 SMTP) after this many seconds if the connection is not able to
1333 be established. A negative value causes Mutt to wait indefi‐
1334 nitely for the connection attempt to succeed.
1335 content_type
1339 Type: string
1340 Default: “text/plain”
1341 Sets the default Content-Type for the body of newly composed
1343 messages.
1344 copy
1348 Type: quadoption
1349 Default: yes
1350 This variable controls whether or not copies of your outgoing
1352 messages will be saved for later references. Also see $record,
1353 $save_name, $force_name and “fcc-hook”.
1354 copy_decode_weed
1358 Type: boolean
1359 Default: no
1360 Controls whether Mutt will weed headers when invoking the <de‐
1362 code-copy> or <decode-save> functions.
1363 count_alternatives
1367 Type: boolean
1368 Default: no
1369 When set, Mutt will recurse inside multipart/alternatives while
1371 performing attachment searching and counting (see attachments).
1372 Traditionally, multipart/alternative parts have simply repre‐
1374 sented different encodings of the main content of the email.
1375 Unfortunately, some mail clients have started to place email at‐
1376 tachments inside one of alternatives. Setting this will allow
1377 Mutt to find and count matching attachments hidden there, and
1378 include them in the index via %X or through ~X pattern matching.
1379 cursor_overlay
1383 Type: boolean
1384 Default: no
1385 When set, Mutt will overlay the indicator, tree, sidebar_high‐
1387 light, and sidebar_indicator colors onto the currently selected
1388 line. This will allow default colors in those to be overridden,
1389 and for attributes to be merged between the layers.
1390 crypt_autoencrypt
1394 Type: boolean
1395 Default: no
1396 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to PGP
1398 encrypt outgoing messages. This is probably only useful in con‐
1399 nection to the “send-hook” command. It can be overridden by use
1400 of the pgp menu, when encryption is not required or signing is
1401 requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL is
1402 used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be over‐
1403 ridden by use of the smime menu instead. (Crypto only)
1404 crypt_autopgp
1408 Type: boolean
1409 Default: yes
1410 This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically en‐
1412 able PGP encryption/signing for messages. See also $crypt_au‐
1413 toencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign, $crypt_re‐
1414 plysign and $smime_is_default.
1415 crypt_autosign
1419 Type: boolean
1420 Default: no
1421 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cryp‐
1423 tographically sign outgoing messages. This can be overridden by
1424 use of the pgp menu, when signing is not required or encryption
1425 is requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL
1426 is used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be
1427 overridden by use of the smime menu instead of the pgp menu.
1428 (Crypto only)
1429 crypt_autosmime
1433 Type: boolean
1434 Default: yes
1435 This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically en‐
1437 able S/MIME encryption/signing for messages. See also $crypt_au‐
1438 toencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign, $crypt_re‐
1439 plysign and $smime_is_default.
1440 crypt_confirmhook
1444 Type: boolean
1445 Default: yes
1446 If set, then you will be prompted for confirmation of keys when
1448 using the crypt-hook command. If unset, no such confirmation
1449 prompt will be presented. This is generally considered unsafe,
1450 especially where typos are concerned.
1451 crypt_opportunistic_encrypt
1455 Type: boolean
1456 Default: no
1457 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to automatically enable
1459 and disable encryption, based on whether all message recipient
1460 keys can be located by Mutt.
1461 When this option is enabled, Mutt will enable/disable encryption
1463 each time the TO, CC, and BCC lists are edited. If $edit_head‐
1464 ers is set, Mutt will also do so each time the message is
1465 edited.
1466 While this is set, encryption can't be manually enabled/dis‐
1468 abled. The pgp or smime menus provide a selection to temporar‐
1469 ily disable this option for the current message.
1470 If $crypt_autoencrypt or $crypt_replyencrypt enable encryption
1472 for a message, this option will be disabled for that message.
1473 It can be manually re-enabled in the pgp or smime menus.
1474 (Crypto only)
1475 crypt_opportunistic_encrypt_strong_keys
1479 Type: boolean
1480 Default: no
1481 When set, this modifies the behavior of $crypt_opportunistic_en‐
1483 crypt to only search for ”strong keys”, that is, keys with full
1484 validity according to the web-of-trust algorithm. A key with
1485 marginal or no validity will not enable opportunistic encryp‐
1486 tion.
1487 For S/MIME, the behavior depends on the backend. Classic S/MIME
1489 will filter for certificates with the 't' (trusted) flag in the
1490 .index file. The GPGME backend will use the same filters as
1491 with OpenPGP, and depends on GPGME's logic for assigning the
1492 GPGME_VALIDITY_FULL and GPGME_VALIDITY_ULTIMATE validity flag.
1493 crypt_protected_headers_read
1497 Type: boolean
1498 Default: yes
1499 When set, Mutt will display protected headers in the pager, and
1501 will update the index and header cache with revised headers.
1502 Protected headers are stored inside the encrypted or signed part
1503 of an an email, to prevent disclosure or tampering. For more
1504 information see https://github.com/autocrypt/protected-headers.
1505 Currently Mutt only supports the Subject header.
1506 Encrypted messages using protected headers often substitute the
1508 exposed Subject header with a dummy value (see $crypt_pro‐
1509 tected_headers_subject). Mutt will update its concept of the
1510 correct subject after the message is opened, i.e. via the <dis‐
1511 play-message> function. If you reply to a message before open‐
1512 ing it, Mutt will end up using the dummy Subject header, so be
1513 sure to open such a message first. (Crypto only)
1514 crypt_protected_headers_save
1518 Type: boolean
1519 Default: no
1520 When $crypt_protected_headers_read is set, and a message with a
1522 protected Subject is opened, Mutt will save the updated Subject
1523 into the header cache by default. This allows searching/limit‐
1524 ing based on the protected Subject header if the mailbox is
1525 re-opened, without having to re-open the message each time.
1526 However, for mbox/mh mailbox types, or if header caching is not
1527 set up, you would need to re-open the message each time the
1528 mailbox was reopened before you could see or search/limit on the
1529 protected subject again.
1530 When this variable is set, Mutt additionally saves the protected
1532 Subject back in the clear-text message headers. This provides
1533 better usability, but with the tradeoff of reduced security.
1534 The protected Subject header, which may have previously been en‐
1535 crypted, is now stored in clear-text in the message headers.
1536 Copying the message elsewhere, via Mutt or external tools, could
1537 expose this previously encrypted data. Please make sure you un‐
1538 derstand the consequences of this before you enable this vari‐
1539 able. (Crypto only)
1540 crypt_protected_headers_subject
1544 Type: string
1545 Default: “...”
1546 When $crypt_protected_headers_write is set, and the message is
1548 marked for encryption, this will be substituted into the Subject
1549 field in the message headers. To prevent a subject from being
1550 substituted, unset this variable, or set it to the empty string.
1551 (Crypto only)
1552 crypt_protected_headers_write
1556 Type: boolean
1557 Default: no
1558 When set, Mutt will generate protected headers for signed and
1560 encrypted emails. Protected headers are stored inside the en‐
1561 crypted or signed part of an an email, to prevent disclosure or
1562 tampering. For more information see https://github.com/au‐
1563 tocrypt/protected-headers. Currently Mutt only supports the
1564 Subject header. (Crypto only)
1565 crypt_replyencrypt
1569 Type: boolean
1570 Default: yes
1571 If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL encrypt replies to messages
1573 which are encrypted. (Crypto only)
1574 crypt_replysign
1578 Type: boolean
1579 Default: no
1580 If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
1582 which are signed.
1583 Note: this does not work on messages that are encrypted and
1585 signed! (Crypto only)
1586 crypt_replysignencrypted
1590 Type: boolean
1591 Default: no
1592 If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
1594 which are encrypted. This makes sense in combination with
1595 $crypt_replyencrypt, because it allows you to sign all messages
1596 which are automatically encrypted. This works around the prob‐
1597 lem noted in $crypt_replysign, that mutt is not able to find out
1598 whether an encrypted message is also signed. (Crypto only)
1599 crypt_timestamp
1603 Type: boolean
1604 Default: yes
1605 If set, mutt will include a time stamp in the lines surrounding
1607 PGP or S/MIME output, so spoofing such lines is more difficult.
1608 If you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on these,
1609 you may unset this setting. (Crypto only)
1610 crypt_use_gpgme
1614 Type: boolean
1615 Default: no
1616 This variable controls the use of the GPGME-enabled crypto back‐
1618 ends. If it is set and Mutt was built with gpgme support, the
1619 gpgme code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the clas‐
1620 sic code. Note that you need to set this option in .muttrc; it
1621 won't have any effect when used interactively.
1622 Note that the GPGME backend does not support creating old-style
1624 inline (traditional) PGP encrypted or signed messages (see
1625 $pgp_autoinline).
1626 crypt_use_pka
1630 Type: boolean
1631 Default: no
1632 Controls whether mutt uses PKA (see
1634 http://www.g10code.de/docs/pka-intro.de.pdf) during signature
1635 verification (only supported by the GPGME backend).
1636 crypt_verify_sig
1640 Type: quadoption
1641 Default: yes
1642 If “yes”, always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures. If
1644 “ask-*”, ask whether or not to verify the signature. If “no”,
1645 never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures. (Crypto only)
1646 date_format
1650 Type: string
1651 Default: “!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z”
1652 This variable controls the format of the date printed by the
1654 “%d” sequence in $index_format. This is passed to the strf‐
1655 time(3) function to process the date, see the man page for the
1656 proper syntax.
1657 Unless the first character in the string is a bang (“!”), the
1659 month and week day names are expanded according to the locale.
1660 If the first character in the string is a bang, the bang is dis‐
1661 carded, and the month and week day names in the rest of the
1662 string are expanded in the C locale (that is in US English).
1663 default_hook
1667 Type: string
1668 Default: “~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)”
1669 This variable controls how “message-hook”, “reply-hook”, “send-
1671 hook”, “send2-hook”, “save-hook”, and “fcc-hook” will be inter‐
1672 preted if they are specified with only a simple regexp, instead
1673 of a matching pattern. The hooks are expanded when they are de‐
1674 clared, so a hook will be interpreted according to the value of
1675 this variable at the time the hook is declared.
1676 The default value matches if the message is either from a user
1678 matching the regular expression given, or if it is from you (if
1679 the from address matches “alternates”) and is to or cc'ed to a
1680 user matching the given regular expression.
1681 delete
1685 Type: quadoption
1686 Default: ask-yes
1687 Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing
1689 or synchronizing a mailbox. If set to yes, messages marked for
1690 deleting will automatically be purged without prompting. If set
1691 to no, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.
1692 This option is ignored for maildir-style mailboxes when
1694 $maildir_trash is set.
1695 delete_untag
1699 Type: boolean
1700 Default: yes
1701 If this option is set, mutt will untag messages when marking
1703 them for deletion. This applies when you either explicitly
1704 delete a message, or when you save it to another folder.
1705 digest_collapse
1709 Type: boolean
1710 Default: yes
1711 If this option is set, mutt's received-attachments menu will not
1713 show the subparts of individual messages in a multipart/digest.
1714 To see these subparts, press “v” on that menu.
1715 display_filter
1719 Type: path
1720 Default: “”
1721 When set, specifies a command used to filter messages. When a
1723 message is viewed it is passed as standard input to $dis‐
1724 play_filter, and the filtered message is read from the standard
1725 output.
1726 dotlock_program
1730 Type: path
1731 Default: “/usr/bin/mutt_dotlock”
1732 Contains the path of the mutt_dotlock(1) binary to be used by
1734 mutt.
1735 dsn_notify
1739 Type: string
1740 Default: “”
1741 This variable sets the request for when notification is re‐
1743 turned. The string consists of a comma separated list (no spa‐
1744 ces!) of one or more of the following: never, to never request
1745 notification, failure, to request notification on transmission
1746 failure, delay, to be notified of message delays, success, to be
1747 notified of successful transmission.
1748 Example:
1750 set dsn_notify=”failure,delay”
1753 Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable
1756 this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a
1757 MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the
1758 -N option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is auto-de‐
1759 tected so that it depends on the server whether DSN will be used
1760 or not.
1761 dsn_return
1765 Type: string
1766 Default: “”
1767 This variable controls how much of your message is returned in
1769 DSN messages. It may be set to either hdrs to return just the
1770 message header, or full to return the full message.
1771 Example:
1773 set dsn_return=hdrs
1776 Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable
1779 this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a
1780 MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the
1781 -R option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is auto-de‐
1782 tected so that it depends on the server whether DSN will be used
1783 or not.
1784 duplicate_threads
1788 Type: boolean
1789 Default: yes
1790 This variable controls whether mutt, when $sort is set to
1792 threads, threads messages with the same Message-Id together. If
1793 it is set, it will indicate that it thinks they are duplicates
1794 of each other with an equals sign in the thread tree.
1795 edit_headers
1799 Type: boolean
1800 Default: no
1801 This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing mes‐
1803 sages along with the body of your message.
1804 Although the compose menu may have localized header labels, the
1806 labels passed to your editor will be standard RFC 2822 headers,
1807 (e.g. To:, Cc:, Subject:). Headers added in your editor must
1808 also be RFC 2822 headers, or one of the pseudo headers listed in
1809 “edit-header”. Mutt will not understand localized header la‐
1810 bels, just as it would not when parsing an actual email.
1811 Note that changes made to the References: and Date: headers are
1813 ignored for interoperability reasons.
1814 editor
1818 Type: path
1819 Default: “”
1820 This variable specifies which editor is used by mutt. It de‐
1822 faults to the value of the $VISUAL, or $EDITOR, environment
1823 variable, or to the string “vi” if neither of those are set.
1824 The $editor string may contain a %s escape, which will be re‐
1826 placed by the name of the file to be edited. If the %s escape
1827 does not appear in $editor, a space and the name to be edited
1828 are appended.
1829 The resulting string is then executed by running
1831 sh -c 'string'
1834 where string is the expansion of $editor described above.
1837 encode_from
1841 Type: boolean
1842 Default: no
1843 When set, mutt will quoted-printable encode messages when they
1845 contain the string “From ” (note the trailing space) in the be‐
1846 ginning of a line. This is useful to avoid the tampering cer‐
1847 tain mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages
1848 (in order to prevent tools from misinterpreting the line as a
1849 mbox message separator).
1850 entropy_file
1854 Type: path
1855 Default: “”
1856 The file which includes random data that is used to initialize
1858 SSL library functions. (OpenSSL only)
1859 envelope_from_address
1863 Type: e-mail address
1864 Default: “”
1865 Manually sets the envelope sender for outgoing messages. This
1867 value is ignored if $use_envelope_from is unset.
1868 error_history
1872 Type: number
1873 Default: 30
1874 This variable controls the size (in number of strings remem‐
1876 bered) of the error messages displayed by mutt. These can be
1877 shown with the <error-history> function. The history is cleared
1878 each time this variable is set.
1879 escape
1883 Type: string
1884 Default: “~”
1885 Escape character to use for functions in the built-in editor.
1887 fast_reply
1891 Type: boolean
1892 Default: no
1893 When set, the initial prompt for recipients and subject are
1895 skipped when replying to messages, and the initial prompt for
1896 subject is skipped when forwarding messages.
1897 Note: this variable has no effect when the $autoedit variable is
1899 set.
1900 fcc_attach
1904 Type: quadoption
1905 Default: yes
1906 This variable controls whether or not attachments on outgoing
1908 messages are saved along with the main body of your message.
1909 Note: $fcc_before_send forces the default (set) behavior of this
1911 option.
1912 fcc_before_send
1916 Type: boolean
1917 Default: no
1918 When this variable is set, FCCs will occur before sending the
1920 message. Before sending, the message cannot be manipulated, so
1921 it will be stored the exact same as sent: $fcc_attach and
1922 $fcc_clear will be ignored (using their default values).
1923 When unset, the default, FCCs will occur after sending. Vari‐
1925 ables $fcc_attach and $fcc_clear will be respected, allowing it
1926 to be stored without attachments or encryption/signing if de‐
1927 sired.
1928 fcc_clear
1932 Type: boolean
1933 Default: no
1934 When this variable is set, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and
1936 unsigned, even when the actual message is encrypted and/or
1937 signed.
1938 Note: $fcc_before_send forces the default (unset) behavior of
1940 this option. (PGP only)
1941 See also $pgp_self_encrypt, $smime_self_encrypt.
1943 fcc_delimiter
1947 Type: string
1948 Default: “”
1949 When specified, this allows the ability to Fcc to more than one
1951 mailbox. The fcc value will be split by this delimiter and Mutt
1952 will evaluate each part as a mailbox separately.
