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

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

DESCRIPTION

9       A  mutt  configuration  file  consists of a series of “commands”.  Each
10       line of the file may contain one or more commands.  When multiple  com‐
11       mands are used, they must be separated by a semicolon (“;”).
12
13       The  hash  mark, or pound sign (“#”), is used as a “comment” character.
14       You can use it to annotate your initialization file. All text after the
15       comment character to the end of the line is ignored.
16
17       Single  quotes  (“'”)  and  double  quotes  (“"”)  can be used to quote
18       strings which contain spaces or other special characters.  The  differ‐
19       ence between the two types of quotes is similar to that of many popular
20       shell programs, namely that a single quote is used to specify a literal
21       string (one that is not interpreted for shell variables or quoting with
22       a backslash [see next  paragraph]),  while  double  quotes  indicate  a
23       string which should be evaluated.  For example, backticks are evaluated
24       inside of double quotes, but not single quotes.
25
26       \ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as  bash  and  zsh.
27       For  example,  if  want to put quotes (“"”) inside of a string, you can
28       use “\” to force the next character to be a literal instead  of  inter‐
29       preted character.
30
31\\”  means  to insert a literal “\” into the line.  “\n” and “\r” have
32       their usual C meanings of linefeed and carriage-return, respectively.
33
34       A “\” at the end of a line can be used to split commands over  multiple
35       lines,  provided  that  the  split points don't appear in the middle of
36       command names.
37
38       It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix  command  in  an
39       initialization  file.  This is accomplished by enclosing the command in
40       backticks (`command`).
41
42       UNIX environment variables can be accessed like the way it is  done  in
43       shells  like  sh and bash: Prepend the name of the variable by a dollar
44       (“$”) sign.
45

COMMANDS

47       alias [-group name [...]] key address [, address [ ... ]]
48       unalias [ *  | key ]
49
50              alias defines an alias key for the given addresses. Each address
51              will be resolved into either an email address (user@example.com)
52              or a named email address  (User  Name  <user@example.com>).  The
53              address  may  be  specified  in  either format, or in the format
54              “user@example.com (User Name)”.  unalias removes the alias  cor‐
55              responding  to  the given key or all aliases when “*” is used as
56              an argument. The optional -group argument to  alias  causes  the
57              aliased address(es) to be added to the named group.
58
59       group [-group name] [-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]
60       ungroup [-group name ] [ * | [[-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]]
61
62              group  is  used  to  directly  add  either  addresses or regular
63              expressions to the specified group or groups. The different cat‐
64              egories  of  arguments to the group command can be in any order.
65              The flags -rx and -addr specify what the following strings (that
66              cannot  begin  with a hyphen) should be interpreted as: either a
67              regular expression or an email address,  respectively.   ungroup
68              is  used  to  remove  addresses  or regular expressions from the
69              specified group or groups. The syntax is similar  to  the  group
70              command,  however the special character * can be used to empty a
71              group of all of its contents.
72
73              These address groups can  also  be  created  implicitly  by  the
74              alias,  lists,  subscribe  and alternates commands by specifying
75              the optional -group option.
76
77              Once defined, these address groups can be used  in  patterns  to
78              search for and limit the display to messages matching a group.
79
80       alternates [-group name] regexp [ regexp [ ... ]]
81       unalternates [ *  | regexp [ regexp [ ... ]] ]
82
83              alternates  is  used  to  inform  mutt about alternate addresses
84              where you receive mail; you can use regular expressions to spec‐
85              ify  alternate  addresses.   This affects mutt's idea about mes‐
86              sages from you, and messages  addressed  to  you.   unalternates
87              removes  a regular expression from the list of known alternates.
88              The -group flag causes all of the subsequent regular expressions
89              to be added to the named group.
90
91       alternative_order type[/subtype] [ ... ]
92       unalternative_order [ *  | type/subtype] [...]
93
94              alternative_order  command  permits  you  to  define an order of
95              preference which is used by mutt to determine which  part  of  a
96              multipart/alternative body to display.  A subtype of “*” matches
97              any subtype, as does  an  empty  subtype.    unalternative_order
98              removes entries from the ordered list or deletes the entire list
99              when “*” is used as an argument.
100
101       auto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
102       unauto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
103
104              This commands permits you to specify that mutt should  automati‐
105              cally convert the given MIME types to text/plain when displaying
106              messages.  For this to work, there must be  a  mailcap(5)  entry
107              for the given MIME type with the copiousoutput flag set.  A sub‐
108              type of “*” matches any subtype, as does an empty subtype.
109
110       mime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
111       unmime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
112
113              This command permits you to define a list of "data" MIME content
114              types  for which mutt will try to determine the actual file type
115              from the file name, and not use a mailcap(5) entry given for the
116              original  MIME  type.   For  instance,  you may add the applica‐
117              tion/octet-stream MIME type to this list.
118
119       bind map1,map2,... key function
120              This command binds the given key for the given map  or  maps  to
121              the given function. Multiple maps may be specified by separating
122              them with commas (no whitespace is allowed).
123
124              Valid maps are: generic, alias, attach, browser, editor,  index,
125              compose, pager, pgp, postpone, mix.
126
127              For  more  information on keys and functions, please consult the
128              Mutt Manual. Note that the function  name  is  to  be  specified
129              without angle brackets.
130
131       account-hook [!]regexp command
132              This hook is executed whenever you access a remote mailbox. Use‐
133              ful to adjust configuration settings to different  IMAP  or  POP
134              servers.
135
136       charset-hook alias charset
137              This command defines an alias for a character set.  This is use‐
138              ful to properly display messages which are tagged with a charac‐
139              ter set name not known to mutt.
140
141       iconv-hook charset local-charset
142              This command defines a system-specific name for a character set.
143              This is useful when your system's iconv(3)  implementation  does
144              not  understand  MIME  character set names (such as iso-8859-1),
145              but instead insists on being  fed  with  implementation-specific
146              character  set  names  (such as 8859-1).  In this specific case,
147              you'd put this into your configuration file:
148
149              iconv-hook iso-8859-1 8859-1
150
151       message-hook [!]pattern command
152              Before mutt displays (or formats for replying or  forwarding)  a
153              message which matches the given pattern (or, when it is preceded
154              by an exclamation mark, does not match the pattern),  the  given
155              command  is  executed.   When multiple message-hooks match, they
156              are  executed  in  the order in which they occur in the configu‐
157              ration file.
158
159       folder-hook [!]regexp command
160              When  mutt enters a folder which matches regexp (or, when regexp
161              is preceded by an exclamation mark, does not match regexp),  the
162              given command is executed.
163
164              When  several  folder-hooks  match a given mail folder, they are
165              executed in the order given in the configuration file.
166
167       macro map key sequence [ description ]
168              This command binds the given sequence of keys to the  given  key
169              in  the given map or maps.  For valid maps, see bind. To specify
170              multiple maps, put only a comma between the maps.
171
172       color object foreground background [  regexp ]
173       color index foreground background [  pattern ]
174       uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ]
175
176              If your terminal supports color, these commands can be  used  to
177              assign  foreground/background  combinations  to certain objects.
178              Valid objects are: attachment, body, bold,  header,  hdrdefault,
179              index,  indicator,  markers,  message,  normal, quoted, quotedN,
180              search, signature, status, tilde, tree, underline.  The body and
181              header objects allow you to restrict the colorization to a regu‐
182              lar expression.  The index object permits you to select  colored
183              messages by pattern.
184
185              Valid  colors include: white, black, green, magenta, blue, cyan,
186              yellow, red, default, colorN.
187
188       mono object attribute [ regexp ]
189       mono index attribute [ pattern ]
190
191              For terminals which don't support color, you  can  still  assign
192              attributes  to  objects.   Valid attributes include: none, bold,
193              underline, reverse, and standout.
194
195       [un]ignore pattern [ pattern ... ]
196              The ignore command permits you to specify  header  fields  which
197              you  usually  don't  wish  to  see.   Any header field whose tag
198              begins with an “ignored” pattern will be ignored.
199
200              The unignore command permits you to define exceptions  from  the
201              above mentioned list of ignored headers.
202
203       lists [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
204       unlists regexp [ regexp ... ]
205       subscribe [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
206       unsubscribe regexp [ regexp ... ]
207
208              Mutt  maintains  two  lists  of mailing list address patterns, a
209              list of subscribed mailing lists, and a list  of  known  mailing
210              lists.   All  subscribed  mailing lists are known.  Patterns use
211              regular expressions.
212
213              The lists command adds a mailing list address  to  the  list  of
214              known mailing lists.  The unlists command removes a mailing list
215              from the lists of known and subscribed mailing lists.  The  sub‐
216              scribe  command  adds  a  mailing list to the lists of known and
217              subscribed mailing lists.  The unsubscribe  command  removes  it
218              from  the list of subscribed mailing lists. The -group flag adds
219              all of the subsequent regular expressions to the named group.
220
221       mbox-hook [!]pattern mailbox
222              When mutt changes to a mail folder which matches pattern,  mail‐
223              box  will be used as the “mbox” folder, i.e., read messages will
224              be moved to that folder when the mail folder is left.
225
226              The first matching mbox-hook applies.
227
228       mailboxes filename [ filename ... ]
229       unmailboxes [ * | filename ... ]
230
231              The mailboxes specifies folders which can receive mail and which
232              will be checked for new messages.  When changing folders, press‐
233              ing space will cycle through folders with new mail.  The unmail‐
234              boxes  command  is  used  to remove a file name from the list of
235              folders which can receive mail.  If "*" is specified as the file
236              name, the list is emptied.
237
238       my_hdr string
239       unmy_hdr field
240
241              Using  my_hdr, you can define headers which will be added to the
242              messages you compose.  unmy_hdr  will  remove  the  given  user-
243              defined headers.
244
245       hdr_order header1 header2 [ ... ]
246              With  this  command, you can specify an order in which mutt will
247              attempt to present headers to you when viewing messages.
248
249       save-hook [!]pattern filename
250              When a message matches pattern, the default file name when  sav‐
251              ing it will be the given filename.