1953 See $record, “fcc-hook”, and “fcc-save-hook”.
1955 flag_safe
1959 Type: boolean
1960 Default: no
1961 If set, flagged messages cannot be deleted.
1963 folder
1967 Type: path
1968 Default: “~/Mail”
1969 Specifies the default location of your mailboxes. A “+” or “=”
1971 at the beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value of
1972 this variable. Note that if you change this variable (from the
1973 default) value you need to make sure that the assignment occurs
1974 before you use “+” or “=” for any other variables since expan‐
1975 sion takes place when handling the “mailboxes” command.
1976 folder_format
1980 Type: string
1981 Default: “%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f”
1982 This variable allows you to customize the file browser display
1984 to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_for‐
1985 mat, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
1986 %C current file number
1987 %d date/time folder was last modified
1988 %D date/time folder was last modified using $date_format.
1989 %f filename (“/” is appended to directory names, “@” to sym‐
1990 bolic links and “*” to executable files)
1991 %F file permissions
1992 %g group name (or numeric gid, if missing)
1993 %l number of hard links
1994 %m number of messages in the mailbox *
1995 %n number of unread messages in the mailbox *
1996 %N N if mailbox has new mail, blank otherwise
1997 %s size in bytes (see formatstrings-size)
1998 %t “*” if the file is tagged, blank otherwise
1999 %u owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)
2000 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
2001 ter “X”
2002 %|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
2003 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
2004 For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
2006 mentation.
2007 * = can be optionally printed if nonzero
2009 %m, %n, and %N only work for monitored mailboxes. %m requires
2011 $mail_check_stats to be set. %n requires $mail_check_stats to
2012 be set (except for IMAP mailboxes).
2013 followup_to
2017 Type: boolean
2018 Default: yes
2019 Controls whether or not the “Mail-Followup-To:” header field is
2021 generated when sending mail. When set, Mutt will generate this
2022 field when you are replying to a known mailing list, specified
2023 with the “subscribe” or “lists” commands.
2024 This field has two purposes. First, preventing you from receiv‐
2026 ing duplicate copies of replies to messages which you send to
2027 mailing lists, and second, ensuring that you do get a reply sep‐
2028 arately for any messages sent to known lists to which you are
2029 not subscribed.
2030 The header will contain only the list's address for subscribed
2032 lists, and both the list address and your own email address for
2033 unsubscribed lists. Without this header, a group reply to your
2034 message sent to a subscribed list will be sent to both the list
2035 and your address, resulting in two copies of the same email for
2036 you.
2037 force_name
2041 Type: boolean
2042 Default: no
2043 This variable is similar to $save_name, except that Mutt will
2045 store a copy of your outgoing message by the username of the ad‐
2046 dress you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.
2047 Also see the $record variable.
2049 forward_attachments
2053 Type: quadoption
2054 Default: ask-yes
2055 When forwarding inline (i.e. $mime_forward unset or answered
2057 with “no” and $forward_decode set), attachments which cannot be
2058 decoded in a reasonable manner will be attached to the newly
2059 composed message if this quadoption is set or answered with
2060 “yes”.
2061 forward_attribution_intro
2065 Type: string (localized)
2066 Default: “----- Forwarded message from %f -----”
2067 This is the string that will precede a message which has been
2069 forwarded in the main body of a message (when $mime_forward is
2070 unset). For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences
2071 see the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.
2072 forward_attribution_trailer
2076 Type: string (localized)
2077 Default: “----- End forwarded message -----”
2078 This is the string that will follow a message which has been
2080 forwarded in the main body of a message (when $mime_forward is
2081 unset). For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences
2082 see the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.
2083 forward_decode
2087 Type: boolean
2088 Default: yes
2089 Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain
2091 when forwarding a message. The message header is also RFC2047
2092 decoded. This variable is only used, if $mime_forward is unset,
2093 otherwise $mime_forward_decode is used instead.
2094 forward_decrypt
2098 Type: quadoption
2099 Default: yes
2100 This quadoption controls the handling of encrypted messages when
2102 forwarding or attaching a message. When set to or answered
2103 “yes”, the outer layer of encryption is stripped off.
2104 This variable is used if $mime_forward is set and $mime_for‐
2106 ward_decode is unset. It is also used when attaching a message
2107 via <attach-message> in the compose menu. (PGP only)
2108 forward_edit
2112 Type: quadoption
2113 Default: yes
2114 This quadoption controls whether or not the user is automati‐
2116 cally placed in the editor when forwarding messages. For those
2117 who always want to forward with no modification, use a setting
2118 of “no”.
2119 forward_format
2123 Type: string
2124 Default: “[%a: %s]”
2125 This variable controls the default subject when forwarding a
2127 message. It uses the same format sequences as the $index_format
2128 variable.
2129 forward_quote
2133 Type: boolean
2134 Default: no
2135 When set, forwarded messages included in the main body of the
2137 message (when $mime_forward is unset) will be quoted using $in‐
2138 dent_string.
2139 from
2143 Type: e-mail address
2144 Default: “”
2145 When set, this variable contains a default from address. It can
2147 be overridden using “my_hdr” (including from a “send-hook”) and
2148 $reverse_name. This variable is ignored if $use_from is unset.
2149 This setting defaults to the contents of the environment vari‐
2151 able $EMAIL.
2152 gecos_mask
2156 Type: regular expression
2157 Default: “^[^,]*”
2158 A regular expression used by mutt to parse the GECOS field of a
2160 password entry when expanding the alias. The default value will
2161 return the string up to the first “,” encountered. If the GECOS
2162 field contains a string like “lastname, firstname” then you
2163 should set it to “.*”.
2164 This can be useful if you see the following behavior: you ad‐
2166 dress an e-mail to user ID “stevef” whose full name is “Steve
2167 Franklin”. If mutt expands “stevef” to “”Franklin”
2168 stevef@foo.bar” then you should set the $gecos_mask to a regular
2169 expression that will match the whole name so mutt will expand
2170 “Franklin” to “Franklin, Steve”.
2171 hdrs
2175 Type: boolean
2176 Default: yes
2177 When unset, the header fields normally added by the “my_hdr”
2179 command are not created. This variable must be unset before
2180 composing a new message or replying in order to take effect. If
2181 set, the user defined header fields are added to every new mes‐
2182 sage.
2183 header
2187 Type: boolean
2188 Default: no
2189 When set, this variable causes Mutt to include the header of the
2191 message you are replying to into the edit buffer. The $weed
2192 setting applies.
2193 header_cache
2197 Type: path
2198 Default: “”
2199 This variable points to the header cache database. If pointing
2201 to a directory Mutt will contain a header cache database file
2202 per folder, if pointing to a file that file will be a single
2203 global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching
2204 will be used. If pointing to a directory, it must be created in
2205 advance.
2206 Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP
2208 MH or Maildir folders, see “caching” for details.
2209 header_cache_compress
2213 Type: boolean
2214 Default: yes
2215 When mutt is compiled with qdbm, tokyocabinet, or kyotocabinet
2217 as header cache backend, this option determines whether the
2218 database will be compressed. Compression results in database
2219 files roughly being one fifth of the usual diskspace, but the
2220 decompression can result in a slower opening of cached folder(s)
2221 which in general is still much faster than opening non header
2222 cached folders.
2223 header_cache_pagesize
2227 Type: number (long)
2228 Default: 16384
2229 When mutt is compiled with either gdbm or bdb4 as the header
2231 cache backend, this option changes the database page size. Too
2232 large or too small values can waste space, memory, or CPU time.
2233 The default should be more or less optimal for most use cases.
2234 header_color_partial
2238 Type: boolean
2239 Default: no
2240 When set, color header regexps behave like color body regexps:
2242 color is applied to the exact text matched by the regexp. When
2243 unset, color is applied to the entire header.
2244 One use of this option might be to apply color to just the
2246 header labels.
2247 See “color” for more details.
2249 help
2253 Type: boolean
2254 Default: yes
2255 When set, help lines describing the bindings for the major func‐
2257 tions provided by each menu are displayed on the first line of
2258 the screen.
2259 Note: The binding will not be displayed correctly if the func‐
2261 tion is bound to a sequence rather than a single keystroke.
2262 Also, the help line may not be updated if a binding is changed
2263 while Mutt is running. Since this variable is primarily aimed
2264 at new users, neither of these should present a major problem.
2265 hidden_host
2269 Type: boolean
2270 Default: no
2271 When set, mutt will skip the host name part of $hostname vari‐
2273 able when adding the domain part to addresses. This variable
2274 does not affect the generation of Message-IDs, and it will not
2275 lead to the cut-off of first-level domains.
2276 hide_limited
2280 Type: boolean
2281 Default: no
2282 When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are
2284 hidden by limiting, in the thread tree.
2285 hide_missing
2289 Type: boolean
2290 Default: yes
2291 When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages in
2293 the thread tree.
2294 hide_thread_subject
2298 Type: boolean
2299 Default: yes
2300 When set, mutt will not show the subject of messages in the
2302 thread tree that have the same subject as their parent or clos‐
2303 est previously displayed sibling.
2304 hide_top_limited
2308 Type: boolean
2309 Default: no
2310 When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are
2312 hidden by limiting, at the top of threads in the thread tree.
2313 Note that when $hide_limited is set, this option will have no
2314 effect.
2315 hide_top_missing
2319 Type: boolean
2320 Default: yes
2321 When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages at
2323 the top of threads in the thread tree. Note that when
2324 $hide_missing is set, this option will have no effect.
2325 history
2329 Type: number
2330 Default: 10
2331 This variable controls the size (in number of strings remem‐
2333 bered) of the string history buffer per category. The buffer is
2334 cleared each time the variable is set.
2335 history_file
2339 Type: path
2340 Default: “~/.mutthistory”
2341 The file in which Mutt will save its history.
2343 Also see $save_history.
2345 history_remove_dups
2349 Type: boolean
2350 Default: no
2351 When set, all of the string history will be scanned for dupli‐
2353 cates when a new entry is added. Duplicate entries in the $his‐
2354 tory_file will also be removed when it is periodically com‐
2355 pacted.
2356 honor_disposition
2360 Type: boolean
2361 Default: no
2362 When set, Mutt will not display attachments with a disposition
2364 of “attachment” inline even if it could render the part to plain
2365 text. These MIME parts can only be viewed from the attachment
2366 menu.
2367 If unset, Mutt will render all MIME parts it can properly trans‐
2369 form to plain text.
2370 honor_followup_to
2374 Type: quadoption
2375 Default: yes
2376 This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header
2378 is honored when group-replying to a message.
2379 hostname
2383 Type: string
2384 Default: “”
2385 Specifies the fully-qualified hostname of the system mutt is
2387 running on containing the host's name and the DNS domain it be‐
2388 longs to. It is used as the domain part (after “@”) for local
2389 email addresses as well as Message-Id headers.
2390 Its value is determined at startup as follows: the node's host‐
2392 name is first determined by the uname(3) function. The domain
2393 is then looked up using the gethostname(2) and getaddrinfo(3)
2394 functions. If those calls are unable to determine the domain,
2395 the full value returned by uname is used. Optionally, Mutt can
2396 be compiled with a fixed domain name in which case a detected
2397 one is not used.
2398 Starting in Mutt 2.0, the operations described in the previous
2400 paragraph are performed after the muttrc is processed, instead
2401 of beforehand. This way, if the DNS operations are creating de‐
2402 lays at startup, you can avoid those by manually setting the
2403 value in your muttrc.
2404 Also see $use_domain and $hidden_host.
2406 idn_decode
2410 Type: boolean
2411 Default: yes
2412 When set, Mutt will show you international domain names decoded.
2414 Note: You can use IDNs for addresses even if this is unset.
2415 This variable only affects decoding. (IDN only)
2416 idn_encode
2420 Type: boolean
2421 Default: yes
2422 When set, Mutt will encode international domain names using IDN.
2424 Unset this if your SMTP server can handle newer (RFC 6531) UTF-8
2425 encoded domains. (IDN only)
2426 ignore_linear_white_space
2430 Type: boolean
2431 Default: no
2432 This option replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word and
2434 text to a single space to prevent the display of MIME-encoded
2435 “Subject:” field from being divided into multiple lines.
2436 ignore_list_reply_to
2440 Type: boolean
2441 Default: no
2442 Affects the behavior of the <reply> function when replying to
2444 messages from mailing lists (as defined by the “subscribe” or
2445 “lists” commands). When set, if the “Reply-To:” field is set to
2446 the same value as the “To:” field, Mutt assumes that the “Re‐
2447 ply-To:” field was set by the mailing list to automate responses
2448 to the list, and will ignore this field. To direct a response
2449 to the mailing list when this option is set, use the <list-re‐
2450 ply> function; <group-reply> will reply to both the sender and
2451 the list.
2452 imap_authenticators
2456 Type: string
2457 Default: “”
2458 This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
2460 may attempt to use to log in to an IMAP server, in the order
2461 mutt should try them. Authentication methods are either “login”
2462 or the right side of an IMAP “AUTH=xxx” capability string, e.g.
2463 “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is case-insen‐
2464 sitive. If it's unset (the default) mutt will try all available
2465 methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.
2466 Example:
2468 set imap_authenticators=”gssapi:cram-md5:login”
2471 Note: Mutt will only fall back to other authentication methods
2474 if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is avail‐
2475 able but authentication fails, mutt will not connect to the IMAP
2476 server.
2477 imap_check_subscribed
2481 Type: boolean
2482 Default: no
2483 When set, mutt will fetch the set of subscribed folders from
2485 your server on connection, and add them to the set of mailboxes
2486 it polls for new mail just as if you had issued individual
2487 “mailboxes” commands.
2488 imap_condstore
2492 Type: boolean
2493 Default: no
2494 When set, mutt will use the CONDSTORE extension (RFC 7162) if
2496 advertised by the server. Mutt's current implementation is ba‐
2497 sic, used only for initial message fetching and flag updates.
2498 For some IMAP servers, enabling this will slightly speed up
2500 downloading initial messages. Unfortunately, Gmail is not one
2501 those, and displays worse performance when enabled. Your
2502 mileage may vary.
2503 imap_deflate
2507 Type: boolean
2508 Default: no
2509 When set, mutt will use the COMPRESS=DEFLATE extension (RFC
2511 4978) if advertised by the server.
2512 In general a good compression efficiency can be achieved, which
2514 speeds up reading large mailboxes also on fairly good connec‐
2515 tions.
2516 imap_delim_chars
2520 Type: string
2521 Default: “/.”
2522 This contains the list of characters which you would like to
2524 treat as folder separators for displaying IMAP paths. In partic‐
2525 ular it helps in using the “=” shortcut for your folder vari‐
2526 able.
2527 imap_fetch_chunk_size
2531 Type: number (long)
2532 Default: 0
2533 When set to a value greater than 0, new headers will be down‐
2535 loaded in groups of this many headers per request. If you have
2536 a very large mailbox, this might prevent a timeout and discon‐
2537 nect when opening the mailbox, by sending a FETCH per set of
2538 this many headers, instead of a single FETCH for all new head‐
2539 ers.
2540 imap_headers
2544 Type: string
2545 Default: “”
2546 Mutt requests these header fields in addition to the default
2548 headers (“Date:”, “From:”, “Sender:”, “Subject:”, “To:”, “Cc:”,
2549 “Message-Id:”, “References:”, “Content-Type:”, “Content-Descrip‐
2550 tion:”, “In-Reply-To:”, “Reply-To:”, “Lines:”, “List-Post:”,
2551 “X-Label:”) from IMAP servers before displaying the index menu.
2552 You may want to add more headers for spam detection.
2553 Note: This is a space separated list, items should be uppercase
2555 and not contain the colon, e.g. “X-BOGOSITY X-SPAM-STATUS” for
2556 the “X-Bogosity:” and “X-Spam-Status:” header fields.
2557 imap_idle
2561 Type: boolean
2562 Default: no
2563 When set, mutt will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension to
2565 check for new mail in the current mailbox. Some servers (dovecot
2566 was the inspiration for this option) react badly to mutt's im‐
2567 plementation. If your connection seems to freeze up periodi‐
2568 cally, try unsetting this.
2569 imap_keepalive
2573 Type: number
2574 Default: 300
2575 This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds
2577 that mutt will wait before polling open IMAP connections, to
2578 prevent the server from closing them before mutt has finished
2579 with them. The default is well within the RFC-specified minimum
2580 amount of time (30 minutes) before a server is allowed to do
2581 this, but in practice the RFC does get violated every now and
2582 then. Reduce this number if you find yourself getting discon‐
2583 nected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.
2584 imap_list_subscribed
2588 Type: boolean
2589 Default: no
2590 This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will look
2592 for only subscribed folders or all folders. This can be toggled
2593 in the IMAP browser with the <toggle-subscribed> function.
2594 imap_login
2598 Type: string
2599 Default: “”
2600 Your login name on the IMAP server.
2602 This variable defaults to the value of $imap_user.
2604 imap_oauth_refresh_command
2608 Type: string
2609 Default: “”
2610 The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
2612 rizing your connection to your IMAP server. This command will
2613 be run on every connection attempt that uses the OAUTHBEARER au‐
2614 thentication mechanism. See “oauth” for details.
2615 imap_pass
2619 Type: string
2620 Default: “”
2621 Specifies the password for your IMAP account. If unset, Mutt
2623 will prompt you for your password when you invoke the
2624 <imap-fetch-mail> function or try to open an IMAP folder.
2625 Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
2627 fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
2628 trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
2629 imap_passive
2633 Type: boolean
2634 Default: yes
2635 When set, mutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for
2637 new mail. Mutt will only check for new mail over existing IMAP
2638 connections. This is useful if you don't want to be prompted
2639 for user/password pairs on mutt invocation, or if opening the
2640 connection is slow.
2641 imap_peek
2645 Type: boolean
2646 Default: yes
2647 When set, mutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read
2649 whenever you fetch a message from the server. This is generally
2650 a good thing, but can make closing an IMAP folder somewhat
2651 slower. This option exists to appease speed freaks.
2652 imap_pipeline_depth
2656 Type: number
2657 Default: 15
2658 Controls the number of IMAP commands that may be queued up be‐
2660 fore they are sent to the server. A deeper pipeline reduces the
2661 amount of time mutt must wait for the server, and can make IMAP
2662 servers feel much more responsive. But not all servers correctly
2663 handle pipelined commands, so if you have problems you might
2664 want to try setting this variable to 0.
2665 Note: Changes to this variable have no effect on open connec‐
2667 tions.
2668 imap_poll_timeout
2672 Type: number
2673 Default: 15
2674 This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds
2676 that mutt will wait for a response when polling IMAP connections
2677 for new mail, before timing out and closing the connection. Set
2678 to 0 to disable timing out.
2679 imap_qresync
2683 Type: boolean
2684 Default: no
2685 When set, mutt will use the QRESYNC extension (RFC 7162) if ad‐
2687 vertised by the server. Mutt's current implementation is basic,
2688 used only for initial message fetching and flag updates.
2689 Note: this feature is currently experimental. If you experience
2691 strange behavior, such as duplicate or missing messages please
2692 file a bug report to let us know.
2693 imap_servernoise
2697 Type: boolean
2698 Default: yes
2699 When set, mutt will display warning messages from the IMAP
2701 server as error messages. Since these messages are often harm‐
2702 less, or generated due to configuration problems on the server
2703 which are out of the users' hands, you may wish to suppress them
2704 at some point.
2705 imap_user
2709 Type: string
2710 Default: “”
2711 The name of the user whose mail you intend to access on the IMAP
2713 server.
2714 This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
2716 implicit_autoview
2720 Type: boolean
2721 Default: no
2722 If set to “yes”, mutt will look for a mailcap entry with the
2724 “copiousoutput” flag set for every MIME attachment it doesn't
2725 have an internal viewer defined for. If such an entry is found,
2726 mutt will use the viewer defined in that entry to convert the
2727 body part to text form.
2728 include
2732 Type: quadoption
2733 Default: ask-yes
2734 Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are reply‐
2736 ing to is included in your reply.
2737 include_encrypted
2741 Type: boolean
2742 Default: no
2743 Controls whether or not Mutt includes separately encrypted at‐
2745 tachment contents when replying.
2746 This variable was added to prevent accidental exposure of en‐
2748 crypted contents when replying to an attacker. If a previously
2749 encrypted message were attached by the attacker, they could
2750 trick an unwary recipient into decrypting and including the mes‐
2751 sage in their reply.
2752 include_onlyfirst
2756 Type: boolean
2757 Default: no
2758 Controls whether or not Mutt includes only the first attachment
2760 of the message you are replying.
2761 indent_string
2765 Type: string
2766 Default: “> ”
2767 Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a
2769 message to which you are replying. You are strongly encouraged
2770 not to change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanat‐
2771 ical netizens.
2772 The value of this option is ignored if $text_flowed is set, be‐
2774 cause the quoting mechanism is strictly defined for for‐
2775 mat=flowed.
2776 This option is a format string, please see the description of
2778 $index_format for supported printf(3)-style sequences.
2779 index_format
2783 Type: string
2784 Default: “%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&%4c?) %s”
2785 This variable allows you to customize the message index display
2787 to your personal taste.
2788 “Format strings” are similar to the strings used in the C func‐
2790 tion printf(3) to format output (see the man page for more de‐
2791 tails). For an explanation of the %? construct, see the $sta‐
2792 tus_format description. The following sequences are defined in
2793 Mutt:
2794 %a address of the author
2795 %A reply-to address (if present; otherwise: address of au‐
2796 thor)
2797 %b filename of the original message folder (think mailbox)
2798 %B the list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder
2799 name (%b).
2800 %c number of characters (bytes) in the message (see format‐
2801 strings-size)
2802 %C current message number
2803 %d date and time of the message in the format specified by
2804 $date_format converted to sender's time zone
2805 %D date and time of the message in the format specified by
2806 $date_format converted to the local time zone
2807 %e current message number in thread
2808 %E number of messages in current thread
2809 %f sender (address + real name), either From: or Re‐
2810 turn-Path:
2811 %F author name, or recipient name if the message is from you
2812 %H spam attribute(s) of this message
2813 %i message-id of the current message
2814 %l number of lines in the unprocessed message (may not work
2815 with maildir, mh, and IMAP folders)
2816 %L If an address in the “To:” or “Cc:” header field matches
2817 an address defined by the users “subscribe” command, this
2818 displays ”To <list-name>”, otherwise the same as %F.
2819 %m total number of message in the mailbox
2820 %M number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.
2821 %N message score
2822 %n author's real name (or address if missing)
2823 %O original save folder where mutt would formerly have
2824 stashed the message: list name or recipient name if not
2825 sent to a list
2826 %P progress indicator for the built-in pager (how much of
2827 the file has been displayed)
2828 %r comma separated list of “To:” recipients
2829 %R comma separated list of “Cc:” recipients
2830 %s subject of the message
2831 %S single character status of the message
2832 (“N”/“O”/“D”/“d”/“!”/“r”/“*”)
2833 %t “To:” field (recipients)
2834 %T the appropriate character from the $to_chars string
2835 %u user (login) name of the author
2836 %v first name of the author, or the recipient if the message
2837 is from you
2838 %X number of attachments (please see the “attachments” sec‐
2839 tion for possible speed effects)
2840 %y “X-Label:” field, if present
2841 %Y “X-Label:” field, if present, and [4m(1) not at part of a
2842 thread tree, [4m(2) at the top of a thread, or [4m(3) “X-La‐
2843 bel:” is different from preceding message's “X-Label:”.
2844 %Z a three character set of message status flags. the first
2845 character is new/read/replied flags
2846 (“n”/“o”/“r”/“O”/“N”). the second is deleted or encryp‐
2847 tion flags (“D”/“d”/“S”/“P”/“s”/“K”). the third is ei‐
2848 ther tagged/flagged (“*”/“!”), or one of the characters
2849 listed in $to_chars.
2850 %@name@
2851 insert and evaluate format-string from the matching “in‐
2852 dex-format-hook” command
2853 %{fmt} the date and time of the message is converted to sender's
2854 time zone, and “fmt” is expanded by the library function
2855 strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
2856 %[fmt] the date and time of the message is converted to the lo‐
2857 cal time zone, and “fmt” is expanded by the library func‐
2858 tion strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
2859 %(fmt) the local date and time when the message was received.
2860 “fmt” is expanded by the library function strftime(3); a
2861 leading bang disables locales
2862 %<fmt> the current local time. “fmt” is expanded by the library
2863 function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales.
2864 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
2865 ter “X”
2866 %|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
2867 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
2868 Note that for mbox/mmdf, “%l” applies to the unprocessed mes‐
2870 sage, and for maildir/mh, the value comes from the “Lines:”
2871 header field when present (the meaning is normally the same).
2872 Thus the value depends on the encodings used in the different
2873 parts of the message and has little meaning in practice.
2874 “Soft-fill” deserves some explanation: Normal right-justifica‐
2876 tion will print everything to the left of the “%>”, displaying
2877 padding and whatever lies to the right only if there's room. By
2878 contrast, soft-fill gives priority to the right-hand side, guar‐
2879 anteeing space to display it and showing padding only if there's
2880 still room. If necessary, soft-fill will eat text leftwards to
2881 make room for rightward text.
2882 Note that these expandos are supported in “save-hook”, “fcc-
2884 hook”, “fcc-save-hook”, and “index-format-hook”.
2885 They are also supported in the configuration variables $attribu‐
2887 tion, $forward_attribution_intro, $forward_attribution_trailer,
2888 $forward_format, $indent_string, $message_format, $pager_format,
2889 and $post_indent_string.
2890 ispell
2894 Type: path
2895 Default: “/usr/bin/hunspell”
2896 How to invoke ispell (GNU's spell-checking software).
2898 keep_flagged
2902 Type: boolean
2903 Default: no
2904 If set, read messages marked as flagged will not be moved from
2906 your spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a
2907 “mbox-hook” command.
2908 local_date_header
2912 Type: boolean
2913 Default: yes
2914 If set, the date in the Date header of emails that you send will
2916 be in your local timezone. If unset a UTC date will be used in‐
2917 stead to avoid leaking information about your current location.
2918 mail_check
2922 Type: number
2923 Default: 5
2924 This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
2926 for new mail. Also see the $timeout variable.
2927 mail_check_recent
2931 Type: boolean
2932 Default: yes
2933 When set, Mutt will only notify you about new mail that has been
2935 received since the last time you opened the mailbox. When un‐
2936 set, Mutt will notify you if any new mail exists in the mailbox,
2937 regardless of whether you have visited it recently.
2938 When $mark_old is set, Mutt does not consider the mailbox to
2940 contain new mail if only old messages exist.
2941 mail_check_stats
2945 Type: boolean
2946 Default: no
2947 When set, mutt will periodically calculate message statistics of
2949 a mailbox while polling for new mail. It will check for unread,
2950 flagged, and total message counts. (Note: IMAP mailboxes only
2951 support unread and total counts).
2952 Because this operation is more performance intensive, it de‐
2954 faults to unset, and has a separate option,
2955 $mail_check_stats_interval, to control how often to update these
2956 counts.
2957 Message statistics can also be explicitly calculated by invoking
2959 the <check-stats> function.
2960 mail_check_stats_interval
2964 Type: number
2965 Default: 60
2966 When $mail_check_stats is set, this variable configures how of‐
2968 ten (in seconds) mutt will update message counts.
2969 mailcap_path
2973 Type: string
2974 Default: “”
2975 This variable specifies which files to consult when attempting
2977 to display MIME bodies not directly supported by Mutt. The de‐
2978 fault value is generated during startup: see the “mailcap” sec‐
2979 tion of the manual.
2980 mailcap_sanitize
2984 Type: boolean
2985 Default: yes
2986 If set, mutt will restrict possible characters in mailcap % ex‐
2988 pandos to a well-defined set of safe characters. This is the
2989 safe setting, but we are not sure it doesn't break some more ad‐
2990 vanced MIME stuff.
2991 DON'T CHANGE THIS SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE WHAT YOU
2993 ARE DOING!
2994 maildir_header_cache_verify
2998 Type: boolean
2999 Default: yes
3000 Check for Maildir unaware programs other than mutt having modi‐
3002 fied maildir files when the header cache is in use. This incurs
3003 one stat(2) per message every time the folder is opened (which
3004 can be very slow for NFS folders).
3005 maildir_trash
3009 Type: boolean
3010 Default: no
3011 If set, messages marked as deleted will be saved with the
3013 maildir trashed flag instead of unlinked. Note: this only ap‐
3014 plies to maildir-style mailboxes. Setting it will have no ef‐
3015 fect on other mailbox types.
3016 maildir_check_cur
3020 Type: boolean
3021 Default: no
3022 If set, mutt will poll both the new and cur directories of a
3024 maildir folder for new messages. This might be useful if other
3025 programs interacting with the folder (e.g. dovecot) are moving
3026 new messages to the cur directory. Note that setting this op‐
3027 tion may slow down polling for new messages in large folders,
3028 since mutt has to scan all cur messages.
3029 mark_macro_prefix
3033 Type: string
3034 Default: “'”
3035 Prefix for macros created using mark-message. A new macro auto‐
3037 matically generated with <mark-message>a will be composed from
3038 this prefix and the letter a.
3039 mark_old
3043 Type: boolean
3044 Default: yes
3045 Controls whether or not mutt marks new unread messages as old if
3047 you exit a mailbox without reading them. With this option set,
3048 the next time you start mutt, the messages will show up with an
3049 “O” next to them in the index menu, indicating that they are
3050 old.
3051 markers
3055 Type: boolean
3056 Default: yes
3057 Controls the display of wrapped lines in the internal pager. If
3059 set, a “+” marker is displayed at the beginning of wrapped
3060 lines.
3061 Also see the $smart_wrap variable.
3063 mask
3067 Type: regular expression
3068 Default: “!^\.[^.]”
3069 A regular expression used in the file browser, optionally pre‐
3071 ceded by the not operator “!”. Only files whose names match
3072 this mask will be shown. The match is always case-sensitive.
3073 mbox
3077 Type: path
3078 Default: “~/mbox”
3079 This specifies the folder into which read mail in your
3081 $spoolfile folder will be appended.
3082 Also see the $move variable.
3084 mbox_type
3088 Type: folder magic
3089 Default: mbox
3090 The default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be
3092 any of “mbox”, “MMDF”, “MH” and “Maildir”. This is overridden by
3093 the -m command-line option.
3094 menu_context
3098 Type: number
3099 Default: 0
3100 This variable controls the number of lines of context that are
3102 given when scrolling through menus. (Similar to $pager_context.)
3103 menu_move_off
3107 Type: boolean
3108 Default: yes
3109 When unset, the bottom entry of menus will never scroll up past
3111 the bottom of the screen, unless there are less entries than
3112 lines. When set, the bottom entry may move off the bottom.
3113 menu_scroll
3117 Type: boolean
3118 Default: no
3119 When set, menus will be scrolled up or down one line when you
3121 attempt to move across a screen boundary. If unset, the screen
3122 is cleared and the next or previous page of the menu is dis‐
3123 played (useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
3124 message_cache_clean
3128 Type: boolean
3129 Default: no
3130 If set, mutt will clean out obsolete entries from the message
3132 cache when the mailbox is synchronized. You probably only want
3133 to set it every once in a while, since it can be a little slow
3134 (especially for large folders).
3135 message_cachedir
3139 Type: path
3140 Default: “”
3141 Set this to a directory and mutt will cache copies of messages
3143 from your IMAP and POP servers here. You are free to remove en‐
3144 tries at any time.
3145 When setting this variable to a directory, mutt needs to fetch
3147 every remote message only once and can perform regular expres‐
3148 sion searches as fast as for local folders.
3149 Also see the $message_cache_clean variable.
3151 message_format
3155 Type: string
3156 Default: “%s”
3157 This is the string displayed in the “attachment” menu for at‐
3159 tachments of type message/rfc822. For a full listing of defined
3160 printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.
3161 message_id_format
3165 Type: string
3166 Default: “<%z@%f>”
3167 This variable describes the format of the Message-ID generated
3169 when sending messages. Mutt 2.0 introduced a more compact for‐
3170 mat, but this variable allows the ability to choose your own
3171 format. The value may end in “|” to invoke an external filter.
3172 See formatstrings-filters.
3173 Please note that the Message-ID value follows a strict syntax,
3175 and you are responsible for ensuring correctness if you change
3176 this from the default. In particular, the value must follow the
3177 syntax in RFC 5322: “”<” id-left ”@” id-right ”>””. No spaces
3178 are allowed, and id-left should follow the dot-atom-text syntax
3179 in the RFC. The id-right should generally be left at %f.
3180 The old Message-ID format can be used by setting this to:
3182 “<%Y%02m%02d%02H%02M%02S.G%c%p@%f>”
3183 The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
3185 %c step counter looping from “A” to “Z”
3186 %d current day of the month (GMT)
3187 %f $hostname
3188 %H current hour using a 24-hour clock (GMT)
3189 %m current month number (GMT)
3190 %M current minute of the hour (GMT)
3191 %p pid of the running mutt process
3192 %r 3 bytes of pseudorandom data encoded in Base64
3193 %S current second of the minute (GMT)
3194 %x 1 byte of pseudorandom data hex encoded (example: '1b')
3195 %Y current year using 4 digits (GMT)
3196 %z 4 byte timestamp + 8 bytes of pseudorandom data encoded
3197 in Base64
3198 meta_key
3201 Type: boolean
3202 Default: no
3203 If set, forces Mutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit
3205 (bit 8) set as if the user had pressed the Esc key and whatever
3206 key remains after having the high bit removed. For example, if
3207 the key pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf8, then this is treated
3208 as if the user had pressed Esc then “x”. This is because the
3209 result of removing the high bit from 0xf8 is 0x78, which is the
3210 ASCII character “x”.
3211 metoo
3215 Type: boolean
3216 Default: no
3217 If unset, Mutt will remove your address (see the “alternates”
3219 command) from the list of recipients when replying to a message.