252
253       fcc-hook [!]pattern filename
254              When  an outgoing message matches pattern, the default file name
255              for storing a copy (fcc) will be the given filename.
256
257       fcc-save-hook [!]pattern filename
258              This command is an abbreviation for identical fcc-hook and save-
259              hook commands.
260
261       send-hook [!]pattern command
262              When  composing a message matching pattern, command is executed.
263              When multiple send-hooks match, they are executed in  the  order
264              in which they occur in the configuration file.
265
266       send2-hook [!]pattern command
267              Whenever  a message matching pattern is changed (either by edit‐
268              ing it or by using the compose menu), command is executed.  When
269              multiple  send2-hooks  match,  they are executed in the order in
270              which they occur in the configuration file.   Possible  applica‐
271              tions  include  setting  the $sendmail variable when a message's
272              from header is changed.
273
274              send2-hook execution is not triggered by  use  of  enter-command
275              from the compose menu.
276
277       reply-hook [!]pattern command
278              When  replying  to  a  message matching pattern, command is exe‐
279              cuted.  When multiple reply-hooks match, they  are  executed  in
280              the order in which they occur in the configuration file, but all
281              reply-hooks are matched and executed before send-hooks,  regard‐
282              less of their order in the configuration file.
283
284       crypt-hook pattern key-id
285              The  crypt-hook command provides a method by which you can spec‐
286              ify the ID of the public key to be used when encrypting messages
287              to  a certain recipient.  The meaning of "key ID" is to be taken
288              broadly: This can be a different e-mail address, a numerical key
289              ID, or even just an arbitrary search string.
290
291       push string
292              This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer.
293
294       set [no|inv|&|?]variable[=value] [ ... ]
295       toggle variable [ ... ]
296       unset variable [ ... ]
297       reset variable [ ... ]
298
299              These  commands  are  used  to  set and manipulate configuration
300              variables.
301
302              Mutt knows four  basic  types  of  variables:  boolean,  number,
303              string  and  quadoption.   Boolean  variables can be set (true),
304              unset (false), or toggled. Number variables can  be  assigned  a
305              positive integer value.
306
307              String  variables consist of any number of printable characters.
308              Strings must be enclosed in quotes if  they  contain  spaces  or
309              tabs.   You  may also use the “C” escape sequences \n and \t for
310              newline and tab, respectively.
311
312              Quadoption variables are used to control whether or  not  to  be
313              prompted for certain actions, or to specify a default action.  A
314              value of yes will cause the action to be carried  out  automati‐
315              cally  as if you had answered yes to the question.  Similarly, a
316              value of no will cause the the action to be carried  out  as  if
317              you  had  answered  “no.” A value of ask-yes will cause a prompt
318              with a default answer of “yes” and ask-no will provide a default
319              answer of “no.”
320
321              The reset command resets all given variables to the compile time
322              defaults.  If you reset the special variable all, all  variables
323              will reset to their compile time defaults.
324
325       source filename
326              The given file will be evaluated as a configuration file.
327
328       spam pattern format
329              nospam pattern
330              These commands define spam-detection patterns from external spam
331              filters, so that mutt can sort,  limit,  and  search  on  ``spam
332              tags'' or ``spam attributes'', or display them in the index. See
333              the Mutt manual for details.
334
335       unhook [ *  | hook-type ]
336              This command will remove all hooks of a given type, or all hooks
337              when  “*”  is  used as an argument.  hook-type can be any of the
338              -hook commands documented above.
339

PATTERNS

341       In various places with mutt, including some of the above mentioned hook
342       commands, you can specify patterns to match messages.
343
344   Constructing Patterns
345       A simple pattern consists of an operator of the form “~character”, pos‐
346       sibly followed by a parameter against which mutt is supposed  to  match
347       the  object specified by this operator.  For some characters, the ~ may
348       be replaced by another character to alter the behavior  of  the  match.
349       These are described in the list of operators, below.
350
351       With some of these operators, the object to be matched consists of sev‐
352       eral e-mail addresses.  In these cases, the object  is  matched  if  at
353       least  one  of  these  e-mail  addresses matches. You can prepend a hat
354       (“^”) character to such a pattern to indicate that all  addresses  must
355       match in order to match the object.
356
357       You  can  construct  complex patterns by combining simple patterns with
358       logical operators.  Logical AND is specified  by  simply  concatenating
359       two  simple patterns, for instance “~C mutt-dev ~s bug”.  Logical OR is
360       specified by inserting a vertical bar (“|”) between two  patterns,  for
361       instance  “~C  mutt-dev | ~s bug”.  Additionally, you can negate a pat‐
362       tern by prepending a bang (“!”) character.  For logical  grouping,  use
363       braces (“()”). Example: “!(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins”.
364
365   Simple Patterns
366       Mutt understands the following simple patterns:
367
368       ~A          all messages
369       ~b EXPR     messages which contain EXPR in the message body.
370       =b STRING   messages  which contain STRING in the message body. If IMAP
371                   is enabled, searches for STRING on the server, rather  than
372                   downloading each message and searching it locally.
373       ~B EXPR     messages which contain EXPR in the whole message.
374       ~c EXPR     messages carbon-copied to EXPR
375       %c GROUP    messages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP
376       ~C EXPR     messages either to: or cc: EXPR
377       %C GROUP    messages either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP
378       ~d MIN-MAX  messages with “date-sent” in a Date range
379       ~D          deleted messages
380       ~e EXPR     messages which contain EXPR in the “Sender” field
381       %e GROUP    messages  which  contain  a member of GROUP in the “Sender”
382                   field
383       ~E          expired messages
384       ~f EXPR     messages originating from EXPR
385       %f GROUP    messages originating from any member of GROUP
386       ~F          flagged messages
387       ~g          PGP signed messages
388       ~G          PGP encrypted messages
389       ~h EXPR     messages which contain EXPR in the message header
390       ~H EXPR     messages with spam tags matching EXPR
391       ~i EXPR     messages which match EXPR in the “Message-ID” field
392       ~k          messages containing PGP key material
393       ~l          messages addressed to a  known  mailing  list  (defined  by
394                   either subscribe or list)
395       ~L EXPR     messages either originated or received by EXPR
396       %L GROUP    messages  either  originated  or  received by any member of
397                   GROUP
398       ~m MIN-MAX  message in the range MIN to MAX
399       ~n MIN-MAX  messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX
400       ~N          new messages
401       ~O          old messages
402       ~p          messages addressed to you (as defined by alternates)
403       ~P          messages from you (as defined by alternates)
404       ~Q          messages which have been replied to
405       ~r MIN-MAX  messages with “date-received” in a Date range
406       ~R          read messages
407       ~s EXPR     messages having EXPR in the “Subject” field.
408       ~S          superseded messages
409       ~t EXPR     messages addressed to EXPR
410       ~T          tagged messages
411       ~u          messages addressed to a subscribed mailing list (defined by
412                   subscribe commands)
413       ~U          unread messages
414       ~v          message is part of a collapsed thread.
415       ~V          cryptographically verified messages
416       ~x EXPR     messages  which  contain  EXPR  in the “References” or “In-
417                   Reply-To” field
418       ~X MIN-MAX  messages with MIN - MAX attachments
419       ~y EXPR     messages which contain EXPR in the “X-Label” field
420       ~z MIN-MAX  messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX
421       ~=          duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
422       ~$          unreferenced message (requires threaded view)
423       ~(PATTERN)  messages in threads containing messages matching a  certain
424                   pattern,  e.g.  all  threads  containing messages from you:
425                   ~(~P)
426
427       In the above, EXPR is a regular expression.
428
429       With the ~d, ~m, ~n, ~r, ~X, and ~z operators,  you  can  also  specify
430       ranges in the forms <MAX, >MIN, MIN-, and -MAX.
431
432       With  the  ~z operator, the suffixes “K” and “M” are allowed to specify
433       kilobyte and megabyte respectively.
434
435   Matching dates
436       The ~d and ~r operators are used to match date ranges, which are inter‐
437       preted to be given in your local time zone.
438
439       A  date  is  of  the  form DD[/MM[/[cc]YY]], that is, a two-digit date,
440       optionally followed by a two-digit month, optionally followed by a year
441       specifications.  Omitted fields default to the current month and year.
442
443       Mutt  understands  either  two or four digit year specifications.  When
444       given a two-digit year, mutt will interpret  values  less  than  70  as
445       lying in the 21st century (i.e., “38” means 2038 and not 1938, and “00”
446       is interpreted as 2000), and values greater than  or  equal  to  70  as
447       lying in the 20th century.
448
449       Note  that  this  behavior  is Y2K compliant, but that mutt does have a
450       Y2.07K problem.
451
452       If a date range consists of a single date,  the  operator  in  question
453       will  match  that  precise  date.  If the date range consists of a dash
454       (“-”), followed by a date, this range will match any date before and up
455       to  the  date  given.  Similarly, a date followed by a dash matches the
456       date given and any later point of time.   Two  dates,  separated  by  a
457       dash, match any date which lies in the given range of time.
458
459       You  can  also  modify  any absolute date by giving an error range.  An
460       error range consists of one of the characters +, -, *,  followed  by  a
461       positive  number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d,
462       specifying a unit of years, months, weeks, or days.   +  increases  the
463       maximum  date  matched  by  the given interval of time, - decreases the
464       minimum date matched by the given interval of time, and * increases the
465       maximum date and decreases the minimum date matched by the given inter‐
466       val of time.  It is possible to  give  multiple  error  margins,  which
467       cumulate.  Example: 1/1/2001-1w+2w*3d
468
469       You  can  also specify offsets relative to the current date.  An offset
470       is specified as one of the characters <, >, =, followed by  a  positive
471       number,  followed  by  one  of  the  unit  characters y, m, w, or d.  >
472       matches dates which are older than the specified  amount  of  time,  an
473       offset  which  begins with the character < matches dates which are more
474       recent than the specified amount of time, and an  offset  which  begins
475       with  the  character  =  matches points of time which are precisely the
476       given amount of time ago.