3220 mh_purge
3224 Type: boolean
3225 Default: no
3226 When unset, mutt will mimic mh's behavior and rename deleted
3228 messages to ,<old file name> in mh folders instead of really
3229 deleting them. This leaves the message on disk but makes pro‐
3230 grams reading the folder ignore it. If the variable is set, the
3231 message files will simply be deleted.
3232 This option is similar to $maildir_trash for Maildir folders.
3234 mh_seq_flagged
3238 Type: string
3239 Default: “flagged”
3240 The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.
3242 mh_seq_replied
3246 Type: string
3247 Default: “replied”
3248 The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.
3250 mh_seq_unseen
3254 Type: string
3255 Default: “unseen”
3256 The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.
3258 mime_forward
3262 Type: quadoption
3263 Default: no
3264 When set, the message you are forwarding will be attached as a
3266 separate message/rfc822 MIME part instead of included in the
3267 main body of the message. This is useful for forwarding MIME
3268 messages so the receiver can properly view the message as it was
3269 delivered to you. If you like to switch between MIME and not
3270 MIME from mail to mail, set this variable to “ask-no” or
3271 “ask-yes”.
3272 Also see $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode.
3274 mime_forward_decode
3278 Type: boolean
3279 Default: no
3280 Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain
3282 when forwarding a message while $mime_forward is set. Otherwise
3283 $forward_decode is used instead.
3284 mime_forward_rest
3288 Type: quadoption
3289 Default: yes
3290 When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from the
3292 attachment menu, attachments which cannot be decoded in a rea‐
3293 sonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if
3294 this option is set.
3295 mime_type_query_command
3299 Type: string
3300 Default: “”
3301 This specifies a command to run, to determine the mime type of a
3303 new attachment when composing a message. Unless
3304 $mime_type_query_first is set, this will only be run if the at‐
3305 tachment's extension is not found in the mime.types file.
3306 The string may contain a “%s”, which will be substituted with
3308 the attachment filename. Mutt will add quotes around the string
3309 substituted for “%s” automatically according to shell quoting
3310 rules, so you should avoid adding your own. If no “%s” is found
3311 in the string, Mutt will append the attachment filename to the
3312 end of the string.
3313 The command should output a single line containing the attach‐
3315 ment's mime type.
3316 Suggested values are “xdg-mime query filetype” or “file -bi”.
3318 mime_type_query_first
3322 Type: boolean
3323 Default: no
3324 When set, the $mime_type_query_command will be run before the
3326 mime.types lookup.
3327 mix_entry_format
3331 Type: string
3332 Default: “%4n %c %-16s %a”
3333 This variable describes the format of a remailer line on the
3335 mixmaster chain selection screen. The following printf(3)-like
3336 sequences are supported:
3337 %n The running number on the menu.
3338 %c Remailer capabilities.
3339 %s The remailer's short name.
3340 %a The remailer's e-mail address.
3341 (Mixmaster only)
3343 mixmaster
3347 Type: path
3348 Default: “mixmaster”
3349 This variable contains the path to the Mixmaster binary on your
3351 system. It is used with various sets of parameters to gather
3352 the list of known remailers, and to finally send a message
3353 through the mixmaster chain. (Mixmaster only)
3354 move
3358 Type: quadoption
3359 Default: no
3360 Controls whether or not Mutt will move read messages from your
3362 spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a “mbox-
3363 hook” command.
3364 muttlisp_inline_eval
3368 Type: boolean
3369 Default: no
3370 If set, Mutt will evaluate bare parenthesis arguments to com‐
3372 mands as MuttLisp expressions.
3373 narrow_tree
3377 Type: boolean
3378 Default: no
3379 This variable, when set, makes the thread tree narrower, allow‐
3381 ing deeper threads to fit on the screen.
3382 net_inc
3386 Type: number
3387 Default: 10
3388 Operations that expect to transfer a large amount of data over
3390 the network will update their progress every $net_inc kilobytes.
3391 If set to 0, no progress messages will be displayed.
3392 See also $read_inc, $write_inc and $net_inc.
3394 new_mail_command
3398 Type: path
3399 Default: “”
3400 If set, Mutt will call this command after a new message is re‐
3402 ceived. See the $status_format documentation for the values
3403 that can be formatted into this command.
3404 pager
3408 Type: path
3409 Default: “builtin”
3410 This variable specifies which pager you would like to use to
3412 view messages. The value “builtin” means to use the built-in
3413 pager, otherwise this variable should specify the pathname of
3414 the external pager you would like to use.
3415 Using an external pager may have some disadvantages: Additional
3417 keystrokes are necessary because you can't call mutt functions
3418 directly from the pager, and screen resizes cause lines longer
3419 than the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.
3420 When using an external pager, also see $prompt_after which de‐
3422 faults set.
3423 pager_context
3427 Type: number
3428 Default: 0
3429 This variable controls the number of lines of context that are
3431 given when displaying the next or previous page in the internal
3432 pager. By default, Mutt will display the line after the last
3433 one on the screen at the top of the next page (0 lines of con‐
3434 text).
3435 This variable also specifies the amount of context given for
3437 search results. If positive, this many lines will be given be‐
3438 fore a match, if 0, the match will be top-aligned.
3439 pager_format
3443 Type: string
3444 Default: “-%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n %s%* -- (%P)”
3445 This variable controls the format of the one-line message “sta‐
3447 tus” displayed before each message in either the internal or an
3448 external pager. The valid sequences are listed in the $in‐
3449 dex_format section.
3450 pager_index_lines
3454 Type: number
3455 Default: 0
3456 Determines the number of lines of a mini-index which is shown
3458 when in the pager. The current message, unless near the top or
3459 bottom of the folder, will be roughly one third of the way down
3460 this mini-index, giving the reader the context of a few messages
3461 before and after the message. This is useful, for example, to
3462 determine how many messages remain to be read in the current
3463 thread. One of the lines is reserved for the status bar from
3464 the index, so a setting of 6 will only show 5 lines of the ac‐
3465 tual index. A value of 0 results in no index being shown. If
3466 the number of messages in the current folder is less than
3467 $pager_index_lines, then the index will only use as many lines
3468 as it needs.
3469 pager_skip_quoted_context
3473 Type: number
3474 Default: 0
3475 Determines the number of lines of context to show before the un‐
3477 quoted text when using <skip-quoted>. When set to a positive
3478 number at most that many lines of the previous quote are dis‐
3479 played. If the previous quote is shorter the whole quote is dis‐
3480 played.
3481 pager_stop
3485 Type: boolean
3486 Default: no
3487 When set, the internal-pager will not move to the next message
3489 when you are at the end of a message and invoke the <next-page>
3490 function.
3491 pattern_format
3495 Type: string
3496 Default: “%2n %-15e %d”
3497 This variable describes the format of the “pattern completion”
3499 menu. The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
3500 %d pattern description
3501 %e pattern expression
3502 %n index number
3503 pgp_auto_decode
3505 Type: boolean
3506 Default: no
3507 If set, mutt will automatically attempt to decrypt traditional
3509 PGP messages whenever the user performs an operation which ordi‐
3510 narily would result in the contents of the message being oper‐
3511 ated on. For example, if the user displays a pgp-traditional
3512 message which has not been manually checked with the <check-tra‐
3513 ditional-pgp> function, mutt will automatically check the mes‐
3514 sage for traditional pgp.
3515 pgp_autoinline
3519 Type: boolean
3520 Default: no
3521 This option controls whether Mutt generates old-style inline
3523 (traditional) PGP encrypted or signed messages under certain
3524 circumstances. This can be overridden by use of the pgp menu,
3525 when inline is not required. The GPGME backend does not support
3526 this option.
3527 Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
3529 which consist of more than a single MIME part. Mutt can be con‐
3530 figured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
3531 (traditional) would not work.
3532 Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
3534 Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
3536 strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
3537 pgp_check_exit
3541 Type: boolean
3542 Default: yes
3543 If set, mutt will check the exit code of the PGP subprocess when
3545 signing or encrypting. A non-zero exit code means that the sub‐
3546 process failed. (PGP only)
3547 pgp_check_gpg_decrypt_status_fd
3551 Type: boolean
3552 Default: yes
3553 If set, mutt will check the status file descriptor output of
3555 $pgp_decrypt_command and $pgp_decode_command for GnuPG status
3556 codes indicating successful decryption. This will check for the
3557 presence of DECRYPTION_OKAY, absence of DECRYPTION_FAILED, and
3558 that all PLAINTEXT occurs between the BEGIN_DECRYPTION and
3559 END_DECRYPTION status codes.
3560 If unset, mutt will instead match the status fd output against
3562 $pgp_decryption_okay. (PGP only)
3563 pgp_clearsign_command
3567 Type: string
3568 Default: “”
3569 This format is used to create an old-style “clearsigned” PGP
3571 message. Note that the use of this format is strongly depre‐
3572 cated.
3573 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3575 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3576 pgp_decode_command
3580 Type: string
3581 Default: “”
3582 This format strings specifies a command which is used to decode
3584 application/pgp attachments.
3585 The PGP command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like se‐
3587 quences:
3588 %p Expands to PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is needed, to
3589 an empty string otherwise. Note: This may be used with a
3590 %? construct.
3591 %f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
3592 %s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature
3593 part
3594 of a multipart/signed attachment when verify‐
3595 ing it.
3596 %a The value of $pgp_sign_as if set, otherwise the value of
3597 $pgp_default_key.
3598 %r One or more key IDs (or fingerprints if available).
3599 For examples on how to configure these formats for the various
3601 versions of PGP which are floating around, see the pgp and gpg
3602 sample configuration files in the samples/ subdirectory which
3603 has been installed on your system alongside the documentation.
3604 (PGP only)
3605 pgp_decrypt_command
3609 Type: string
3610 Default: “”
3611 This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message.
3613 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3615 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3616 pgp_decryption_okay
3620 Type: regular expression
3621 Default: “”
3622 If you assign text to this variable, then an encrypted PGP mes‐
3624 sage is only considered successfully decrypted if the output
3625 from $pgp_decrypt_command contains the text. This is used to
3626 protect against a spoofed encrypted message, with multipart/en‐
3627 crypted headers but containing a block that is not actually en‐
3628 crypted. (e.g. simply signed and ascii armored text).
3629 Note that if $pgp_check_gpg_decrypt_status_fd is set, this vari‐
3631 able is ignored. (PGP only)
3632 pgp_default_key
3636 Type: string
3637 Default: “”
3638 This is the default key-pair to use for PGP operations. It will
3640 be used for encryption (see $postpone_encrypt and $pgp_self_en‐
3641 crypt).
3642 It will also be used for signing unless $pgp_sign_as is set.
3644 The (now deprecated) pgp_self_encrypt_as is an alias for this
3646 variable, and should no longer be used. (PGP only)
3647 pgp_encrypt_only_command
3651 Type: string
3652 Default: “”
3653 This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
3655 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3657 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3658 pgp_encrypt_sign_command
3662 Type: string
3663 Default: “”
3664 This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part.
3666 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3668 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3669 pgp_entry_format
3673 Type: string
3674 Default: “%4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u”
3675 This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu
3677 to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_format,
3678 but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
3679 %n number
3680 %k key id
3681 %u user id
3682 %a algorithm
3683 %l key length
3684 %f flags
3685 %c capabilities
3686 %t trust/validity of the key-uid association
3687 %[<s>] date of the key where <s> is an strftime(3) expression
3688 (PGP only)
3690 pgp_export_command
3694 Type: string
3695 Default: “”
3696 This command is used to export a public key from the user's key
3698 ring.
3699 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3701 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3702 pgp_getkeys_command
3706 Type: string
3707 Default: “”
3708 This command is invoked whenever Mutt needs to fetch the public
3710 key associated with an email address. Of the sequences sup‐
3711 ported by $pgp_decode_command, %r is the only printf(3)-like se‐
3712 quence used with this format. Note that in this case, %r ex‐
3713 pands to the email address, not the public key ID (the key ID is
3714 unknown, which is why Mutt is invoking this command). (PGP
3715 only)
3716 pgp_good_sign
3720 Type: regular expression
3721 Default: “”
3722 If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP signature is
3724 only considered verified if the output from $pgp_verify_command
3725 contains the text. Use this variable if the exit code from the
3726 command is 0 even for bad signatures. (PGP only)
3727 pgp_ignore_subkeys
3731 Type: boolean
3732 Default: yes
3733 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to ignore OpenPGP subkeys.
3735 Instead, the principal key will inherit the subkeys' capabili‐
3736 ties. Unset this if you want to play interesting key selection
3737 games. (PGP only)
3738 pgp_import_command
3742 Type: string
3743 Default: “”
3744 This command is used to import a key from a message into the
3746 user's public key ring.
3747 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3749 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3750 pgp_list_pubring_command
3754 Type: string
3755 Default: “”
3756 This command is used to list the public key ring's contents.
3758 The output format must be analogous to the one used by
3759 gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
3762 This format is also generated by the mutt_pgpring utility which
3765 comes with mutt.
3766 Note: gpg's fixed-list-mode option should not be used. It pro‐
3768 duces a different date format which may result in mutt showing
3769 incorrect key generation dates.
3770 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3772 possible printf(3)-like sequences. Note that in this case, %r
3773 expands to the search string, which is a list of one or more
3774 quoted values such as email address, name, or keyid. (PGP only)
3775 pgp_list_secring_command
3779 Type: string
3780 Default: “”
3781 This command is used to list the secret key ring's contents.
3783 The output format must be analogous to the one used by:
3784 gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
3787 This format is also generated by the mutt_pgpring utility which
3790 comes with mutt.
3791 Note: gpg's fixed-list-mode option should not be used. It pro‐
3793 duces a different date format which may result in mutt showing
3794 incorrect key generation dates.
3795 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3797 possible printf(3)-like sequences. Note that in this case, %r
3798 expands to the search string, which is a list of one or more
3799 quoted values such as email address, name, or keyid. (PGP only)
3800 pgp_long_ids
3804 Type: boolean
3805 Default: yes
3806 If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs, if unset use the normal 32 bit
3808 key IDs. NOTE: Internally, Mutt has transitioned to using fin‐
3809 gerprints (or long key IDs as a fallback). This option now only
3810 controls the display of key IDs in the key selection menu and a
3811 few other places. (PGP only)
3812 pgp_mime_auto
3816 Type: quadoption
3817 Default: ask-yes
3818 This option controls whether Mutt will prompt you for automati‐
3820 cally sending a (signed/encrypted) message using PGP/MIME when
3821 inline (traditional) fails (for any reason).
3822 Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
3824 strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
3825 pgp_replyinline
3829 Type: boolean
3830 Default: no
3831 Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cre‐
3833 ate an inline (traditional) message when replying to a message
3834 which is PGP encrypted/signed inline. This can be overridden by
3835 use of the pgp menu, when inline is not required. This option
3836 does not automatically detect if the (replied-to) message is in‐
3837 line; instead it relies on Mutt internals for previously
3838 checked/flagged messages.
3839 Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
3841 which consist of more than a single MIME part. Mutt can be con‐
3842 figured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
3843 (traditional) would not work.
3844 Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
3846 Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
3848 strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
3849 pgp_retainable_sigs
3853 Type: boolean
3854 Default: no
3855 If set, signed and encrypted messages will consist of nested
3857 multipart/signed and multipart/encrypted body parts.
3858 This is useful for applications like encrypted and signed mail‐
3860 ing lists, where the outer layer (multipart/encrypted) can be
3861 easily removed, while the inner multipart/signed part is re‐
3862 tained. (PGP only)
3863 pgp_self_encrypt
3867 Type: boolean
3868 Default: yes
3869 When set, PGP encrypted messages will also be encrypted using
3871 the key in $pgp_default_key. (PGP only)
3872 pgp_show_unusable
3876 Type: boolean
3877 Default: yes
3878 If set, mutt will display non-usable keys on the PGP key selec‐
3880 tion menu. This includes keys which have been revoked, have ex‐
3881 pired, or have been marked as “disabled” by the user. (PGP
3882 only)
3883 pgp_sign_as
3887 Type: string
3888 Default: “”
3889 If you have a different key pair to use for signing, you should
3891 set this to the signing key. Most people will only need to set
3892 $pgp_default_key. It is recommended that you use the keyid form
3893 to specify your key (e.g. 0x00112233). (PGP only)
3894 pgp_sign_command
3898 Type: string
3899 Default: “”
3900 This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for a
3902 multipart/signed PGP/MIME body part.
3903 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3905 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3906 pgp_sort_keys
3910 Type: sort order
3911 Default: address
3912 Specifies how the entries in the pgp menu are sorted. The fol‐
3914 lowing are legal values:
3915 address
3916 sort alphabetically by user id
3917 keyid sort alphabetically by key id
3918 date sort by key creation date
3919 trust sort by the trust of the key
3920 If you prefer reverse order of the above values, prefix it with
3922 “reverse-”. (PGP only)
3923 pgp_strict_enc
3927 Type: boolean
3928 Default: yes
3929 If set, Mutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed messages
3931 as quoted-printable. Please note that unsetting this variable
3932 may lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only
3933 change this if you know what you are doing. (PGP only)
3934 pgp_timeout
3938 Type: number (long)
3939 Default: 300
3940 The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will ex‐
3942 pire if not used. (PGP only)
3943 pgp_use_gpg_agent
3947 Type: boolean
3948 Default: no
3949 If set, mutt expects a gpg-agent(1) process will handle private
3951 key passphrase prompts. If unset, mutt will prompt for the
3952 passphrase and pass it via stdin to the pgp command.
3953 Note that as of version 2.1, GnuPG automatically spawns an agent
3955 and requires the agent be used for passphrase management. Since
3956 that version is increasingly prevalent, this variable now de‐
3957 faults set.
3958 Mutt works with a GUI or curses pinentry program. A TTY pinen‐
3960 try should not be used.
3961 If you are using an older version of GnuPG without an agent run‐
3963 ning, or another encryption program without an agent, you will
3964 need to unset this variable. (PGP only)
3965 pgp_verify_command
3969 Type: string
3970 Default: “”
3971 This command is used to verify PGP signatures.
3973 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3975 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3976 pgp_verify_key_command
3980 Type: string
3981 Default: “”
3982 This command is used to verify key information from the key se‐
3984 lection menu.
3985 This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
3987 possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
3988 pipe_decode
3992 Type: boolean
3993 Default: no
3994 Used in connection with the <pipe-message> function. When un‐
3996 set, Mutt will pipe the messages without any preprocessing. When
3997 set, Mutt will attempt to decode the messages first.
3998 Also see $pipe_decode_weed, which controls whether headers will
4000 be weeded when this is set.
4001 pipe_decode_weed
4005 Type: boolean
4006 Default: yes
4007 For <pipe-message>, when $pipe_decode is set, this further con‐
4009 trols whether Mutt will weed headers.
4010 pipe_sep
4014 Type: string
4015 Default: “\n”
4016 The separator to add between messages when piping a list of
4018 tagged messages to an external Unix command.
4019 pipe_split
4023 Type: boolean
4024 Default: no
4025 Used in connection with the <pipe-message> function following
4027 <tag-prefix>. If this variable is unset, when piping a list of
4028 tagged messages Mutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe
4029 them all concatenated. When set, Mutt will pipe the messages
4030 one by one. In both cases the messages are piped in the current
4031 sorted order, and the $pipe_sep separator is added after each
4032 message.
4033 pop_auth_try_all
4037 Type: boolean
4038 Default: yes
4039 If set, Mutt will try all available authentication methods.
4041 When unset, Mutt will only fall back to other authentication
4042 methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is
4043 available but authentication fails, Mutt will not connect to the
4044 POP server.
4045 pop_authenticators
4049 Type: string
4050 Default: “”
4051 This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
4053 may attempt to use to log in to an POP server, in the order mutt
4054 should try them. Authentication methods are either “user”,
4055 “apop” or any SASL mechanism, e.g. “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or
4056 “cram-md5”. This option is case-insensitive. If this option is
4057 unset (the default) mutt will try all available methods, in or‐
4058 der from most-secure to least-secure.
4059 Example:
4061 set pop_authenticators=”digest-md5:apop:user”
4064 pop_checkinterval
4069 Type: number
4070 Default: 60
4071 This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
4073 for new mail in the currently selected mailbox if it is a POP
4074 mailbox.
4075 pop_delete
4079 Type: quadoption
4080 Default: ask-no
4081 If set, Mutt will delete successfully downloaded messages from
4083 the POP server when using the <fetch-mail> function. When un‐
4084 set, Mutt will download messages but also leave them on the POP
4085 server.
4086 pop_host
4090 Type: string
4091 Default: “”
4092 The name of your POP server for the <fetch-mail> function. You
4094 can also specify an alternative port, username and password,
4095 i.e.:
4096 [pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]
4099 where “[...]” denotes an optional part.
4102 pop_last
4106 Type: boolean
4107 Default: no
4108 If this variable is set, mutt will try to use the “LAST” POP
4110 command for retrieving only unread messages from the POP server
4111 when using the <fetch-mail> function.
4112 pop_oauth_refresh_command
4116 Type: string
4117 Default: “”
4118 The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
4120 rizing your connection to your POP server. This command will be
4121 run on every connection attempt that uses the OAUTHBEARER au‐
4122 thentication mechanism. See “oauth” for details.
4123 pop_pass
4127 Type: string
4128 Default: “”
4129 Specifies the password for your POP account. If unset, Mutt
4131 will prompt you for your password when you open a POP mailbox.
4132 Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
4134 fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
4135 trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
4136 pop_reconnect
4140 Type: quadoption
4141 Default: ask-yes
4142 Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect to the POP
4144 server if the connection is lost.
4145 pop_user
4149 Type: string
4150 Default: “”
4151 Your login name on the POP server.
4153 This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
4155 post_indent_string
4159 Type: string
4160 Default: “”
4161 Similar to the $attribution variable, Mutt will append this
4163 string after the inclusion of a message which is being replied
4164 to. For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see
4165 the section on $index_format.
4166 postpone
4170 Type: quadoption
4171 Default: ask-yes
4172 Controls whether or not messages are saved in the $postponed
4174 mailbox when you elect not to send immediately.
4175 Also see the $recall variable.
4177 postponed
4181 Type: path
4182 Default: “~/postponed”
4183 Mutt allows you to indefinitely “postpone sending a message”
4185 which you are editing. When you choose to postpone a message,
4186 Mutt saves it in the mailbox specified by this variable.
4187 Also see the $postpone variable.
4189 postpone_encrypt
4193 Type: boolean
4194 Default: no
4195 When set, postponed messages that are marked for encryption will
4197 be self-encrypted. Mutt will first try to encrypt using the
4198 value specified in $pgp_default_key or $smime_default_key. If
4199 those are not set, it will try the deprecated $postpone_en‐
4200 crypt_as. (Crypto only)
4201 postpone_encrypt_as
4205 Type: string
4206 Default: “”
4207 This is a deprecated fall-back variable for $postpone_encrypt.
4209 Please use $pgp_default_key or $smime_default_key. (Crypto
4210 only)
4211 preconnect
4215 Type: string
4216 Default: “”
4217 If set, a shell command to be executed if mutt fails to estab‐
4219 lish a connection to the server. This is useful for setting up
4220 secure connections, e.g. with ssh(1). If the command returns a
4221 nonzero status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:
4222 set preconnect=”ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net \
4225 sleep 20 < /dev/null > /dev/null”
4226 Mailbox “foo” on “mailhost.net” can now be reached as “{local‐
4229 host:1234}foo”.
4230 Note: For this example to work, you must be able to log in to
4232 the remote machine without having to enter a password.
4233 print
4237 Type: quadoption
4238 Default: ask-no
4239 Controls whether or not Mutt really prints messages. This is
4241 set to “ask-no” by default, because some people accidentally hit
4242 “p” often.
4243 print_command
4247 Type: path
4248 Default: “lpr”
4249 This specifies the command pipe that should be used to print
4251 messages.
4252 print_decode
4256 Type: boolean
4257 Default: yes
4258 Used in connection with the <print-message> function. If this
4260 option is set, the message is decoded before it is passed to the
4261 external command specified by $print_command. If this option is
4262 unset, no processing will be applied to the message when print‐
4263 ing it. The latter setting may be useful if you are using some
4264 advanced printer filter which is able to properly format e-mail
4265 messages for printing.
4266 Also see $print_decode_weed, which controls whether headers will
4268 be weeded when this is set.
4269 print_decode_weed
4273 Type: boolean
4274 Default: yes
4275 For <print-message>, when $print_decode is set, this further
4277 controls whether Mutt will weed headers.
4278 print_split
4282 Type: boolean
4283 Default: no
4284 Used in connection with the <print-message> function. If this
4286 option is set, the command specified by $print_command is exe‐
4287 cuted once for each message which is to be printed. If this op‐
4288 tion is unset, the command specified by $print_command is exe‐
4289 cuted only once, and all the messages are concatenated, with a
4290 form feed as the message separator.
4291 Those who use the enscript(1) program's mail-printing mode will
4293 most likely want to set this option.
4294 prompt_after
4298 Type: boolean
4299 Default: yes
4300 If you use an external $pager, setting this variable will cause
4302 Mutt to prompt you for a command when the pager exits rather
4303 than returning to the index menu. If unset, Mutt will return to
4304 the index menu when the external pager exits.
4305 query_command
4309 Type: path
4310 Default: “”
4311 This specifies the command Mutt will use to make external ad‐
4313 dress queries. The string may contain a “%s”, which will be
4314 substituted with the query string the user types. Mutt will add
4315 quotes around the string substituted for “%s” automatically ac‐
4316 cording to shell quoting rules, so you should avoid adding your
4317 own. If no “%s” is found in the string, Mutt will append the
4318 user's query to the end of the string. See “query” for more in‐
4319 formation.
4320 query_format
4324 Type: string
4325 Default: “%4c %t %-25.25a %-25.25n %?e?(%e)?”
4326 This variable describes the format of the “query” menu. The fol‐
4328 lowing printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
4329 %a destination address
4330 %c current entry number
4331 %e extra information *
4332 %n destination name
4333 %t “*” if current entry is tagged, a space otherwise
4334 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
4335 %|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
4336 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
4337 For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
4339 mentation.
4340 * = can be optionally printed if nonzero, see the $status_format
4342 documentation.
4343 quit
4347 Type: quadoption
4348 Default: yes
4349 This variable controls whether “quit” and “exit” actually quit
4351 from mutt. If this option is set, they do quit, if it is unset,
4352 they have no effect, and if it is set to ask-yes or ask-no, you
4353 are prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.
4354 quote_regexp
4358 Type: regular expression
4359 Default: “^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+”
4360 A regular expression used in the internal pager to determine
4362 quoted sections of text in the body of a message. Quoted text
4363 may be filtered out using the <toggle-quoted> command, or col‐
4364 ored according to the “color quoted” family of directives.
4365 Higher levels of quoting may be colored differently (“color
4367 quoted1”, “color quoted2”, etc.). The quoting level is deter‐
4368 mined by removing the last character from the matched text and
4369 recursively reapplying the regular expression until it fails to
4370 produce a match.
4371 Match detection may be overridden by the $smileys regular ex‐
4373 pression.
4374 read_inc
4378 Type: number
4379 Default: 10
4380 If set to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display which mes‐
4382 sage it is currently on when reading a mailbox or when perform‐
4383 ing search actions such as search and limit. The message is
4384 printed after this many messages have been read or searched
4385 (e.g., if set to 25, Mutt will print a message when it is at
4386 message 25, and then again when it gets to message 50). This
4387 variable is meant to indicate progress when reading or searching
4388 large mailboxes which may take some time. When set to 0, only a
4389 single message will appear before the reading the mailbox.
4390 Also see the $write_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and
4392 the “tuning” section of the manual for performance considera‐
4393 tions.
4394 read_only
4398 Type: boolean
4399 Default: no
4400 If set, all folders are opened in read-only mode.
4402 realname
4406 Type: string
4407 Default: “”
4408 This variable specifies what “real” or “personal” name should be
4410 used when sending messages.
4411 By default, this is the GECOS field from /etc/passwd. Note that
4413 this variable will not be used when the user has set a real name
4414 in the $from variable.
4415 recall
4419 Type: quadoption
4420 Default: ask-yes
4421 Controls whether or not Mutt recalls postponed messages when
4423 composing a new message.
4424 Setting this variable to yes is not generally useful, and thus
4426 not recommended. Note that the <recall-message> function can be
4427 used to manually recall postponed messages.
4428 Also see $postponed variable.
4430 record
4434 Type: path
4435 Default: “~/sent”
4436 This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should
4438 be appended. (This is meant as the primary method for saving a
4439 copy of your messages, but another way to do this is using the
4440 “my_hdr” command to create a “Bcc:” field with your email ad‐
4441 dress in it.)
4442 The value of $record is overridden by the $force_name and
4444 $save_name variables, and the “fcc-hook” command. Also see
4445 $copy and $write_bcc.
4446 Multiple mailboxes may be specified if $fcc_delimiter is set to
4448 a string delimiter.
4449 reflow_space_quotes
4453 Type: boolean
4454 Default: yes
4455 This option controls how quotes from format=flowed messages are
4457 displayed in the pager and when replying (with $text_flowed un‐
4458 set). When set, this option adds spaces after each level of
4459 quote marks, turning ”>>>foo” into ”> > > foo”.
4460 Note: If $reflow_text is unset, this option has no effect.
4462 Also, this option does not affect replies when $text_flowed is
4463 set.
4464 reflow_text
4468 Type: boolean
4469 Default: yes
4470 When set, Mutt will reformat paragraphs in text/plain parts
4472 marked format=flowed. If unset, Mutt will display paragraphs
4473 unaltered from how they appear in the message body. See RFC3676
4474 for details on the format=flowed format.
4475 Also see $reflow_wrap, and $wrap.
4477 reflow_wrap
4481 Type: number
4482 Default: 78
4483 This variable controls the maximum paragraph width when refor‐
4485 matting text/plain parts when $reflow_text is set. When the
4486 value is 0, paragraphs will be wrapped at the terminal's right
4487 margin. A positive value sets the paragraph width relative to
4488 the left margin. A negative value set the paragraph width rela‐
4489 tive to the right margin.
4490 Also see $wrap.
4492 reply_regexp
4496 Type: regular expression (localized)
4497 Default: “^(re)(\[[0-9]+\])*:[ \t]*”
4498 A regular expression used to recognize reply messages when
4500 threading and replying. The default value corresponds to the
4501 standard Latin ”Re:” prefix.
4502 This value may have been localized by the translator for your
4504 locale, adding other prefixes that are common in the locale. You
4505 can add your own prefixes by appending inside ”^(re)”. For ex‐
4506 ample: ”^(re|se)” or ”^(re|aw|se)”.
4507 The second parenthesized expression matches zero or more brack‐
4509 eted numbers following the prefix, such as ”Re[1]: ”. The ini‐
4510 tial ”\\[” means a literal left-bracket character. Note the
4511 backslash must be doubled when used inside a double quoted
4512 string in the muttrc. ”[0-9]+” means one or more numbers.
4513 ”\\]” means a literal right-bracket. Finally the whole paren‐
4514 thesized expression has a ”*” suffix, meaning it can occur zero
4515 or more times.
4516 The last part matches a colon followed by an optional space or
4518 tab. Note ”\t” is converted to a literal tab inside a double
4519 quoted string. If you use a single quoted string, you would
4520 have to type an actual tab character, and would need to convert
4521 the double-backslashes to single backslashes.
4522 Note: the result of this regexp match against the subject is
4524 stored in the header cache. Mutt isn't smart enough to invali‐
4525 date a header cache entry based on changing $reply_regexp, so if
4526 you aren't seeing correct values in the index, try temporarily
4527 turning off the header cache. If that fixes the problem, then
4528 once the variable is set to your liking, remove your stale
4529 header cache files and turn the header cache back on.
4530 reply_self
4534 Type: boolean
4535 Default: no
4536 If unset and you are replying to a message sent by you, Mutt
4538 will assume that you want to reply to the recipients of that
4539 message rather than to yourself.
4540 Also see the “alternates” command.
4542 reply_to
4546 Type: quadoption
4547 Default: ask-yes
4548 If set, when replying to a message, Mutt will use the address
4550 listed in the Reply-to: header as the recipient of the reply.
4551 If unset, it will use the address in the From: header field in‐
4552 stead. This option is useful for reading a mailing list that
4553 sets the Reply-To: header field to the list address and you want
4554 to send a private message to the author of a message.
4555 resolve
4559 Type: boolean
4560 Default: yes
4561 When set, the cursor will be automatically advanced to the next
4563 (possibly undeleted) message whenever a command that modifies
4564 the current message is executed.
4565 resume_draft_files
4569 Type: boolean
4570 Default: no
4571 If set, draft files (specified by -H on the command line) are
4573 processed similarly to when resuming a postponed message. Re‐
4574 cipients are not prompted for; send-hooks are not evaluated; no
4575 alias expansion takes place; user-defined headers and signatures
4576 are not added to the message.
4577 resume_edited_draft_files
4581 Type: boolean
4582 Default: yes
4583 If set, draft files previously edited (via -E -H on the command
4585 line) will have $resume_draft_files automatically set when they
4586 are used as a draft file again.