477

CONFIGURATION VARIABLES

479       abort_nosubject
480              Type: quadoption
481              Default: ask-yes
482
483              If set to yes, when composing messages and no subject  is  given
484              at  the  subject prompt, composition will be aborted.  If set to
485              no, composing messages with no  subject  given  at  the  subject
486              prompt will never be aborted.
487
488
489
490       abort_unmodified
491              Type: quadoption
492              Default: yes
493
494              If  set to yes, composition will automatically abort after edit‐
495              ing the message body if no changes are made to  the  file  (this
496              check  only happens after the first edit of the file).  When set
497              to no, composition will never be aborted.
498
499
500
501       alias_file
502              Type: path
503              Default: “~/.muttrc”
504
505              The default file in which to save aliases created by  the  <cre‐
506              ate-alias>  function.  Entries added to this file are encoded in
507              the character set specified by $config_charset if it is  set  or
508              the current character set otherwise.
509
510              Note:  Mutt  will  not  automatically source this file; you must
511              explicitly use the “source” command for it  to  be  executed  in
512              case this option points to a dedicated alias file.
513
514              The  default  for this option is the currently used muttrc file,
515              or “~/.muttrc” if no user muttrc was found.
516
517
518
519       alias_format
520              Type: string
521              Default: “%4n %2f %t %-10a   %r”
522
523              Specifies the format of the data displayed for the “alias” menu.
524              The following printf(3)-style sequences are available:
525              %a     alias name
526              %f     flags - currently, a “d” for an alias marked for deletion
527              %n     index number
528              %r     address which alias expands to
529              %t     character  which  indicates  if  the  alias is tagged for
530                     inclusion
531
532
533       allow_8bit
534              Type: boolean
535              Default: yes
536
537              Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit  using  either
538              Quoted- Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.
539
540
541
542       allow_ansi
543              Type: boolean
544              Default: no
545
546              Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in
547              rich text messages) are to be interpreted.  Messages  containing
548              these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will
549              be colored accordingly. Note that this may override  your  color
550              choices,  and  even  present a security problem, since a message
551              could include a line like
552
553
554              [-- PGP output follows ...
555
556
557
558              and give it the same color as your attachment  color  (see  also
559              $crypt_timestamp).
560
561
562
563       arrow_cursor
564              Type: boolean
565              Default: no
566
567              When  set,  an arrow (“->”) will be used to indicate the current
568              entry in menus instead of highlighting the whole line.  On  slow
569              network  or  modem  links this will make response faster because
570              there is less that has to be redrawn on the screen  when  moving
571              to the next or previous entries in the menu.
572
573
574
575       ascii_chars
576              Type: boolean
577              Default: no
578
579              If  set,  Mutt  will  use plain ASCII characters when displaying
580              thread and attachment trees, instead of the default ACS  charac‐
581              ters.
582
583
584
585       askbcc
586              Type: boolean
587              Default: no
588
589              If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipi‐
590              ents before editing an outgoing message.
591
592
593
594       askcc
595              Type: boolean
596              Default: no
597
598              If set, Mutt will prompt you  for  carbon-copy  (Cc)  recipients
599              before editing the body of an outgoing message.
600
601
602
603       assumed_charset
604              Type: string
605              Default: “”
606
607              This  variable  is  a colon-separated list of character encoding
608              schemes for  messages  without  character  encoding  indication.
609              Header  field  values and message body content without character
610              encoding indication would be assumed that they  are  written  in
611              one of this list.  By default, all the header fields and message
612              body without  any  charset  indication  are  assumed  to  be  in
613              “us-ascii”.
614
615              For example, Japanese users might prefer this:
616
617
618              set assumed_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
619
620
621
622              However, only the first content is valid for the message body.
623
624
625
626       attach_charset
627              Type: string
628              Default: “”
629
630              This  variable  is  a colon-separated list of character encoding
631              schemes for text file attachments. Mutt  uses  this  setting  to
632              guess which encoding files being attached are encoded in to con‐
633              vert them to a proper character set given in $send_charset.
634
635              If unset, the value of $charset will be used instead.  For exam‐
636              ple,  the  following  configuration would work for Japanese text
637              handling:
638
639
640              set attach_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
641
642
643
644              Note: for Japanese users, “iso-2022-*” must be put at  the  head
645              of the value as shown above if included.
646
647
648
649       attach_format
650              Type: string
651              Default: “%u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s] ”
652
653              This  variable  describes  the  format of the “attachment” menu.
654              The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
655              %C     charset
656              %c     requires charset conversion (“n” or “c”)
657              %D     deleted flag
658              %d     description
659              %e     MIME content-transfer-encoding
660              %f     filename
661              %I     disposition (“I” for inline, “A” for attachment)
662              %m     major MIME type
663              %M     MIME subtype
664              %n     attachment number
665              %Q     “Q”, if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting
666              %s     size
667              %t     tagged flag
668              %T     graphic tree characters
669              %u     unlink (=to delete) flag
670              %X     number of qualifying MIME parts  in  this  part  and  its
671                     children (please see the “attachments” section for possi‐
672                     ble speed effects)
673              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
674                     ter “X”
675              %|X    pad to the end of the line with character “X”
676              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
677
678              For  an  explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
679              mentation.
680
681
682
683       attach_sep
684              Type: string
685              Default: “\n”
686
687              The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving,
688              printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.
689
690
691
692       attach_split
693              Type: boolean
694              Default: yes
695
696              If  this  variable  is  unset, when operating (saving, printing,
697              piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments, Mutt will concate‐
698              nate  the  attachments  and  will  operate  on  them as a single
699              attachment.  The  $attach_sep  separator  is  added  after  each
700              attachment.  When  set, Mutt will operate on the attachments one
701              by one.
702
703
704
705       attribution
706              Type: string
707              Default: “On %d, %n wrote:”
708
709              This is the string that will precede a message  which  has  been
710              included   in   a   reply.    For  a  full  listing  of  defined
711              printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.
712
713
714
715       auto_tag
716              Type: boolean
717              Default: no
718
719              When set, functions in the index menu  which  affect  a  message
720              will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any).  When
721              unset, you must first use the <tag-prefix>  function  (bound  to
722              “;”  by  default)  to make the next function apply to all tagged
723              messages.
724
725
726
727       autoedit
728              Type: boolean
729              Default: no
730
731              When set along with $edit_headers, Mutt will  skip  the  initial
732              send-menu  (prompting  for subject and recipients) and allow you
733              to immediately begin editing the  body  of  your  message.   The
734              send-menu  may  still be accessed once you have finished editing
735              the body of your message.
736
737              Note: when this option is set, you cannot  use  send-hooks  that
738              depend  on  the recipients when composing a new (non-reply) mes‐
739              sage, as the initial list of recipients is empty.
740
741              Also see $fast_reply.
742
743
744
745       beep
746              Type: boolean
747              Default: yes
748
749              When this variable is set, mutt will beep when an error occurs.
750
751
752
753       beep_new
754              Type: boolean
755              Default: no
756
757              When this variable is set, mutt will beep whenever it  prints  a
758              message  notifying  you of new mail.  This is independent of the
759              setting of the $beep variable.
760
761
762
763       bounce
764              Type: quadoption
765              Default: ask-yes
766
767              Controls whether you will be asked to confirm bouncing messages.
768              If  set  to yes you don't get asked if you want to bounce a mes‐
769              sage. Setting this variable to no is not generally  useful,  and
770              thus not recommended, because you are unable to bounce messages.
771
772
773
774       bounce_delivered
775              Type: boolean
776              Default: yes
777
778              When  this variable is set, mutt will include Delivered-To head‐
779              ers when bouncing messages.  Postfix users  may  wish  to  unset
780              this variable.
781
782
783
784       braille_friendly
785              Type: boolean
786              Default: no
787
788              When  this  variable  is  set, mutt will place the cursor at the
789              beginning  of  the  current  line  in  menus,  even   when   the
790              $arrow_cursor variable is unset, making it easier for blind per‐
791              sons using Braille displays to follow these menus.   The  option
792              is  unset  by default because many visual terminals don't permit
793              making the cursor invisible.
794
795
796
797       certificate_file
798              Type: path
799              Default: “~/.mutt_certificates”
800
801              This variable specifies the  file  where  the  certificates  you
802              trust are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you
803              are asked if you accept it or not. If you accept  it,  the  cer‐
804              tificate  can also be saved in this file and further connections
805              are automatically accepted.
806
807              You can also manually add CA  certificates  in  this  file.  Any
808              server  certificate that is signed with one of these CA certifi‐
809              cates is also automatically accepted.
810
811              Example:
812
813
814              set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
815
816
817
818
819
820       charset
821              Type: string
822              Default: “”
823
824              Character set your terminal uses to display  and  enter  textual
825              data.  It is also the fallback for $send_charset.
826
827              Upon  startup  Mutt  tries to derive this value from environment
828              variables such as $LC_CTYPE or $LANG.
829
830              Note: It should only be set in case Mutt isn't able to determine
831              the character set used correctly.
832
833
834
835       check_mbox_size
836              Type: boolean
837              Default: no
838
839              When  this  variable  is  set, mutt will use file size attribute
840              instead of access time when checking for new mail  in  mbox  and
841              mmdf folders.
842
843              This  variable  is  unset  by default and should only be enabled
844              when new mail detection for these folder types is unreliable  or
845              doesn't work.
846
847              Note that enabling this variable should happen before any “mail‐
848              boxes” directives occur in configuration files regarding mbox or
849              mmdf  folders  because  mutt  needs to determine the initial new
850              mail status of such a mailbox by performing a fast mailbox  scan
851              when  it  is defined.  Afterwards the new mail status is tracked
852              by file size changes.
853
854
855
856       check_new
857              Type: boolean
858              Default: yes
859
860              Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.
861
862              When set, Mutt will check for new mail delivered while the mail‐
863              box  is  open.  Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can
864              take quite some time since it involves  scanning  the  directory
865              and  checking each file to see if it has already been looked at.