4587 The first time a draft file is saved, mutt will add a header,
4589 X-Mutt-Resume-Draft to the saved file. The next time the draft
4590 file is read in, if mutt sees the header, it will set $re‐
4591 sume_draft_files.
4592 This option is designed to prevent multiple signatures, user-de‐
4594 fined headers, and other processing effects from being made mul‐
4595 tiple times to the draft file.
4596 reverse_alias
4600 Type: boolean
4601 Default: no
4602 This variable controls whether or not Mutt will display the
4604 “personal” name from your aliases in the index menu if it finds
4605 an alias that matches the message's sender. For example, if you
4606 have the following alias:
4607 alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
4610 and then you receive mail which contains the following header:
4613 From: abd30425@somewhere.net
4616 It would be displayed in the index menu as “Joe User” instead of
4619 “abd30425@somewhere.net.” This is useful when the person's
4620 e-mail address is not human friendly.
4621 reverse_name
4625 Type: boolean
4626 Default: no
4627 It may sometimes arrive that you receive mail to a certain ma‐
4629 chine, move the messages to another machine, and reply to some
4630 the messages from there. If this variable is set, the default
4631 From: line of the reply messages is built using the address
4632 where you received the messages you are replying to if that ad‐
4633 dress matches your “alternates”. If the variable is unset, or
4634 the address that would be used doesn't match your “alternates”,
4635 the From: line will use your address on the current machine.
4636 Also see the “alternates” command and $reverse_realname.
4638 reverse_realname
4642 Type: boolean
4643 Default: yes
4644 This variable fine-tunes the behavior of the $reverse_name fea‐
4646 ture.
4647 When it is unset, Mutt will remove the real name part of a
4649 matching address. This allows the use of the email address
4650 without having to also use what the sender put in the real name
4651 field.
4652 When it is set, Mutt will use the matching address as-is.
4654 In either case, a missing real name will be filled in afterwards
4656 using the value of $realname.
4657 rfc2047_parameters
4661 Type: boolean
4662 Default: yes
4663 When this variable is set, Mutt will decode RFC2047-encoded MIME
4665 parameters. You want to set this variable when mutt suggests you
4666 to save attachments to files named like:
4667 =?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
4670 When this variable is set interactively, the change won't be ac‐
4673 tive until you change folders.
4674 Note that this use of RFC2047's encoding is explicitly prohib‐
4676 ited by the standard, but nevertheless encountered in the wild.
4677 Also note that setting this parameter will not have the effect
4679 that mutt generates this kind of encoding. Instead, mutt will
4680 unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC2231.
4681 save_address
4685 Type: boolean
4686 Default: no
4687 If set, mutt will take the sender's full address when choosing a
4689 default folder for saving a mail. If $save_name or $force_name
4690 is set too, the selection of the Fcc folder will be changed as
4691 well.
4692 save_empty
4696 Type: boolean
4697 Default: yes
4698 When unset, mailboxes which contain no saved messages will be
4700 removed when closed (the exception is $spoolfile which is never
4701 removed). If set, mailboxes are never removed.
4702 Note: This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders, Mutt does not
4704 delete MH and Maildir directories.
4705 save_history
4709 Type: number
4710 Default: 0
4711 This variable controls the size of the history (per category)
4713 saved in the $history_file file.
4714 save_name
4718 Type: boolean
4719 Default: no
4720 This variable controls how copies of outgoing messages are
4722 saved. When set, a check is made to see if a mailbox specified
4723 by the recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a
4724 mailbox in the $folder directory with the username part of the
4725 recipient address). If the mailbox exists, the outgoing message
4726 will be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to
4727 the $record mailbox.
4728 Also see the $force_name variable.
4730 score
4734 Type: boolean
4735 Default: yes
4736 When this variable is unset, scoring is turned off. This can be
4738 useful to selectively disable scoring for certain folders when
4739 the $score_threshold_delete variable and related are used.
4740 score_threshold_delete
4744 Type: number
4745 Default: -1
4746 Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
4748 the value of this variable are automatically marked for deletion
4749 by mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to
4750 zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a
4751 message for deletion.
4752 score_threshold_flag
4756 Type: number
4757 Default: 9999
4758 Messages which have been assigned a score greater than or equal
4760 to this variable's value are automatically marked ”flagged”.
4761 score_threshold_read
4765 Type: number
4766 Default: -1
4767 Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
4769 the value of this variable are automatically marked as read by
4770 mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to
4771 zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a
4772 message read.
4773 search_context
4777 Type: number
4778 Default: 0
4779 For the pager, this variable specifies the number of lines shown
4781 before search results. By default, search results will be
4782 top-aligned.
4783 send_charset
4787 Type: string
4788 Default: “us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8”
4789 A colon-delimited list of character sets for outgoing messages.
4791 Mutt will use the first character set into which the text can be
4792 converted exactly. If your $charset is not “iso-8859-1” and re‐
4793 cipients may not understand “UTF-8”, it is advisable to include
4794 in the list an appropriate widely used standard character set
4795 (such as “iso-8859-2”, “koi8-r” or “iso-2022-jp”) either instead
4796 of or after “iso-8859-1”.
4797 In case the text cannot be converted into one of these exactly,
4799 mutt uses $charset as a fallback.
4800 send_multipart_alternative
4804 Type: quadoption
4805 Default: no
4806 If set, Mutt will generate a multipart/alternative container and
4808 an alternative part using the filter script specified in
4809 $send_multipart_alternative_filter. See the section “MIME Mul‐
4810 tipart/Alternative” (alternative-order).
4811 Note that enabling multipart/alternative is not compatible with
4813 inline PGP encryption. Mutt will prompt to use PGP/MIME in that
4814 case.
4815 send_multipart_alternative_filter
4819 Type: path
4820 Default: “”
4821 This specifies a filter script, which will convert the main
4823 (composed) message of the email to an alternative format. The
4824 message will be piped to the filter's stdin. The expected out‐
4825 put of the filter is the generated mime type, e.g. text/html,
4826 followed by a blank line, and then the converted content. See
4827 the section “MIME Multipart/Alternative” (alternative-order).
4828 sendmail
4832 Type: path
4833 Default: “/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi”
4834 Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by
4836 Mutt. Mutt expects that the specified program interprets addi‐
4837 tional arguments as recipient addresses. Mutt appends all re‐
4838 cipients after adding a -- delimiter (if not already present).
4839 Additional flags, such as for $use_8bitmime, $use_envelope_from,
4840 $dsn_notify, or $dsn_return will be added before the delimiter.
4841 Note: This command is invoked differently from most other com‐
4843 mands in Mutt. It is tokenized by space, and invoked directly
4844 via execvp(3) with an array of arguments - so commands or argu‐
4845 ments with spaces in them are not supported. The shell is not
4846 used to run the command, so shell quoting is also not supported.
4847 See also: $write_bcc.
4849 sendmail_wait
4853 Type: number
4854 Default: 0
4855 Specifies the number of seconds to wait for the $sendmail
4857 process to finish before giving up and putting delivery in the
4858 background.
4859 Mutt interprets the value of this variable as follows:
4861 >0 number of seconds to wait for sendmail to finish before
4862 continuing
4863 0 wait forever for sendmail to finish
4864 <0 always put sendmail in the background without waiting
4865 Note that if you specify a value other than 0, the output of the
4867 child process will be put in a temporary file. If there is some
4868 error, you will be informed as to where to find the output.
4869 shell
4873 Type: path
4874 Default: “”
4875 Command to use when spawning a subshell. By default, the user's
4877 login shell from /etc/passwd is used.
4878 sidebar_delim_chars
4882 Type: string
4883 Default: “/.”
4884 This contains the list of characters which you would like to
4886 treat as folder separators for displaying paths in the sidebar.
4887 Local mail is often arranged in directories: `dir1/dir2/mail‐
4889 box'.
4890 set sidebar_delim_chars='/'
4893 IMAP mailboxes are often named: `folder1.folder2.mailbox'.
4896 set sidebar_delim_chars='.'
4899 See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_folder_indent, $side‐
4902 bar_indent_string.
4903 sidebar_divider_char
4907 Type: string
4908 Default: “|”
4909 This specifies the characters to be drawn between the sidebar
4911 (when visible) and the other Mutt panels. ASCII and Unicode
4912 line-drawing characters are supported.
4913 sidebar_folder_indent
4917 Type: boolean
4918 Default: no
4919 Set this to indent mailboxes in the sidebar.
4921 See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_indent_string, $side‐
4923 bar_delim_chars.
4924 sidebar_format
4928 Type: string
4929 Default: “%B%* %n”
4930 This variable allows you to customize the sidebar display. This
4932 string is similar to $index_format, but has its own set of
4933 printf(3)-like sequences:
4934 %B Name of the mailbox
4935 %S * Size of mailbox (total number of messages)
4936 %N * Number of unread messages in the mailbox
4937 %n N if mailbox has new mail, blank otherwise
4938 %F * Number of Flagged messages in the mailbox
4939 %! “!” : one flagged message; “!!” : two flagged messages;
4940 “n!” : n flagged messages (for n > 2). Otherwise prints
4941 nothing.
4942 %d * @ Number of deleted messages
4943 %L * @ Number of messages after limiting
4944 %t * @ Number of tagged messages
4945 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
4946 %|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
4947 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
4948 * = Can be optionally printed if nonzero @ = Only applicable to
4950 the current folder
4951 In order to use %S, %N, %F, and %!, $mail_check_stats must be
4953 set. When thus set, a suggested value for this option is
4954 ”%B%?F? [%F]?%* %?N?%N/?%S”.
4955 sidebar_indent_string
4959 Type: string
4960 Default: “ ”
4961 This specifies the string that is used to indent mailboxes in
4963 the sidebar. It defaults to two spaces.
4964 See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_folder_indent, $side‐
4966 bar_delim_chars.
4967 sidebar_new_mail_only
4971 Type: boolean
4972 Default: no
4973 When set, the sidebar will only display mailboxes containing
4975 new, or flagged, mail.
4976 See also: sidebar_whitelist.
4978 sidebar_next_new_wrap
4982 Type: boolean
4983 Default: no
4984 When set, the <sidebar-next-new> command will not stop and the
4986 end of the list of mailboxes, but wrap around to the beginning.
4987 The <sidebar-prev-new> command is similarly affected, wrapping
4988 around to the end of the list.
4989 sidebar_relative_shortpath_indent
4993 Type: boolean
4994 Default: no
4995 When set, this option changes how $sidebar_short_path and $side‐
4997 bar_folder_indent perform shortening and indentation: both will
4998 look at the previous sidebar entries and shorten/indent relative
4999 to the most recent parent.
5000 An example of this option set/unset for mailboxes listed in this
5002 order, with $sidebar_short_path=yes, $sidebar_folder_indent=yes,
5003 and $sidebar_indent_string=”→”:
5004 mailbox
5005 set unset
5006 =a.b =a.b →b
5007 =a.b.c.d
5008 →c.d →→→d
5009 =a.b.e →e →→e
5010 The second line illustrates most clearly. With this option set,
5012 =a.b.c.d is shortened relative to =a.b, becoming c.d; it is also
5013 indented one place relative to =a.b. With this option unset
5014 =a.b.c.d is always shortened to the last part of the mailbox, d
5015 and is indented three places, with respect to $folder (repre‐
5016 sented by '=').
5017 When set, the third line will also be indented and shortened
5019 relative to the first line.
5020 sidebar_short_path
5024 Type: boolean
5025 Default: no
5026 By default the sidebar will show the mailbox's path, relative to
5028 the $folder variable. Setting sidebar_shortpath=yes will shorten
5029 the names relative to the previous name. Here's an example:
5030 shortpath=no
5031 shortpath=yes shortpath=yes, folderindent=yes, in‐
5032 dentstr=”..”
5033 fruit fruit fruit
5034 fruit.apple
5035 apple ..apple
5036 fruit.banana
5037 banana ..banana
5038 fruit.cherry
5039 cherry ..cherry
5040 See also: $sidebar_delim_chars, $sidebar_folder_indent, $side‐
5042 bar_indent_string.
5043 sidebar_sort_method
5047 Type: sort order
5048 Default: unsorted
5049 Specifies how to sort mailbox entries in the sidebar. By de‐
5051 fault, the entries are sorted alphabetically. Valid values:
5052 ‐ alpha (alphabetically)
5053 ‐ count (all message count)
5054 ‐ flagged (flagged message count)
5055 ‐ name (alphabetically)
5056 ‐ new (unread message count)
5057 ‐ path (alphabetically)
5058 ‐ unread (unread message count)
5059 ‐ unsorted
5060 You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
5062 sorting order (example: “set sidebar_sort_method=reverse-al‐
5063 pha”).
5064 sidebar_use_mailbox_shortcuts
5068 Type: boolean
5069 Default: no
5070 When set, sidebar mailboxes will be displayed with mailbox
5072 shortcut prefixes ”=” or ”~”.
5073 When unset, the sidebar will trim off a matching $folder prefix
5075 but otherwise not use mailbox shortcuts.
5076 sidebar_visible
5080 Type: boolean
5081 Default: no
5082 This specifies whether or not to show sidebar. The sidebar shows
5084 a list of all your mailboxes.
5085 See also: $sidebar_format, $sidebar_width
5087 sidebar_width
5091 Type: number
5092 Default: 30
5093 This controls the width of the sidebar. It is measured in
5095 screen columns. For example: sidebar_width=20 could display 20
5096 ASCII characters, or 10 Chinese characters.
5097 sig_dashes
5101 Type: boolean
5102 Default: yes
5103 If set, a line containing “-- ” (note the trailing space) will
5105 be inserted before your $signature. It is strongly recommended
5106 that you not unset this variable unless your signature contains
5107 just your name. The reason for this is because many software
5108 packages use “-- \n” to detect your signature. For example,
5109 Mutt has the ability to highlight the signature in a different
5110 color in the built-in pager.
5111 sig_on_top
5115 Type: boolean
5116 Default: no
5117 If set, the signature will be included before any quoted or for‐
5119 warded text. It is strongly recommended that you do not set
5120 this variable unless you really know what you are doing, and are
5121 prepared to take some heat from netiquette guardians.
5122 signature
5126 Type: path
5127 Default: “~/.signature”
5128 Specifies the filename of your signature, which is appended to
5130 all outgoing messages. If the filename ends with a pipe (“|”),
5131 it is assumed that filename is a shell command and input should
5132 be read from its standard output.
5133 simple_search
5137 Type: string
5138 Default: “~f %s | ~s %s”
5139 Specifies how Mutt should expand a simple search into a real
5141 search pattern. A simple search is one that does not contain
5142 any of the “~” pattern modifiers. See “patterns” for more in‐
5143 formation on search patterns.
5144 For example, if you simply type “joe” at a search or limit
5146 prompt, Mutt will automatically expand it to the value specified
5147 by this variable by replacing “%s” with the supplied string.
5148 For the default value, “joe” would be expanded to: “~f joe | ~s
5149 joe”.
5150 size_show_bytes
5154 Type: boolean
5155 Default: no
5156 If set, message sizes will display bytes for values less than 1
5158 kilobyte. See formatstrings-size.
5159 size_show_fractions
5163 Type: boolean
5164 Default: yes
5165 If set, message sizes will be displayed with a single decimal
5167 value for sizes from 0 to 10 kilobytes and 1 to 10 megabytes.
5168 See formatstrings-size.
5169 size_show_mb
5173 Type: boolean
5174 Default: yes
5175 If set, message sizes will display megabytes for values greater
5177 than or equal to 1 megabyte. See formatstrings-size.
5178 size_units_on_left
5182 Type: boolean
5183 Default: no
5184 If set, message sizes units will be displayed to the left of the
5186 number. See formatstrings-size.
5187 sleep_time
5191 Type: number
5192 Default: 1
5193 Specifies time, in seconds, to pause while displaying certain
5195 informational messages, while moving from folder to folder and
5196 after expunging messages from the current folder. The default
5197 is to pause one second, so a value of zero for this option sup‐
5198 presses the pause.
5199 smart_wrap
5203 Type: boolean
5204 Default: yes
5205 Controls the display of lines longer than the screen width in
5207 the internal pager. If set, long lines are wrapped at a word
5208 boundary. If unset, lines are simply wrapped at the screen
5209 edge. Also see the $markers variable.
5210 smileys
5214 Type: regular expression
5215 Default: “(>From )|(:[-^]?[][)(><}{|/DP])”
5216 The pager uses this variable to catch some common false posi‐
5218 tives of $quote_regexp, most notably smileys and not consider a
5219 line quoted text if it also matches $smileys. This mostly hap‐
5220 pens at the beginning of a line.
5221 smime_ask_cert_label
5225 Type: boolean
5226 Default: yes
5227 This flag controls whether you want to be asked to enter a label
5229 for a certificate about to be added to the database or not. It
5230 is set by default. (S/MIME only)
5231 smime_ca_location
5235 Type: path
5236 Default: “”
5237 This variable contains the name of either a directory, or a file
5239 which contains trusted certificates for use with OpenSSL.