866              If this variable is unset, no check for new  mail  is  performed
867              while the mailbox is open.
868
869
870
871       collapse_unread
872              Type: boolean
873              Default: yes
874
875              When  unset,  Mutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any
876              unread messages.
877
878
879
880       compose_format
881              Type: string
882              Default: “-- Mutt: Compose  [Approx. msg size: %l   Atts: %a]%>-”
883
884              Controls the format of the status line displayed  in  the  “com‐
885              pose”  menu.   This string is similar to $status_format, but has
886              its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
887              %a     total number of attachments
888              %h     local hostname
889              %l     approximate size (in bytes) of the current message
890              %v     Mutt version string
891
892              See the text  describing  the  $status_format  option  for  more
893              information on how to set $compose_format.
894
895
896
897       config_charset
898              Type: string
899              Default: “”
900
901              When  defined,  Mutt  will recode commands in rc files from this
902              encoding to the current character set as specified  by  $charset
903              and  aliases  written  to $alias_file from the current character
904              set.
905
906              Please note that if setting $charset it must be done before set‐
907              ting $config_charset.
908
909              Recoding  should be avoided as it may render unconvertable char‐
910              acters as question  marks  which  can  lead  to  undesired  side
911              effects (for example in regular expressions).
912
913
914
915       confirmappend
916              Type: boolean
917              Default: yes
918
919              When  set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when appending mes‐
920              sages to an existing mailbox.
921
922
923
924       confirmcreate
925              Type: boolean
926              Default: yes
927
928              When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages
929              to a mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.
930
931
932
933       connect_timeout
934              Type: number
935              Default: 30
936
937              Causes  Mutt  to  timeout a network connection (for IMAP, POP or
938              SMTP) after this many seconds if the connection is not  able  to
939              be  established.   A  negative value causes Mutt to wait indefi‐
940              nitely for the connection attempt to succeed.
941
942
943
944       content_type
945              Type: string
946              Default: “text/plain”
947
948              Sets the default Content-Type for the  body  of  newly  composed
949              messages.
950
951
952
953       copy
954              Type: quadoption
955              Default: yes
956
957              This  variable  controls  whether or not copies of your outgoing
958              messages will be saved for later references.  Also see  $record,
959              $save_name, $force_name and “fcc-hook”.
960
961
962
963       crypt_autoencrypt
964              Type: boolean
965              Default: no
966
967              Setting  this  variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to PGP
968              encrypt outgoing messages.  This is probably only useful in con‐
969              nection to the “send-hook” command.  It can be overridden by use
970              of the pgp menu, when encryption is not required or  signing  is
971              requested as well.  If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL is
972              used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be over‐
973              ridden by use of the smime menu instead.  (Crypto only)
974
975
976
977       crypt_autopgp
978              Type: boolean
979              Default: yes
980
981              This  variable  controls  whether  or not mutt may automatically
982              enable  PGP   encryption/signing   for   messages.    See   also
983              $crypt_autoencrypt,     $crypt_replyencrypt,    $crypt_autosign,
984              $crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.
985
986
987
988       crypt_autosign
989              Type: boolean
990              Default: no
991
992              Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cryp‐
993              tographically sign outgoing messages.  This can be overridden by
994              use of the pgp menu, when signing is not required or  encryption
995              is  requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL
996              is used instead to create S/MIME messages and  settings  can  be
997              overridden  by  use  of  the smime menu instead of the pgp menu.
998              (Crypto only)
999
1000
1001
1002       crypt_autosmime
1003              Type: boolean
1004              Default: yes
1005
1006              This variable controls whether or  not  mutt  may  automatically
1007              enable   S/MIME   encryption/signing   for  messages.  See  also
1008              $crypt_autoencrypt,    $crypt_replyencrypt,     $crypt_autosign,
1009              $crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.
1010
1011
1012
1013       crypt_replyencrypt
1014              Type: boolean
1015              Default: yes
1016
1017              If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL encrypt replies to messages
1018              which are encrypted.  (Crypto only)
1019
1020
1021
1022       crypt_replysign
1023              Type: boolean
1024              Default: no
1025
1026              If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign  replies  to  messages
1027              which are signed.
1028
1029              Note:  this  does  not  work  on messages that are encrypted and
1030              signed!  (Crypto only)
1031
1032
1033
1034       crypt_replysignencrypted
1035              Type: boolean
1036              Default: no
1037
1038              If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign  replies  to  messages
1039              which  are  encrypted.  This  makes  sense  in  combination with
1040              $crypt_replyencrypt, because it allows you to sign all  messages
1041              which  are automatically encrypted.  This works around the prob‐
1042              lem noted in $crypt_replysign, that mutt is not able to find out
1043              whether an encrypted message is also signed.  (Crypto only)
1044
1045
1046
1047       crypt_timestamp
1048              Type: boolean
1049              Default: yes
1050
1051              If  set, mutt will include a time stamp in the lines surrounding
1052              PGP or S/MIME output, so spoofing such lines is more  difficult.
1053              If  you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on these,
1054              you may unset this setting.  (Crypto only)
1055
1056
1057
1058       crypt_use_gpgme
1059              Type: boolean
1060              Default: no
1061
1062              This variable controls the use of the GPGME-enabled crypto back‐
1063              ends.   If  it is set and Mutt was built with gpgme support, the
1064              gpgme code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the  clas‐
1065              sic  code.  Note that you need to set this option in .muttrc; it
1066              won't have any effect when used interactively.
1067
1068
1069
1070       crypt_use_pka
1071              Type: boolean
1072              Default: no
1073
1074              Controls      whether       mutt       uses       PKA       (see
1075              http://www.g10code.de/docs/pka-intro.de.pdf)   during  signature
1076              verification (only supported by the GPGME backend).
1077
1078
1079
1080       crypt_verify_sig
1081              Type: quadoption
1082              Default: yes
1083
1084              If “yes”, always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures.  If
1085              “ask-*”,  ask  whether or not to verify the signature.  If “no”,
1086              never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures.  (Crypto only)
1087
1088
1089
1090       date_format
1091              Type: string
1092              Default: “!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z”
1093
1094              This variable controls the format of the  date  printed  by  the
1095              “%d”  sequence  in  $index_format.   This is passed to the strf‐
1096              time(3) function to process the date, see the man page  for  the
1097              proper syntax.
1098
1099              Unless  the  first  character in the string is a bang (“!”), the
1100              month and week day names are expanded according  to  the  locale
1101              specified in the variable $locale. If the first character in the
1102              string is a bang, the bang is discarded, and the month and  week
1103              day names in the rest of the string are expanded in the C locale
1104              (that is in US English).
1105
1106
1107
1108       default_hook
1109              Type: string
1110              Default: “~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)”
1111
1112              This variable controls how “message-hook”, “reply-hook”,  “send-
1113              hook”,  “send2-hook”, “save-hook”, and “fcc-hook” will be inter‐
1114              preted if they are specified with only a simple regexp,  instead
1115              of  a  matching  pattern.   The hooks are expanded when they are
1116              declared, so a hook will be interpreted according to  the  value
1117              of this variable at the time the hook is declared.
1118
1119              The  default  value matches if the message is either from a user
1120              matching the regular expression given, or if it is from you  (if
1121              the  from  address matches “alternates”) and is to or cc'ed to a
1122              user matching the given regular expression.
1123
1124
1125
1126       delete
1127              Type: quadoption
1128              Default: ask-yes
1129
1130              Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing
1131              or  synchronizing a mailbox.  If set to yes, messages marked for
1132              deleting will automatically be purged without prompting.  If set
1133              to no, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.
1134
1135
1136
1137       delete_untag
1138              Type: boolean
1139              Default: yes
1140
1141              If  this  option  is  set, mutt will untag messages when marking
1142              them for deletion.  This  applies  when  you  either  explicitly
1143              delete a message, or when you save it to another folder.
1144
1145
1146
1147       digest_collapse
1148              Type: boolean
1149              Default: yes
1150
1151              If this option is set, mutt's received-attachments menu will not
1152              show the subparts of individual messages in a  multipart/digest.
1153              To see these subparts, press “v” on that menu.
1154
1155
1156
1157       display_filter
1158              Type: path
1159              Default: “”
1160
1161              When  set,  specifies a command used to filter messages.  When a
1162              message is viewed it  is  passed  as  standard  input  to  $dis‐
1163              play_filter,  and the filtered message is read from the standard
1164              output.
1165
1166
1167
1168       dsn_notify
1169              Type: string
1170              Default: “”
1171
1172              This  variable  sets  the  request  for  when  notification   is
1173              returned.   The  string  consists  of a comma separated list (no
1174              spaces!) of one or  more  of  the  following:  never,  to  never
1175              request notification, failure, to request notification on trans‐
1176              mission failure, delay, to be notified of message  delays,  suc‐
1177              cess, to be notified of successful transmission.
1178
1179              Example:
1180
1181
1182              set dsn_notify=”failure,delay”
1183
1184
1185
1186              Note:  when  using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable
1187              this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or  a
1188              MTA  providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the
1189              -N  option  for  DSN.  For  SMTP  delivery,   DSN   support   is
1190              auto-detected  so that it depends on the server whether DSN will
1191              be used or not.
1192
1193
1194
1195       dsn_return
1196              Type: string
1197              Default: “”
1198
1199              This variable controls how much of your message is  returned  in
1200              DSN  messages.   It may be set to either hdrs to return just the
1201              message header, or full to return the full message.
1202
1203              Example:
1204
1205
1206              set dsn_return=hdrs
1207
1208
1209
1210              Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should  not  enable
1211              this  unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a
1212              MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting  the
1213              -R   option   for   DSN.  For  SMTP  delivery,  DSN  support  is
1214              auto-detected so that it depends on the server whether DSN  will
1215              be used or not.
1216
1217
1218
1219       duplicate_threads
1220              Type: boolean
1221              Default: yes
1222
1223              This  variable  controls  whether  mutt,  when  $sort  is set to
1224              threads, threads messages with the same Message-Id together.  If
1225              it  is  set, it will indicate that it thinks they are duplicates
1226              of each other with an equals sign in the thread tree.
1227
1228
1229
1230       edit_headers
1231              Type: boolean
1232              Default: no
1233
1234              This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing  mes‐
1235              sages along with the body of your message.
1236
1237              Note  that changes made to the References: and Date: headers are
1238              ignored for interoperability reasons.
1239
1240
1241
1242       editor
1243              Type: path
1244              Default: “”
1245
1246              This variable specifies  which  editor  is  used  by  mutt.   It
1247              defaults  to  the  value of the $VISUAL, or $EDITOR, environment
1248              variable, or to the string “vi” if neither of those are set.
1249
1250
1251
1252       encode_from
1253              Type: boolean
1254              Default: no
1255
1256              When set, mutt will quoted-printable encode messages  when  they
1257              contain  the  string  “From  ”  (note the trailing space) in the
1258              beginning of a line.  This is useful to avoid the tampering cer‐
1259              tain mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages
1260              (in order to prevent tools from misinterpreting the  line  as  a
1261              mbox message separator).
1262
1263
1264
1265       envelope_from_address
1266              Type: e-mail address
1267              Default: “”
1268
1269              Manually  sets  the envelope sender for outgoing messages.  This
1270              value is ignored if $use_envelope_from is unset.
1271
1272
1273
1274       escape
1275              Type: string
1276              Default: “~”
1277
1278              Escape character to use for functions in the built-in editor.
1279
1280
1281
1282       fast_reply
1283              Type: boolean
1284              Default: no
1285
1286              When set, the initial prompt  for  recipients  and  subject  are
1287              skipped  when  replying  to messages, and the initial prompt for
1288              subject is skipped when forwarding messages.
1289
1290              Note: this variable has no effect when the $autoedit variable is
1291              set.
1292
1293
1294
1295       fcc_attach
1296              Type: quadoption
1297              Default: yes
1298
1299              This  variable  controls  whether or not attachments on outgoing
1300              messages are saved along with the main body of your message.
1301
1302
1303
1304       fcc_clear
1305              Type: boolean
1306              Default: no
1307
1308              When this variable is set, FCCs will be stored  unencrypted  and
1309              unsigned,  even  when  the  actual  message  is encrypted and/or
1310              signed.  (PGP only)
1311
1312
1313
1314       folder
1315              Type: path
1316              Default: “~/Mail”
1317
1318              Specifies the default location of your mailboxes.  A “+” or  “=”
1319              at  the beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value of
1320              this variable.  Note that if you change this variable (from  the
1321              default)  value you need to make sure that the assignment occurs
1322              before you use “+” or “=” for any other variables  since  expan‐
1323              sion takes place when handling the “mailboxes” command.
1324
1325
1326
1327       folder_format
1328              Type: string
1329              Default: “%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f”
1330
1331              This  variable  allows you to customize the file browser display
1332              to your personal taste.  This string is similar  to  $index_for‐
1333              mat, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
1334              %C     current file number
1335              %d     date/time folder was last modified
1336              %D     date/time folder was last modified using $date_format.
1337              %f     filename (“/” is appended to directory names, “@” to sym‐
1338                     bolic links and “*” to executable files)
1339              %F     file permissions
1340              %g     group name (or numeric gid, if missing)
1341              %l     number of hard links
1342              %N     N if folder has new mail, blank otherwise
1343              %s     size in bytes
1344              %t     “*” if the file is tagged, blank otherwise
1345              %u     owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)
1346              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
1347                     ter “X”
1348              %|X    pad to the end of the line with character “X”
1349              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
1350
1351              For  an  explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
1352              mentation.
1353
1354
1355
1356       followup_to
1357              Type: boolean
1358              Default: yes
1359
1360              Controls whether or not the “Mail-Followup-To:” header field  is
1361              generated  when sending mail.  When set, Mutt will generate this
1362              field when you are replying to a known mailing  list,  specified
1363              with the “subscribe” or “lists” commands.
1364
1365              This field has two purposes.  First, preventing you from receiv‐
1366              ing duplicate copies of replies to messages which  you  send  to
1367              mailing lists, and second, ensuring that you do get a reply sep‐
1368              arately for any messages sent to known lists to  which  you  are
1369              not subscribed.
1370
1371              The  header  will contain only the list's address for subscribed
1372              lists, and both the list address and your own email address  for
1373              unsubscribed  lists.  Without this header, a group reply to your
1374              message sent to a subscribed list will be sent to both the  list
1375              and  your address, resulting in two copies of the same email for
1376              you.
1377
1378
1379
1380       force_name
1381              Type: boolean
1382              Default: no
1383
1384              This variable is similar to $save_name, except  that  Mutt  will
1385              store  a  copy  of  your outgoing message by the username of the
1386              address you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.
1387
1388              Also see the $record variable.
1389
1390
1391
1392       forward_decode
1393              Type: boolean
1394              Default: yes
1395
1396              Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages  into  text/plain
1397              when  forwarding  a message.  The message header is also RFC2047
1398              decoded.  This variable is only used, if $mime_forward is unset,
1399              otherwise $mime_forward_decode is used instead.
1400
1401
1402
1403       forward_decrypt
1404              Type: boolean
1405              Default: yes
1406
1407              Controls  the  handling  of encrypted messages when forwarding a
1408              message.  When set, the outer layer of  encryption  is  stripped
1409              off.   This  variable  is  only used if $mime_forward is set and
1410              $mime_forward_decode is unset.  (PGP only)
1411
1412
1413
1414       forward_edit
1415              Type: quadoption
1416              Default: yes
1417
1418              This quadoption controls whether or not the  user  is  automati‐
1419              cally  placed in the editor when forwarding messages.  For those
1420              who always want to forward with no modification, use  a  setting
1421              of “no”.
1422
1423
1424
1425       forward_format
1426              Type: string
1427              Default: “[%a: %s]”
1428
1429              This  variable  controls  the  default subject when forwarding a
1430              message.  It uses the same format sequences as the $index_format
1431              variable.
1432
1433
1434
1435       forward_quote
1436              Type: boolean
1437              Default: no
1438
1439              When  set,  forwarded  messages included in the main body of the
1440              message (when $mime_forward  is  unset)  will  be  quoted  using
1441              $indent_string.
1442
1443
1444
1445       from
1446              Type: e-mail address
1447              Default: “”
1448
1449              When set, this variable contains a default from address.  It can
1450              be overridden using “my_hdr” (including from a “send-hook”)  and
1451              $reverse_name.  This variable is ignored if $use_from is unset.
1452
1453              This  setting  defaults to the contents of the environment vari‐
1454              able $EMAIL.
1455
1456
1457
1458       gecos_mask
1459              Type: regular expression
1460              Default: “^[^,]*”
1461
1462              A regular expression used by mutt to parse the GECOS field of  a
1463              password entry when expanding the alias.  The default value will
1464              return the string up to the first “,” encountered.  If the GECOS
1465              field  contains  a  string  like  “lastname, firstname” then you
1466              should set it to “.*”.
1467
1468              This can be useful  if  you  see  the  following  behavior:  you
1469              address  an e-mail to user ID “stevef” whose full name is “Steve
1470              Franklin”.    If   mutt   expands   “stevef”   to    “”Franklin”
1471              stevef@foo.bar” then you should set the $gecos_mask to a regular
1472              expression that will match the whole name so  mutt  will  expand
1473              “Franklin” to “Franklin, Steve”.
1474
1475
1476
1477       hdrs
1478              Type: boolean
1479              Default: yes
1480
1481              When  unset,  the  header  fields normally added by the “my_hdr”
1482              command are not created.  This variable  must  be  unset  before
1483              composing a new message or replying in order to take effect.  If
1484              set, the user defined header fields are added to every new  mes‐
1485              sage.
1486
1487
1488
1489       header
1490              Type: boolean
1491              Default: no
1492
1493              When set, this variable causes Mutt to include the header of the
1494              message you are replying to into the  edit  buffer.   The  $weed
1495              setting applies.
1496
1497
1498
1499       header_cache
1500              Type: path
1501              Default: “”
1502
1503              This  variable points to the header cache database.  If pointing
1504              to a directory Mutt will contain a header  cache  database  file
1505              per  folder,  if  pointing  to a file that file will be a single
1506              global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching
1507              will be used.
1508
1509              Header  caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP
1510              MH or Maildir folders, see “caching” for details.
1511
1512
1513
1514       header_cache_compress
1515              Type: boolean
1516              Default: yes
1517
1518              When mutt is compiled with qdbm or tokyocabinet as header  cache
1519              backend,  this  option  determines  whether the database will be
1520              compressed.  Compression results in database files roughly being
1521              one  fifth  of  the  usual  diskspace, but the decompression can
1522              result in a slower opening of cached folder(s) which in  general
1523              is still much faster than opening non header cached folders.
1524
1525
1526
1527       help
1528              Type: boolean
1529              Default: yes
1530
1531              When set, help lines describing the bindings for the major func‐
1532              tions provided by each menu are displayed on the first  line  of
1533              the screen.
1534
1535              Note:  The  binding will not be displayed correctly if the func‐
1536              tion is bound to a sequence  rather  than  a  single  keystroke.
1537              Also,  the  help line may not be updated if a binding is changed
1538              while Mutt is running.  Since this variable is  primarily  aimed
1539              at new users, neither of these should present a major problem.
1540
1541
1542
1543       hidden_host
1544              Type: boolean
1545              Default: no
1546
1547              When  set,  mutt will skip the host name part of $hostname vari‐
1548              able when adding the domain part to  addresses.   This  variable
1549              does  not  affect the generation of Message-IDs, and it will not
1550              lead to the cut-off of first-level domains.
1551
1552
1553
1554       hide_limited
1555              Type: boolean
1556              Default: no
1557
1558              When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages  that  are
1559              hidden by limiting, in the thread tree.
1560
1561
1562
1563       hide_missing
1564              Type: boolean
1565              Default: yes
1566
1567              When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages in
1568              the thread tree.