5240 (S/MIME only)
5241 smime_certificates
5245 Type: path
5246 Default: “”
5247 Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt
5249 has to handle storage and retrieval of keys by itself. This is
5250 very basic right now, and keys and certificates are stored in
5251 two different directories, both named as the hash-value re‐
5252 trieved from OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains
5253 mailbox-address keyid pairs, and which can be manually edited.
5254 This option points to the location of the certificates. (S/MIME
5255 only)
5256 smime_decrypt_command
5260 Type: string
5261 Default: “”
5262 This format string specifies a command which is used to decrypt
5264 application/x-pkcs7-mime attachments.
5265 The OpenSSL command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like
5267 sequences similar to PGP's:
5268 %f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
5269 %s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature
5270 part
5271 of a multipart/signed attachment when verify‐
5272 ing it.
5273 %k The key-pair specified with $smime_default_key
5274 %c One or more certificate IDs.
5275 %a The algorithm used for encryption.
5276 %d The message digest algorithm specified with
5277 $smime_sign_digest_alg.
5278 %C CA location: Depending on whether $smime_ca_location
5279 points to a directory or file, this expands to
5280 “-CApath $smime_ca_location” or “-CAfile
5281 $smime_ca_location”.
5282 For examples on how to configure these formats, see the smime.rc
5284 in the samples/ subdirectory which has been installed on your
5285 system alongside the documentation. (S/MIME only)
5286 smime_decrypt_use_default_key
5290 Type: boolean
5291 Default: yes
5292 If set (default) this tells mutt to use the default key for de‐
5294 cryption. Otherwise, if managing multiple certificate-key-pairs,
5295 mutt will try to use the mailbox-address to determine the key to
5296 use. It will ask you to supply a key, if it can't find one.
5297 (S/MIME only)
5298 smime_default_key
5302 Type: string
5303 Default: “”
5304 This is the default key-pair to use for S/MIME operations, and
5306 must be set to the keyid (the hash-value that OpenSSL generates)
5307 to work properly.
5308 It will be used for encryption (see $postpone_encrypt and
5310 $smime_self_encrypt). If GPGME is enabled, this is the key id
5311 displayed by gpgsm.
5312 It will be used for decryption unless $smime_decrypt_use_de‐
5314 fault_key is unset.
5315 It will also be used for signing unless $smime_sign_as is set.
5317 The (now deprecated) smime_self_encrypt_as is an alias for this
5319 variable, and should no longer be used. (S/MIME only)
5320 smime_encrypt_command
5324 Type: string
5325 Default: “”
5326 This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages.
5328 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5330 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5331 smime_encrypt_with
5335 Type: string
5336 Default: “aes256”
5337 This sets the algorithm that should be used for encryption.
5339 Valid choices are “aes128”, “aes192”, “aes256”, “des”, “des3”,
5340 “rc2-40”, “rc2-64”, “rc2-128”. (S/MIME only)
5341 smime_get_cert_command
5345 Type: string
5346 Default: “”
5347 This command is used to extract X509 certificates from a PKCS7
5349 structure.
5350 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5352 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5353 smime_get_cert_email_command
5357 Type: string
5358 Default: “”
5359 This command is used to extract the mail address(es) used for
5361 storing X509 certificates, and for verification purposes (to
5362 check whether the certificate was issued for the sender's mail‐
5363 box).
5364 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5366 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5367 smime_get_signer_cert_command
5371 Type: string
5372 Default: “”
5373 This command is used to extract only the signers X509 certifi‐
5375 cate from a S/MIME signature, so that the certificate's owner
5376 may get compared to the email's “From:” field.
5377 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5379 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5380 smime_import_cert_command
5384 Type: string
5385 Default: “”
5386 This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys.
5388 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5390 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5391 smime_is_default
5395 Type: boolean
5396 Default: no
5397 The default behavior of mutt is to use PGP on all auto-sign/en‐
5399 cryption operations. To override and to use OpenSSL instead this
5400 must be set. However, this has no effect while replying, since
5401 mutt will automatically select the same application that was
5402 used to sign/encrypt the original message. (Note that this
5403 variable can be overridden by unsetting $crypt_autosmime.)
5404 (S/MIME only)
5405 smime_keys
5409 Type: path
5410 Default: “”
5411 Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt
5413 has to handle storage and retrieval of keys/certs by itself.
5414 This is very basic right now, and stores keys and certificates
5415 in two different directories, both named as the hash-value re‐
5416 trieved from OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains
5417 mailbox-address keyid pair, and which can be manually edited.
5418 This option points to the location of the private keys. (S/MIME
5419 only)
5420 smime_pk7out_command
5424 Type: string
5425 Default: “”
5426 This command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME sig‐
5428 natures, in order to extract the public X509 certificate(s).
5429 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5431 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5432 smime_self_encrypt
5436 Type: boolean
5437 Default: yes
5438 When set, S/MIME encrypted messages will also be encrypted using
5440 the certificate in $smime_default_key. (S/MIME only)
5441 smime_sign_as
5445 Type: string
5446 Default: “”
5447 If you have a separate key to use for signing, you should set
5449 this to the signing key. Most people will only need to set
5450 $smime_default_key. (S/MIME only)
5451 smime_sign_command
5455 Type: string
5456 Default: “”
5457 This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type multi‐
5459 part/signed, which can be read by all mail clients.
5460 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5462 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. NOTE: %c and %k will de‐
5463 fault to $smime_sign_as if set, otherwise $smime_default_key.
5464 (S/MIME only)
5465 smime_sign_digest_alg
5469 Type: string
5470 Default: “sha256”
5471 This sets the algorithm that should be used for the signature
5473 message digest. Valid choices are “md5”, “sha1”, “sha224”,
5474 “sha256”, “sha384”, “sha512”. (S/MIME only)
5475 smime_sign_opaque_command
5479 Type: string
5480 Default: “”
5481 This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type appli‐
5483 cation/x-pkcs7-signature, which can only be handled by mail
5484 clients supporting the S/MIME extension.
5485 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5487 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5488 smime_timeout
5492 Type: number (long)
5493 Default: 300
5494 The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will ex‐
5496 pire if not used. (S/MIME only)
5497 smime_verify_command
5501 Type: string
5502 Default: “”
5503 This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type multi‐
5505 part/signed.
5506 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5508 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5509 smime_verify_opaque_command
5513 Type: string
5514 Default: “”
5515 This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type appli‐
5517 cation/x-pkcs7-mime.
5518 This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
5520 for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
5521 smtp_authenticators
5525 Type: string
5526 Default: “”
5527 This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
5529 may attempt to use to log in to an SMTP server, in the order
5530 mutt should try them. Authentication methods are any SASL mech‐
5531 anism, e.g. “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option
5532 is case-insensitive. If it is “unset” (the default) mutt will
5533 try all available methods, in order from most-secure to
5534 least-secure.
5535 Example:
5537 set smtp_authenticators=”digest-md5:cram-md5”
5540 smtp_oauth_refresh_command
5545 Type: string
5546 Default: “”
5547 The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for autho‐
5549 rizing your connection to your SMTP server. This command will
5550 be run on every connection attempt that uses the OAUTHBEARER au‐
5551 thentication mechanism. See “oauth” for details.
5552 smtp_pass
5556 Type: string
5557 Default: “”
5558 Specifies the password for your SMTP account. If unset, Mutt
5560 will prompt you for your password when you first send mail via
5561 SMTP. See $smtp_url to configure mutt to send mail via SMTP.
5562 Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
5564 fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
5565 trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
5566 smtp_url
5570 Type: string
5571 Default: “”
5572 Defines the SMTP smarthost where sent messages should relayed
5574 for delivery. This should take the form of an SMTP URL, e.g.:
5575 smtp[s]://[user[:pass]@]host[:port]
5578 where “[...]” denotes an optional part. Setting this variable
5581 overrides the value of the $sendmail variable.
5582 Also see $write_bcc.
5584 sort
5588 Type: sort order
5589 Default: date
5590 Specifies how to sort messages in the “index” menu. Valid val‐
5592 ues are:
5593 ‐ date or date-sent
5594 ‐ date-received
5595 ‐ from
5596 ‐ mailbox-order (unsorted)
5597 ‐ score
5598 ‐ size
5599 ‐ spam
5600 ‐ subject
5601 ‐ threads
5602 ‐ to
5603 You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
5605 sorting order (example: “set sort=reverse-date-sent”).
5606 For values except “threads”, this provides the primary sort
5608 method. When two message sort values are equal, $sort_aux will
5609 be used for a secondary sort.
5610 When set to “threads”, Mutt threads messages in the index. It
5612 uses the variable $sort_thread_groups to sort between threads
5613 (at the top/root level), and $sort_aux to sort sub-threads and
5614 children.
5615 sort_alias
5619 Type: sort order
5620 Default: alias
5621 Specifies how the entries in the “alias” menu are sorted. The
5623 following are legal values:
5624 ‐ address (sort alphabetically by email address)
5625 ‐ alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
5626 ‐ unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)
5627 sort_aux
5630 Type: sort order
5631 Default: date
5632 For non-threaded mode, this provides a secondary sort for mes‐
5634 sages in the “index” menu, used when the $sort value is equal
5635 for two messages.
5636 When sorting by threads, this variable controls how the branches
5638 of the thread trees are sorted. This can be set to any value
5639 that $sort can, except “threads” (in that case, mutt will just
5640 use “date-sent”). You can also specify the “last-” prefix in
5641 addition to the “reverse-” prefix, but “last-” must come after
5642 “reverse-”. The “last-” prefix causes messages to be sorted
5643 against its siblings by which has the last descendant, using the
5644 rest of $sort_aux as an ordering. For instance,
5645 set sort_aux=last-date-received
5648 would mean that if a new message is received in a sub-thread,
5651 that sub-thread becomes the last one displayed.
5652 Note: For reversed-threads $sort order, $sort_aux is reversed
5654 again (which is not the right thing to do, but kept to not break
5655 any existing configuration setting).
5656 sort_browser
5660 Type: sort order
5661 Default: alpha
5662 Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser. By default,
5664 the entries are sorted alphabetically. Valid values:
5665 ‐ alpha (alphabetically)
5666 ‐ count
5667 ‐ date
5668 ‐ size
5669 ‐ unread
5670 ‐ unsorted
5671 You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
5673 sorting order (example: “set sort_browser=reverse-date”).
5674 sort_browser_mailboxes
5678 Type: sort order
5679 Default: unsorted
5680 Specifies how to sort entries in the mailbox browser. By de‐
5682 fault, the entries are unsorted, displayed in the same order as
5683 listed in the “mailboxes” command. Valid values:
5684 ‐ alpha (alphabetically)
5685 ‐ count
5686 ‐ date
5687 ‐ size
5688 ‐ unread
5689 ‐ unsorted
5690 You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
5692 sorting order (example: “set sort_browser_mailboxes=reverse-al‐
5693 pha”).
5694 sort_re
5698 Type: boolean
5699 Default: yes
5700 This variable is only useful when sorting by threads with
5702 $strict_threads unset. In that case, it changes the heuristic
5703 mutt uses to thread messages by subject. With $sort_re set,
5704 mutt will only attach a message as the child of another message
5705 by subject if the subject of the child message starts with a
5706 substring matching the setting of $reply_regexp. With $sort_re
5707 unset, mutt will attach the message whether or not this is the
5708 case, as long as the non-$reply_regexp parts of both messages
5709 are identical.
5710 sort_thread_groups
5714 Type: sort order
5715 Default: aux
5716 When sorting by threads, this variable controls how threads are
5718 sorted in relation to other threads (at the top/root level).
5719 This can be set to any value that $sort can, except “threads”.
5720 You can also specify the “last-” prefix in addition to the “re‐
5721 verse-” prefix, but “last-” must come after “reverse-”. The
5722 “last-” prefix causes messages to be sorted against its siblings
5723 by which has the last descendant, using the rest of
5724 $sort_thread_groups as an ordering.
5725 For backward compatibility, the default value is “aux”, which
5727 means to use $sort_aux for top-level thread sorting too. The
5728 value “aux” does not respect “last-” or “reverse-” prefixes, it
5729 simply delegates sorting directly to $sort_aux.
5730 Note: For reversed-threads $sort order, $sort_thread_groups is
5732 reversed again (which is not the right thing to do, but kept to
5733 not break any existing configuration setting).
5734 spam_separator
5738 Type: string
5739 Default: “,”
5740 This variable controls what happens when multiple spam headers
5742 are matched: if unset, each successive header will overwrite any
5743 previous matches value for the spam label. If set, each succes‐
5744 sive match will append to the previous, using this variable's
5745 value as a separator.
5746 spoolfile
5750 Type: path
5751 Default: “”
5752 If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where Mutt can‐
5754 not find it, you can specify its location with this variable.
5755 Mutt will initially set this variable to the value of the envi‐
5756 ronment variable $MAIL or $MAILDIR if either is defined.
5757 ssl_ca_certificates_file
5761 Type: path
5762 Default: “/etc/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt”
5763 This variable specifies a file containing trusted CA certifi‐
5765 cates. Any server certificate that is signed with one of these
5766 CA certificates is also automatically accepted. (GnuTLS only)
5767 Example:
5769 set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
5772 ssl_client_cert
5777 Type: path
5778 Default: “”
5779 The file containing a client certificate and its associated pri‐
5781 vate key.
5782 ssl_force_tls
5786 Type: boolean
5787 Default: yes
5788 If this variable is set, Mutt will require that all connections
5790 to remote servers be encrypted. Furthermore it will attempt to
5791 negotiate TLS even if the server does not advertise the capabil‐
5792 ity, since it would otherwise have to abort the connection any‐
5793 way. This option supersedes $ssl_starttls.
5794 ssl_min_dh_prime_bits
5798 Type: number
5799 Default: 0
5800 This variable specifies the minimum acceptable prime size (in
5802 bits) for use in any Diffie-Hellman key exchange. A value of 0
5803 will use the default from the GNUTLS library. (GnuTLS only)
5804 ssl_starttls
5808 Type: quadoption
5809 Default: yes
5810 If set (the default), mutt will attempt to use STARTTLS on
5812 servers advertising the capability. When unset, mutt will not
5813 attempt to use STARTTLS regardless of the server's capabilities.
5814 Note that STARTTLS is subject to many kinds of attacks, includ‐
5816 ing the ability of a machine-in-the-middle to suppress the ad‐
5817 vertising of support. Setting $ssl_force_tls is recommended if
5818 you rely on STARTTLS.
5819 ssl_use_sslv2
5823 Type: boolean
5824 Default: no
5825 If set , Mutt will use SSLv2 when communicating with servers
5827 that request it. N.B. As of 2011, SSLv2 is considered insecure,
5828 and using is inadvisable. See
5829 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6176 . (OpenSSL only)
5830 ssl_use_sslv3
5834 Type: boolean
5835 Default: no
5836 If set , Mutt will use SSLv3 when communicating with servers
5838 that request it. N.B. As of 2015, SSLv3 is considered insecure,
5839 and using it is inadvisable. See
5840 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5841 ssl_use_tlsv1
5845 Type: boolean
5846 Default: no
5847 If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.0 when communicating with servers
5849 that request it. N.B. As of 2015, TLSv1.0 is considered inse‐
5850 cure, and using it is inadvisable. See
5851 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5852 ssl_use_tlsv1_1
5856 Type: boolean
5857 Default: no
5858 If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.1 when communicating with servers
5860 that request it. N.B. As of 2015, TLSv1.1 is considered inse‐
5861 cure, and using it is inadvisable. See
5862 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7525 .
5863 ssl_use_tlsv1_2
5867 Type: boolean
5868 Default: yes
5869 If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.2 when communicating with servers
5871 that request it.
5872 ssl_use_tlsv1_3
5876 Type: boolean
5877 Default: yes
5878 If set , Mutt will use TLSv1.3 when communicating with servers
5880 that request it.
5881 ssl_usesystemcerts
5885 Type: boolean
5886 Default: yes
5887 If set to yes, mutt will use CA certificates in the system-wide
5889 certificate store when checking if a server certificate is
5890 signed by a trusted CA. (OpenSSL only)
5891 ssl_verify_dates
5895 Type: boolean
5896 Default: yes
5897 If set (the default), mutt will not automatically accept a
5899 server certificate that is either not yet valid or already ex‐
5900 pired. You should only unset this for particular known hosts,
5901 using the <account-hook> function.
5902 ssl_verify_host
5906 Type: boolean
5907 Default: yes
5908 If set (the default), mutt will not automatically accept a
5910 server certificate whose host name does not match the host used
5911 in your folder URL. You should only unset this for particular
5912 known hosts, using the <account-hook> function.