1569
1570
1571
1572       hide_thread_subject
1573              Type: boolean
1574              Default: yes
1575
1576              When set, mutt will not show the  subject  of  messages  in  the
1577              thread  tree that have the same subject as their parent or clos‐
1578              est previously displayed sibling.
1579
1580
1581
1582       hide_top_limited
1583              Type: boolean
1584              Default: no
1585
1586              When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages  that  are
1587              hidden  by  limiting,  at the top of threads in the thread tree.
1588              Note that when $hide_limited is set, this option  will  have  no
1589              effect.
1590
1591
1592
1593       hide_top_missing
1594              Type: boolean
1595              Default: yes
1596
1597              When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages at
1598              the  top  of  threads  in  the  thread  tree.   Note  that  when
1599              $hide_missing is set, this option will have no effect.
1600
1601
1602
1603       history
1604              Type: number
1605              Default: 10
1606
1607              This  variable  controls  the  size (in number of strings remem‐
1608              bered) of the string history buffer per category. The buffer  is
1609              cleared each time the variable is set.
1610
1611
1612
1613       history_file
1614              Type: path
1615              Default: “~/.mutthistory”
1616
1617              The file in which Mutt will save its history.
1618
1619
1620
1621       honor_disposition
1622              Type: boolean
1623              Default: no
1624
1625              When  set,  Mutt will not display attachments with a disposition
1626              of “attachment” inline even if it could render the part to plain
1627              text.  These  MIME  parts can only be viewed from the attachment
1628              menu.
1629
1630              If unset, Mutt will render all MIME parts it can properly trans‐
1631              form to plain text.
1632
1633
1634
1635       honor_followup_to
1636              Type: quadoption
1637              Default: yes
1638
1639              This  variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header
1640              is honored when group-replying to a message.
1641
1642
1643
1644       hostname
1645              Type: string
1646              Default: “”
1647
1648              Specifies the fully-qualified hostname of  the  system  mutt  is
1649              running  on  containing  the  host's  name and the DNS domain it
1650              belongs to. It is used as the domain part (after “@”) for  local
1651              email addresses as well as Message-Id headers.
1652
1653              Its  value  is  determined  at startup as follows: If the node's
1654              name as returned by the uname(3) function contains the  hostname
1655              and  the domain, these are used to construct $hostname. If there
1656              is no domain part returned, Mutt will look  for  a  “domain”  or
1657              “search”  line  in  /etc/resolv.conf  to  determine  the domain.
1658              Optionally, Mutt can be compiled with a  fixed  domain  name  in
1659              which case a detected one is not used.
1660
1661              Also see $use_domain and $hidden_host.
1662
1663
1664
1665       ignore_linear_white_space
1666              Type: boolean
1667              Default: no
1668
1669              This option replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word and
1670              text to a single space to prevent the  display  of  MIME-encoded
1671              “Subject:” field from being divided into multiple lines.
1672
1673
1674
1675       ignore_list_reply_to
1676              Type: boolean
1677              Default: no
1678
1679              Affects  the  behavior  of the <reply> function when replying to
1680              messages from mailing lists (as defined by  the  “subscribe”  or
1681              “lists” commands).  When set, if the “Reply-To:” field is set to
1682              the same value  as  the  “To:”  field,  Mutt  assumes  that  the
1683              “Reply-To:”  field  was  set  by  the  mailing  list to automate
1684              responses to the list, and will ignore this field.  To direct  a
1685              response  to  the  mailing list when this option is set, use the
1686              <list-reply> function; <group-reply>  will  reply  to  both  the
1687              sender and the list.
1688
1689
1690
1691       imap_authenticators
1692              Type: string
1693              Default: “”
1694
1695              This  is  a  colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
1696              may attempt to use to log in to an IMAP  server,  in  the  order
1697              mutt should try them.  Authentication methods are either “login”
1698              or the right side of an IMAP “AUTH=xxx” capability string,  e.g.
1699              “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is case-insen‐
1700              sitive. If it's unset (the default) mutt will try all  available
1701              methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.
1702
1703              Example:
1704
1705
1706              set imap_authenticators=”gssapi:cram-md5:login”
1707
1708
1709
1710              Note:  Mutt  will only fall back to other authentication methods
1711              if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method  is  avail‐
1712              able but authentication fails, mutt will not connect to the IMAP
1713              server.
1714
1715
1716
1717       imap_check_subscribed
1718              Type: boolean
1719              Default: no
1720
1721              When set, mutt will fetch the set  of  subscribed  folders  from
1722              your  server on connection, and add them to the set of mailboxes
1723              it polls for new mail just  as  if  you  had  issued  individual
1724              “mailboxes” commands.
1725
1726
1727
1728       imap_delim_chars
1729              Type: string
1730              Default: “/.”
1731
1732              This  contains  the  list  of characters which you would like to
1733              treat as folder separators for displaying IMAP paths. In partic‐
1734              ular  it  helps  in using the “=” shortcut for your folder vari‐
1735              able.
1736
1737
1738
1739       imap_headers
1740              Type: string
1741              Default: “”
1742
1743              Mutt requests these header fields in  addition  to  the  default
1744              headers  (“Date:”,  “From:”,  “Subject:”,  “To:”,  “Cc:”,  “Mes‐
1745              sage-Id:”,  “References:”,  “Content-Type:”,   “Content-Descrip‐
1746              tion:”,  “In-Reply-To:”,  “Reply-To:”,  “Lines:”,  “List-Post:”,
1747              “X-Label:”) from IMAP servers before displaying the index  menu.
1748              You may want to add more headers for spam detection.
1749
1750              Note:  This is a space separated list, items should be uppercase
1751              and not contain the colon, e.g. “X-BOGOSITY  X-SPAM-STATUS”  for
1752              the “X-Bogosity:” and “X-Spam-Status:” header fields.
1753
1754
1755
1756       imap_idle
1757              Type: boolean
1758              Default: no
1759
1760              When  set,  mutt  will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension to
1761              check for new mail in the current mailbox. Some servers (dovecot
1762              was  the  inspiration  for  this  option)  react badly to mutt's
1763              implementation. If your connection seems to freeze  up  periodi‐
1764              cally, try unsetting this.
1765
1766
1767
1768       imap_keepalive
1769              Type: number
1770              Default: 900
1771
1772              This  variable  specifies  the maximum amount of time in seconds
1773              that mutt will wait before polling  open  IMAP  connections,  to
1774              prevent  the  server  from closing them before mutt has finished
1775              with them. The default is well within the RFC-specified  minimum
1776              amount  of  time  (30  minutes) before a server is allowed to do
1777              this, but in practice the RFC does get violated  every  now  and
1778              then.  Reduce  this  number if you find yourself getting discon‐
1779              nected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.
1780
1781
1782
1783       imap_list_subscribed
1784              Type: boolean
1785              Default: no
1786
1787              This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will  look
1788              for only subscribed folders or all folders.  This can be toggled
1789              in the IMAP browser with the <toggle-subscribed> function.
1790
1791
1792
1793       imap_login
1794              Type: string
1795              Default: “”
1796
1797              Your login name on the IMAP server.
1798
1799              This variable defaults to the value of $imap_user.
1800
1801
1802
1803       imap_pass
1804              Type: string
1805              Default: “”
1806
1807              Specifies the password for your IMAP account.   If  unset,  Mutt
1808              will   prompt   you  for  your  password  when  you  invoke  the
1809              <imap-fetch-mail> function or try to open an IMAP folder.
1810
1811              Warning: you should only use this  option  when  you  are  on  a
1812              fairly  secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
1813              trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
1814
1815
1816
1817       imap_passive
1818              Type: boolean
1819              Default: yes
1820
1821              When set, mutt will not open new IMAP connections to  check  for
1822              new  mail.  Mutt will only check for new mail over existing IMAP
1823              connections.  This is useful if you don't want to be prompted to
1824              user/password  pairs  on mutt invocation, or if opening the con‐
1825              nection is slow.
1826
1827
1828
1829       imap_peek
1830              Type: boolean
1831              Default: yes
1832
1833              When set, mutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail  as  read
1834              whenever  you fetch a message from the server. This is generally
1835              a good thing, but can  make  closing  an  IMAP  folder  somewhat
1836              slower. This option exists to appease speed freaks.
1837
1838
1839
1840       imap_pipeline_depth
1841              Type: number
1842              Default: 15
1843
1844              Controls  the  number  of  IMAP  commands  that may be queued up
1845              before they are sent to the server. A  deeper  pipeline  reduces
1846              the  amount  of time mutt must wait for the server, and can make
1847              IMAP servers feel much more responsive. But not all servers cor‐
1848              rectly  handle  pipelined  commands, so if you have problems you
1849              might want to try setting this variable to 0.
1850
1851              Note: Changes to this variable have no effect  on  open  connec‐
1852              tions.
1853
1854
1855
1856       imap_servernoise
1857              Type: boolean
1858              Default: yes
1859
1860              When  set,  mutt  will  display  warning  messages from the IMAP
1861              server as error messages. Since these messages are  often  harm‐
1862              less,  or  generated due to configuration problems on the server
1863              which are out of the users' hands, you may wish to suppress them
1864              at some point.
1865
1866
1867
1868       imap_user
1869              Type: string
1870              Default: “”
1871
1872              The name of the user whose mail you intend to access on the IMAP
1873              server.
1874
1875              This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
1876
1877
1878
1879       implicit_autoview
1880              Type: boolean
1881              Default: no
1882
1883              If set to “yes”, mutt will look for a  mailcap  entry  with  the
1884              “copiousoutput”  flag  set  for every MIME attachment it doesn't
1885              have an internal viewer defined for.  If such an entry is found,
1886              mutt  will  use  the viewer defined in that entry to convert the
1887              body part to text form.
1888
1889
1890
1891       include
1892              Type: quadoption
1893              Default: ask-yes
1894
1895              Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are  reply‐
1896              ing to is included in your reply.
1897
1898
1899
1900       include_onlyfirst
1901              Type: boolean
1902              Default: no
1903
1904              Controls  whether or not Mutt includes only the first attachment
1905              of the message you are replying.
1906
1907
1908
1909       indent_string
1910              Type: string
1911              Default: “> ”
1912
1913              Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a
1914              message  to which you are replying.  You are strongly encouraged
1915              not to change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanat‐
1916              ical netizens.
1917
1918              The  value of this option is ignored if $text_flowed is set, too
1919              because the quoting  mechanism  is  strictly  defined  for  for‐
1920              mat=flowed.
1921
1922              This  option  is  a format string, please see the description of
1923              $index_format for supported printf(3)-style sequences.
1924
1925
1926
1927       index_format
1928              Type: string
1929              Default: “%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&%4c?) %s”
1930
1931              This variable allows you to customize the message index  display
1932              to your personal taste.
1933
1934              “Format  strings” are similar to the strings used in the C func‐
1935              tion printf(3) to format output  (see  the  man  page  for  more
1936              details).  The following sequences are defined in Mutt:
1937              %a     address of the author
1938              %A     reply-to  address  (if  present;  otherwise:  address  of
1939                     author)
1940              %b     filename of the original message folder (think mailbox)
1941              %B     the list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder
1942                     name (%b).
1943              %c     number of characters (bytes) in the message
1944              %C     current message number
1945              %d     date  and  time of the message in the format specified by
1946                     $date_format converted to sender's time zone
1947              %D     date and time of the message in the format  specified  by
1948                     $date_format converted to the local time zone
1949              %e     current message number in thread
1950              %E     number of messages in current thread
1951              %f     sender   (address   +   real   name),   either  From:  or
1952                     Return-Path:
1953              %F     author name, or recipient name if the message is from you
1954              %H     spam attribute(s) of this message
1955              %i     message-id of the current message
1956              %l     number of lines  in  the  message  (does  not  work  with
1957                     maildir, mh, and possibly IMAP folders)
1958              %L     If  an address in the “To:” or “Cc:” header field matches
1959                     an address defined by the users “subscribe” command, this
1960                     displays ”To <list-name>”, otherwise the same as %F.
1961              %m     total number of message in the mailbox
1962              %M     number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.
1963              %N     message score
1964              %n     author's real name (or address if missing)
1965              %O     original  save  folder  where  mutt  would  formerly have
1966                     stashed the message: list name or recipient name  if  not
1967                     sent to a list
1968              %P     progress  indicator  for  the built-in pager (how much of
1969                     the file has been displayed)
1970              %s     subject of the message
1971              %S     status of the message (“N”/“D”/“d”/“!”/“r”/*)
1972              %t     “To:” field (recipients)
1973              %T     the appropriate character from the $to_chars string
1974              %u     user (login) name of the author
1975              %v     first name of the author, or the recipient if the message
1976                     is from you
1977              %X     number  of attachments (please see the “attachments” sec‐
1978                     tion for possible speed effects)
1979              %y     “X-Label:” field, if present
1980              %Y     “X-Label:” field, if present, and (1) not at  part  of  a
1981                     thread  tree,  (2)  at  the  top  of  a  thread,  or  (3)
1982                     “X-Label:”  is   different   from   preceding   message's
1983                     “X-Label:”.
1984              %Z     message status flags
1985              %{fmt} the date and time of the message is converted to sender's
1986                     time zone, and “fmt” is expanded by the library  function
1987                     strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
1988              %[fmt] the  date  and  time  of  the message is converted to the
1989                     local time zone, and “fmt” is  expanded  by  the  library
1990                     function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
1991              %(fmt) the  local  date  and time when the message was received.
1992                     “fmt” is expanded by the library function strftime(3);  a
1993                     leading bang disables locales
1994              %<fmt> the  current local time. “fmt” is expanded by the library
1995                     function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales.
1996              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac‐
1997                     ter “X”
1998              %|X    pad to the end of the line with character “X”
1999              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
2000
2001              “Soft-fill”  deserves  some explanation: Normal right-justifica‐
2002              tion will print everything to the left of the  “%>”,  displaying
2003              padding  and whatever lies to the right only if there's room. By
2004              contrast, soft-fill gives priority to the right-hand side, guar‐
2005              anteeing space to display it and showing padding only if there's
2006              still room. If necessary, soft-fill will eat text  leftwards  to
2007              make room for rightward text.
2008
2009              Note  that  these  expandos  are supported in “save-hook”, “fcc-
2010              hook” and “fcc-save-hook”, too.
2011
2012
2013
2014       ispell
2015              Type: path
2016              Default: “/usr/bin/hunspell”
2017
2018              How to invoke ispell (GNU's spell-checking software).
2019
2020
2021
2022       keep_flagged
2023              Type: boolean
2024              Default: no
2025
2026              If set, read messages marked as flagged will not be  moved  from
2027              your  spool  mailbox  to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a
2028              “mbox-hook” command.
2029
2030
2031
2032       locale
2033              Type: string
2034              Default: “C”
2035
2036              The locale used by strftime(3) to format dates. Legal values are
2037              the strings your system accepts for the locale environment vari‐
2038              able $LC_TIME.
2039
2040
2041
2042       mail_check
2043              Type: number
2044              Default: 5
2045
2046              This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
2047              for new mail. Also see the $timeout variable.
2048
2049
2050
2051       mail_check_recent
2052              Type: boolean
2053              Default: yes
2054
2055              When set, Mutt will only notify you about new mail that has been
2056              received since the last  time  you  opened  the  mailbox.   When
2057              unset,  Mutt will notify you if any new mail exists in the mail‐
2058              box, regardless of whether you have visited it recently.
2059
2060              When $mark_old is set, Mutt does not  consider  the  mailbox  to
2061              contain new mail if only old messages exist.
2062
2063
2064
2065       mailcap_path
2066              Type: string
2067              Default: “”
2068
2069              This  variable  specifies which files to consult when attempting
2070              to display MIME bodies not directly supported by Mutt.
2071
2072
2073
2074       mailcap_sanitize
2075              Type: boolean
2076              Default: yes
2077
2078              If set, mutt will restrict  possible  characters  in  mailcap  %
2079              expandos  to a well-defined set of safe characters.  This is the
2080              safe setting, but we are not sure it  doesn't  break  some  more
2081              advanced MIME stuff.
2082
2083              DON'T  CHANGE  THIS  SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE WHAT YOU
2084              ARE DOING!
2085
2086
2087
2088       maildir_header_cache_verify
2089              Type: boolean
2090              Default: yes
2091
2092              Check for Maildir unaware programs other than mutt having  modi‐
2093              fied maildir files when the header cache is in use.  This incurs
2094              one stat(2) per message every time the folder is  opened  (which
2095              can be very slow for NFS folders).
2096
2097
2098
2099       maildir_trash
2100              Type: boolean
2101              Default: no
2102
2103              If  set,  messages  marked  as  deleted  will  be saved with the
2104              maildir trashed flag  instead  of  unlinked.   Note:  this  only
2105              applies  to  maildir-style  mailboxes.   Setting it will have no
2106              effect on other mailbox types.
2107
2108
2109
2110       mark_old
2111              Type: boolean
2112              Default: yes
2113
2114              Controls whether or not mutt marks new unread messages as old if
2115              you  exit a mailbox without reading them.  With this option set,
2116              the next time you start mutt, the messages will show up with  an
2117              “O”  next  to  them  in the index menu, indicating that they are
2118              old.
2119
2120
2121
2122       markers
2123              Type: boolean
2124              Default: yes
2125
2126              Controls the display of wrapped lines in the internal pager.  If
2127              set,  a  “+”  marker  is  displayed  at the beginning of wrapped
2128              lines.
2129
2130              Also see the $smart_wrap variable.
2131
2132
2133
2134       mask
2135              Type: regular expression
2136              Default: “!^\.[^.]”
2137
2138              A regular expression used in the file browser,  optionally  pre‐
2139              ceded  by  the  not  operator “!”.  Only files whose names match
2140              this mask will be shown. The match is always case-sensitive.
2141
2142
2143
2144       mbox
2145              Type: path
2146              Default: “~/mbox”
2147
2148              This  specifies  the  folder  into  which  read  mail  in   your
2149              $spoolfile folder will be appended.
2150
2151              Also see the $move variable.
2152
2153
2154
2155       mbox_type
2156              Type: folder magic
2157              Default: mbox
2158
2159              The  default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be
2160              any of “mbox”, “MMDF”, “MH” and “Maildir”. This is overridden by
2161              the -m command-line option.
2162
2163
2164
2165       menu_context
2166              Type: number
2167              Default: 0
2168
2169              This  variable  controls the number of lines of context that are
2170              given when scrolling through menus. (Similar to $pager_context.)
2171
2172
2173
2174       menu_move_off
2175              Type: boolean
2176              Default: yes
2177
2178              When unset, the bottom entry of menus will never scroll up  past
2179              the  bottom  of  the  screen, unless there are less entries than
2180              lines.  When set, the bottom entry may move off the bottom.
2181
2182
2183
2184       menu_scroll
2185              Type: boolean
2186              Default: no
2187
2188              When set, menus will be scrolled up or down one  line  when  you
2189              attempt  to move across a screen boundary.  If unset, the screen
2190              is cleared and the next or previous page of  the  menu  is  dis‐
2191              played (useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
2192
2193
2194
2195       message_cache_clean
2196              Type: boolean
2197              Default: no
2198
2199              If  set,  mutt  will clean out obsolete entries from the message
2200              cache when the mailbox is synchronized. You probably  only  want
2201              to  set  it every once in a while, since it can be a little slow
2202              (especially for large folders).
2203
2204
2205
2206       message_cachedir
2207              Type: path
2208              Default: “”
2209
2210              Set this to a directory and mutt will cache copies  of  messages
2211              from  your  IMAP  and  POP  servers here. You are free to remove
2212              entries at any time.
2213
2214              When setting this variable to a directory, mutt needs  to  fetch
2215              every  remote  message only once and can perform regular expres‐
2216              sion searches as fast as for local folders.