5913 ssl_verify_host_override
5917 Type: string
5918 Default: “”
5919 Defines an alternate host name to verify the server certificate
5921 against. This should not be set unless you are sure what you
5922 are doing, but it might be useful for connection to a .onion
5923 host without a properly configured host name in the certificate.
5924 See $ssl_verify_host.
5925 ssl_verify_partial_chains
5929 Type: boolean
5930 Default: no
5931 This option should not be changed from the default unless you
5933 understand what you are doing.
5934 Setting this variable to yes will permit verifying partial cer‐
5936 tification chains, i. e. a certificate chain where not the root,
5937 but an intermediate certificate CA, or the host certificate, are
5938 marked trusted (in $certificate_file), without marking the root
5939 signing CA as trusted.
5940 (OpenSSL 1.0.2b and newer only).
5942 ssl_ciphers
5946 Type: string
5947 Default: “@SYSTEM”
5948 Contains a colon-separated list of ciphers to use when using
5950 SSL. For OpenSSL, see ciphers(1) for the syntax of the string.
5951 For GnuTLS, this option will be used in place of ”NORMAL” at the
5953 start of the priority string. See gnutls_priority_init(3) for
5954 the syntax and more details. (Note: GnuTLS version 2.1.7 or
5955 higher is required.)
5956 status_chars
5960 Type: string
5961 Default: “-*%A”
5962 Controls the characters used by the “%r” indicator in $sta‐
5964 tus_format. The first character is used when the mailbox is un‐
5965 changed. The second is used when the mailbox has been changed,
5966 and it needs to be resynchronized. The third is used if the
5967 mailbox is in read-only mode, or if the mailbox will not be
5968 written when exiting that mailbox (You can toggle whether to
5969 write changes to a mailbox with the <toggle-write> operation,
5970 bound by default to “%”). The fourth is used to indicate that
5971 the current folder has been opened in attach- message mode (Cer‐
5972 tain operations like composing a new mail, replying, forwarding,
5973 etc. are not permitted in this mode).
5974 status_format
5978 Type: string (localized)
5979 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?%?B? Back:%B?%?l? %l?]---(%s/%?T?%T/?%S)-%>-(%P)---”
5980 Controls the format of the status line displayed in the “index”
5982 menu. This string is similar to $index_format, but has its own
5983 set of printf(3)-like sequences:
5984 %b number of mailboxes with new mail *
5985 %B number of backgrounded editing sessions *
5986 %d number of deleted messages *
5987 %f the full pathname of the current mailbox
5988 %F number of flagged messages *
5989 %h local hostname
5990 %l size (in bytes) of the current mailbox (see format‐
5991 strings-size) *
5992 %L size (in bytes) of the messages shown (i.e., which match
5993 the current limit) (see formatstrings-size) *
5994 %m the number of messages in the mailbox *
5995 %M the number of messages shown (i.e., which match the cur‐
5996 rent limit) *
5997 %n number of new messages in the mailbox *
5998 %o number of old unread messages *
5999 %p number of postponed messages *
6000 %P percentage of the way through the index
6001 %r modified/read-only/won't-write/attach-message indicator,
6002 according to $status_chars
6003 %R number of read messages *
6004 %s current sorting mode ($sort)
6005 %S current aux sorting method ($sort_aux)
6006 %t number of tagged messages *
6007 %T current thread group sorting method ($sort_thread_groups)
6008 *
6009 %u number of unread messages *
6010 %v Mutt version string
6011 %V currently active limit pattern, if any *
6012 %>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
6013 %|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
6014 %*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
6015 For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
6017 mentation.
6018 * = can be optionally printed if nonzero
6020 Some of the above sequences can be used to optionally print a
6022 string if their value is nonzero. For example, you may only
6023 want to see the number of flagged messages if such messages ex‐
6024 ist, since zero is not particularly meaningful. To optionally
6025 print a string based upon one of the above sequences, the fol‐
6026 lowing construct is used:
6027 %?<sequence_char>?<optional_string>?
6029 where sequence_char is a character from the table above, and op‐
6031 tional_string is the string you would like printed if se‐
6032 quence_char is nonzero. optional_string may contain other se‐
6033 quences as well as normal text, but you may not nest optional
6034 strings.
6035 Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the num‐
6037 ber of new messages in a mailbox:
6038 %?n?%n new messages.?
6040 You can also switch between two strings using the following con‐
6042 struct:
6043 %?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>?
6045 If the value of sequence_char is non-zero, if_string will be ex‐
6047 panded, otherwise else_string will be expanded.
6048 You can force the result of any printf(3)-like sequence to be
6050 lowercase by prefixing the sequence character with an underscore
6051 (“_”) sign. For example, if you want to display the local host‐
6052 name in lowercase, you would use: “%_h”.
6053 If you prefix the sequence character with a colon (“:”) charac‐
6055 ter, mutt will replace any dots in the expansion by underscores.
6056 This might be helpful with IMAP folders that don't like dots in
6057 folder names.
6058 status_on_top
6062 Type: boolean
6063 Default: no
6064 Setting this variable causes the “status bar” to be displayed on
6066 the first line of the screen rather than near the bottom. If
6067 $help is set, too it'll be placed at the bottom.
6068 strict_threads
6072 Type: boolean
6073 Default: no
6074 If set, threading will only make use of the “In-Reply-To” and
6076 “References:” fields when you $sort by message threads. By de‐
6077 fault, messages with the same subject are grouped together in
6078 “pseudo threads.”. This may not always be desirable, such as in
6079 a personal mailbox where you might have several unrelated mes‐
6080 sages with the subjects like “hi” which will get grouped to‐
6081 gether. See also $sort_re for a less drastic way of controlling
6082 this behavior.
6083 suspend
6087 Type: boolean
6088 Default: yes
6089 When unset, mutt won't stop when the user presses the terminal's
6091 susp key, usually “^Z”. This is useful if you run mutt inside an
6092 xterm using a command like “xterm -e mutt”.
6093 text_flowed
6097 Type: boolean
6098 Default: no
6099 When set, mutt will generate “format=flowed” bodies with a con‐
6101 tent type of “text/plain; format=flowed”. This format is easier
6102 to handle for some mailing software, and generally just looks
6103 like ordinary text. To actually make use of this format's fea‐
6104 tures, you'll need support in your editor.
6105 The option only controls newly composed messages. Postponed
6107 messages, resent messages, and draft messages (via -H on the
6108 command line) will use the content-type of the source message.
6109 Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.
6111 thorough_search
6115 Type: boolean
6116 Default: yes
6117 Affects the ~b, ~B, and ~h search operations described in sec‐
6119 tion “patterns”. If set, the headers and body/attachments of
6120 messages to be searched are decoded before searching. If unset,
6121 messages are searched as they appear in the folder.
6122 Users searching attachments or for non-ASCII characters should
6124 set this value because decoding also includes MIME parsing/de‐
6125 coding and possible character set conversions. Otherwise mutt
6126 will attempt to match against the raw message received (for ex‐
6127 ample quoted-printable encoded or with encoded headers) which
6128 may lead to incorrect search results.
6129 thread_received
6133 Type: boolean
6134 Default: no
6135 When set, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent
6137 to thread messages by subject.
6138 tilde
6142 Type: boolean
6143 Default: no
6144 When set, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the bottom
6146 of the screen with a tilde (“~”).
6147 time_inc
6151 Type: number
6152 Default: 0
6153 Along with $read_inc, $write_inc, and $net_inc, this variable
6155 controls the frequency with which progress updates are dis‐
6156 played. It suppresses updates less than $time_inc milliseconds
6157 apart. This can improve throughput on systems with slow termi‐
6158 nals, or when running mutt on a remote system.
6159 Also see the “tuning” section of the manual for performance con‐
6161 siderations.
6162 timeout
6166 Type: number
6167 Default: 600
6168 When Mutt is waiting for user input either idling in menus or in
6170 an interactive prompt, Mutt would block until input is present.
6171 Depending on the context, this would prevent certain operations
6172 from working, like checking for new mail or keeping an IMAP con‐
6173 nection alive.
6174 This variable controls how many seconds Mutt will at most wait
6176 until it aborts waiting for input, performs these operations and
6177 continues to wait for input.
6178 A value of zero or less will cause Mutt to never time out.
6180 tmpdir
6184 Type: path
6185 Default: “”
6186 This variable allows you to specify where Mutt will place its
6188 temporary files needed for displaying and composing messages.
6189 If this variable is not set, the environment variable $TMPDIR is
6190 used. If $TMPDIR is not set then “/tmp” is used.
6191 to_chars
6195 Type: string
6196 Default: “ +TCFL”
6197 Controls the character used to indicate mail addressed to you.
6199 The first character is the one used when the mail is not ad‐
6200 dressed to your address. The second is used when you are the
6201 only recipient of the message. The third is when your address
6202 appears in the “To:” header field, but you are not the only re‐
6203 cipient of the message. The fourth character is used when your
6204 address is specified in the “Cc:” header field, but you are not
6205 the only recipient. The fifth character is used to indicate
6206 mail that was sent by you. The sixth character is used to indi‐
6207 cate when a mail was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to.
6208 trash
6212 Type: path
6213 Default: “”
6214 If set, this variable specifies the path of the trash folder
6216 where the mails marked for deletion will be moved, instead of
6217 being irremediably purged.
6218 NOTE: When you delete a message in the trash folder, it is re‐
6220 ally deleted, so that you have a way to clean the trash.
6221 ts_icon_format
6225 Type: string (localized)
6226 Default: “M%?n?AIL&ail?”
6227 Controls the format of the icon title, as long as “$ts_enabled”
6229 is set. This string is identical in formatting to the one used
6230 by “$status_format”.
6231 ts_enabled
6235 Type: boolean
6236 Default: no
6237 Controls whether mutt tries to set the terminal status line and
6239 icon name. Most terminal emulators emulate the status line in
6240 the window title.
6241 ts_status_format
6245 Type: string (localized)
6246 Default: “Mutt with %?m?%m messages&no messages?%?n? [%n NEW]?”
6247 Controls the format of the terminal status line (or window ti‐
6249 tle), provided that “$ts_enabled” has been set. This string is
6250 identical in formatting to the one used by “$status_format”.
6251 tunnel
6255 Type: string
6256 Default: “”
6257 Setting this variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to a com‐
6259 mand instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set
6260 up preauthenticated connections to your IMAP/POP3/SMTP server.
6261 Example:
6262 set tunnel=”ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd”
6265 Note: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the
6268 remote machine without having to enter a password.
6269 When set, Mutt uses the tunnel for all remote connections.
6271 Please see “account-hook” in the manual for how to use different
6272 tunnel commands per connection.
6273 tunnel_is_secure
6277 Type: boolean
6278 Default: yes
6279 When set, Mutt will assume the $tunnel connection does not need
6281 STARTTLS to be enabled. It will also allow IMAP PREAUTH server
6282 responses inside a tunnel to proceed. This is appropriate if
6283 $tunnel uses ssh or directly invokes the server locally.
6284 When unset, Mutt will negotiate STARTTLS according to the
6286 ssl_starttls and ssl_force_tls variables. If ssl_force_tls is
6287 set, Mutt will abort connecting if an IMAP server responds with
6288 PREAUTH. This setting is appropriate if $tunnel does not pro‐
6289 vide security and could be tampered with by attackers.
6290 uncollapse_jump
6294 Type: boolean
6295 Default: no
6296 When set, Mutt will jump to the next unread message, if any,
6298 when the current thread is uncollapsed.
6299 uncollapse_new
6303 Type: boolean
6304 Default: yes
6305 When set, Mutt will automatically uncollapse any collapsed
6307 thread that receives a new message. When unset, collapsed
6308 threads will remain collapsed. the presence of the new message
6309 will still affect index sorting, though.
6310 use_8bitmime
6314 Type: boolean
6315 Default: no
6316 Warning: do not set this variable unless you are using a version
6318 of sendmail which supports the -B8BITMIME flag (such as sendmail
6319 8.8.x) or you may not be able to send mail.
6320 When set, Mutt will invoke $sendmail with the -B8BITMIME flag
6322 when sending 8-bit messages to enable ESMTP negotiation.
6323 use_domain
6327 Type: boolean
6328 Default: yes
6329 When set, Mutt will qualify all local addresses (ones without
6331 the “@host” portion) with the value of $hostname. If unset, no
6332 addresses will be qualified.
6333 use_envelope_from
6337 Type: boolean
6338 Default: no
6339 When set, mutt will set the envelope sender of the message. If
6341 $envelope_from_address is set, it will be used as the sender ad‐
6342 dress. If unset, mutt will attempt to derive the sender from the
6343 “From:” header.
6344 Note that this information is passed to sendmail command using
6346 the -f command line switch. Therefore setting this option is not
6347 useful if the $sendmail variable already contains -f or if the
6348 executable pointed to by $sendmail doesn't support the -f
6349 switch.
6350 use_from
6354 Type: boolean
6355 Default: yes
6356 When set, Mutt will generate the “From:” header field when send‐
6358 ing messages. If unset, no “From:” header field will be gener‐
6359 ated unless the user explicitly sets one using the “my_hdr” com‐
6360 mand.
6361 use_ipv6
6365 Type: boolean
6366 Default: yes
6367 When set, Mutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to
6369 contact. If this option is unset, Mutt will restrict itself to
6370 IPv4 addresses. Normally, the default should work.
6371 user_agent
6375 Type: boolean
6376 Default: no
6377 When set, mutt will add a “User-Agent:” header to outgoing mes‐
6379 sages, indicating which version of mutt was used for composing
6380 them.
6381 visual
6385 Type: path
6386 Default: “”
6387 Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the “~v” command is
6389 given in the built-in editor.
6390 wait_key
6394 Type: boolean
6395 Default: yes
6396 Controls whether Mutt will ask you to press a key after an ex‐
6398 ternal command has been invoked by these functions: <shell-es‐
6399 cape>, <pipe-message>, <pipe-entry>, <print-message>, and
6400 <print-entry> commands.
6401 It is also used when viewing attachments with “auto_view”, pro‐
6403 vided that the corresponding mailcap entry has a needsterminal
6404 flag, and the external program is interactive.
6405 When set, Mutt will always ask for a key. When unset, Mutt will
6407 wait for a key only if the external command returned a non-zero
6408 status.
6409 weed
6413 Type: boolean
6414 Default: yes
6415 When set, mutt will weed headers when displaying, forwarding, or
6417 replying to messages.
6418 Also see $copy_decode_weed, $pipe_decode_weed, $print_de‐
6420 code_weed.
6421 wrap
6425 Type: number
6426 Default: 0
6427 When set to a positive value, mutt will wrap text at $wrap char‐
6429 acters. When set to a negative value, mutt will wrap text so
6430 that there are $wrap characters of empty space on the right side
6431 of the terminal. Setting it to zero makes mutt wrap at the ter‐
6432 minal width.
6433 Also see $reflow_wrap.
6435 wrap_headers
6439 Type: number
6440 Default: 78
6441 This option specifies the number of characters to use for wrap‐
6443 ping an outgoing message's headers. Allowed values are between
6444 78 and 998 inclusive.
6445 Note: This option usually shouldn't be changed. RFC5233 recom‐
6447 mends a line length of 78 (the default), so please only change
6448 this setting when you know what you're doing.
6449 wrap_search
6453 Type: boolean
6454 Default: yes
6455 Controls whether searches wrap around the end.
6457 When set, searches will wrap around the first (or last) item.
6459 When unset, incremental searches will not wrap.
6460 wrapmargin
6464 Type: number
6465 Default: 0
6466 (DEPRECATED) Equivalent to setting $wrap with a negative value.
6468 write_bcc
6472 Type: boolean
6473 Default: no
6474 Controls whether mutt writes out the “Bcc:” header when prepar‐
6476 ing messages to be sent. Some MTAs, such as Exim and Courier,
6477 do not strip the “Bcc:” header; so it is advisable to leave this
6478 unset unless you have a particular need for the header to be in
6479 the sent message.
6480 If mutt is set to deliver directly via SMTP (see $smtp_url),
6482 this option does nothing: mutt will never write out the “Bcc:”
6483 header in this case.
6484 Note this option only affects the sending of messages. Fcc'ed
6486 copies of a message will always contain the “Bcc:” header if one
6487 exists.
6488 write_inc
6492 Type: number
6493 Default: 10
6494 When writing a mailbox, a message will be printed every
6496 $write_inc messages to indicate progress. If set to 0, only a
6497 single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.
6498 Also see the $read_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and the
6500 “tuning” section of the manual for performance considerations.
6501
6505 iconv(1), iconv(3), mailcap(5), maildir(5), mbox(5), mutt(1),
6506 printf(3), regex(7), strftime(3)
6507 The Mutt Manual
6509 The Mutt home page: http://www.mutt.org/
6511
6513 Michael Elkins, and others. Use <mutt-dev@mutt.org> to contact the de‐
6514 velopers.
6515Unix January 2019 muttrc(5)