2217
2218              Also see the $message_cache_clean variable.
2219
2220
2221
2222       message_format
2223              Type: string
2224              Default: “%s”
2225
2226              This is the  string  displayed  in  the  “attachment”  menu  for
2227              attachments  of  type  message/rfc822.   For  a  full listing of
2228              defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on  $index_for‐
2229              mat.
2230
2231
2232
2233       meta_key
2234              Type: boolean
2235              Default: no
2236
2237              If  set,  forces  Mutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit
2238              (bit 8) set as if the user had pressed the Esc key and  whatever
2239              key  remains after having the high bit removed.  For example, if
2240              the key pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf8, then this is treated
2241              as  if  the  user had pressed Esc then “x”.  This is because the
2242              result of removing the high bit from 0xf8 is 0x78, which is  the
2243              ASCII character “x”.
2244
2245
2246
2247       metoo
2248              Type: boolean
2249              Default: no
2250
2251              If  unset,  Mutt  will remove your address (see the “alternates”
2252              command) from the list of recipients when replying to a message.
2253
2254
2255
2256       mh_purge
2257              Type: boolean
2258              Default: no
2259
2260              When unset, mutt will mimic mh's  behavior  and  rename  deleted
2261              messages  to  ,<old  file  name> in mh folders instead of really
2262              deleting them. This leaves the message on disk  but  makes  pro‐
2263              grams  reading the folder ignore it. If the variable is set, the
2264              message files will simply be deleted.
2265
2266              This option is similar to $maildir_trash for Maildir folders.
2267
2268
2269
2270       mh_seq_flagged
2271              Type: string
2272              Default: “flagged”
2273
2274              The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.
2275
2276
2277
2278       mh_seq_replied
2279              Type: string
2280              Default: “replied”
2281
2282              The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.
2283
2284
2285
2286       mh_seq_unseen
2287              Type: string
2288              Default: “unseen”
2289
2290              The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.
2291
2292
2293
2294       mime_forward
2295              Type: quadoption
2296              Default: no
2297
2298              When set, the message you are forwarding will be attached  as  a
2299              separate  message/rfc822  MIME  part  instead of included in the
2300              main body of the message.  This is useful  for  forwarding  MIME
2301              messages so the receiver can properly view the message as it was
2302              delivered to you. If you like to switch  between  MIME  and  not
2303              MIME  from  mail  to  mail,  set  this  variable  to “ask-no” or
2304              “ask-yes”.
2305
2306              Also see $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode.
2307
2308
2309
2310       mime_forward_decode
2311              Type: boolean
2312              Default: no
2313
2314              Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages  into  text/plain
2315              when  forwarding a message while $mime_forward is set. Otherwise
2316              $forward_decode is used instead.
2317
2318
2319
2320       mime_forward_rest
2321              Type: quadoption
2322              Default: yes
2323
2324              When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from  the
2325              attachment  menu,  attachments which cannot be decoded in a rea‐
2326              sonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if
2327              this option is set.
2328
2329
2330
2331       move
2332              Type: quadoption
2333              Default: no
2334
2335              Controls  whether  or not Mutt will move read messages from your
2336              spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a  “mbox-
2337              hook” command.
2338
2339
2340
2341       narrow_tree
2342              Type: boolean
2343              Default: no
2344
2345              This  variable, when set, makes the thread tree narrower, allow‐
2346              ing deeper threads to fit on the screen.
2347
2348
2349
2350       net_inc
2351              Type: number
2352              Default: 10
2353
2354              Operations that expect to transfer a large amount of  data  over
2355              the network will update their progress every $net_inc kilobytes.
2356              If set to 0, no progress messages will be displayed.
2357
2358              See also $read_inc, $write_inc and $net_inc.
2359
2360
2361
2362       pager
2363              Type: path
2364              Default: “builtin”
2365
2366              This variable specifies which pager you would  like  to  use  to
2367              view  messages.  The  value  “builtin” means to use the built-in
2368              pager, otherwise this variable should specify  the  pathname  of
2369              the external pager you would like to use.
2370
2371              Using  an external pager may have some disadvantages: Additional
2372              keystrokes are necessary because you can't call  mutt  functions
2373              directly  from  the pager, and screen resizes cause lines longer
2374              than the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.
2375
2376
2377
2378       pager_context
2379              Type: number
2380              Default: 0
2381
2382              This variable controls the number of lines of context  that  are
2383              given  when displaying the next or previous page in the internal
2384              pager.  By default, Mutt will display the line  after  the  last
2385              one  on  the screen at the top of the next page (0 lines of con‐
2386              text).
2387
2388              This variable also specifies the amount  of  context  given  for
2389              search  results.  If  positive,  this  many  lines will be given
2390              before a match, if 0, the match will be top-aligned.
2391
2392
2393
2394       pager_format
2395              Type: string
2396              Default: “-%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n   %s%*  -- (%P)”
2397
2398              This variable controls the format of the one-line message  “sta‐
2399              tus”  displayed before each message in either the internal or an
2400              external  pager.   The  valid  sequences  are  listed   in   the
2401              $index_format section.
2402
2403
2404
2405       pager_index_lines
2406              Type: number
2407              Default: 0
2408
2409              Determines  the  number  of lines of a mini-index which is shown
2410              when in the pager.  The current message, unless near the top  or
2411              bottom  of the folder, will be roughly one third of the way down
2412              this mini-index, giving the reader the context of a few messages
2413              before  and  after the message.  This is useful, for example, to
2414              determine how many messages remain to be  read  in  the  current
2415              thread.   One  of  the lines is reserved for the status bar from
2416              the index, so a setting of 6 will  only  show  5  lines  of  the
2417              actual index.  A value of 0 results in no index being shown.  If
2418              the number of messages  in  the  current  folder  is  less  than
2419              $pager_index_lines,  then  the index will only use as many lines
2420              as it needs.
2421
2422
2423
2424       pager_stop
2425              Type: boolean
2426              Default: no
2427
2428              When set, the internal-pager will not move to the  next  message
2429              when  you are at the end of a message and invoke the <next-page>
2430              function.
2431
2432
2433
2434       pgp_auto_decode
2435              Type: boolean
2436              Default: no
2437
2438              If set, mutt will automatically attempt to  decrypt  traditional
2439              PGP messages whenever the user performs an operation which ordi‐
2440              narily would result in the contents of the message  being  oper‐
2441              ated  on.   For  example, if the user displays a pgp-traditional
2442              message which has not been manually checked with the <check-tra‐
2443              ditional-pgp>  function,  mutt will automatically check the mes‐
2444              sage for traditional pgp.
2445
2446
2447
2448       pgp_autoinline
2449              Type: boolean
2450              Default: no
2451
2452              This option controls whether  Mutt  generates  old-style  inline
2453              (traditional)  PGP  encrypted  or  signed messages under certain
2454              circumstances.  This can be overridden by use of the  pgp  menu,
2455              when inline is not required.
2456
2457              Note  that  Mutt  might  automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
2458              which consist of more than a single MIME part.  Mutt can be con‐
2459              figured  to  ask  before  sending  PGP/MIME messages when inline
2460              (traditional) would not work.
2461
2462              Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
2463
2464              Also note  that  using  the  old-style  PGP  message  format  is
2465              strongly deprecated.  (PGP only)
2466
2467
2468
2469       pgp_check_exit
2470              Type: boolean
2471              Default: yes
2472
2473              If set, mutt will check the exit code of the PGP subprocess when
2474              signing or encrypting.  A non-zero exit code means that the sub‐
2475              process failed.  (PGP only)
2476
2477
2478
2479       pgp_clearsign_command
2480              Type: string
2481              Default: “”
2482
2483              This  format  is  used  to create an old-style “clearsigned” PGP
2484              message.  Note that the use of this format  is  strongly  depre‐
2485              cated.
2486
2487              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2488              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2489
2490
2491
2492       pgp_decode_command
2493              Type: string
2494              Default: “”
2495
2496              This format strings specifies a command which is used to  decode
2497              application/pgp attachments.
2498
2499              The  PGP  command  formats  have their own set of printf(3)-like
2500              sequences:
2501              %p     Expands to PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is  needed,  to
2502                     an  empty string otherwise. Note: This may be used with a
2503                     %? construct.
2504              %f     Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
2505              %s     Expands to the name of a file  containing  the  signature
2506                     part
2507                                of  a multipart/signed attachment when verify‐
2508                     ing it.
2509              %a     The value of $pgp_sign_as.
2510              %r     One or more key IDs.
2511
2512              For examples on how to configure these formats for  the  various
2513              versions  of  PGP which are floating around, see the pgp and gpg
2514              sample configuration files in the  samples/  subdirectory  which
2515              has  been  installed on your system alongside the documentation.
2516              (PGP only)
2517
2518
2519
2520       pgp_decrypt_command
2521              Type: string
2522              Default: “”
2523
2524              This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message.
2525
2526              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2527              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2528
2529
2530
2531       pgp_encrypt_only_command
2532              Type: string
2533              Default: “”
2534
2535              This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
2536
2537              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2538              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2539
2540
2541
2542       pgp_encrypt_sign_command
2543              Type: string
2544              Default: “”
2545
2546              This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part.
2547
2548              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2549              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2550
2551
2552
2553       pgp_entry_format
2554              Type: string
2555              Default: “%4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u”
2556
2557              This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu
2558              to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_format,
2559              but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
2560              %n     number
2561              %k     key id
2562              %u     user id
2563              %a     algorithm
2564              %l     key length
2565              %f     flags
2566              %c     capabilities
2567              %t     trust/validity of the key-uid association
2568              %[<s>] date of the key where <s> is an strftime(3) expression
2569
2570              (PGP only)
2571
2572
2573
2574       pgp_export_command
2575              Type: string
2576              Default: “”
2577
2578              This  command is used to export a public key from the user's key
2579              ring.
2580
2581              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2582              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2583
2584
2585
2586       pgp_getkeys_command
2587              Type: string
2588              Default: “”
2589
2590              This  command  is  invoked  whenever  mutt  will need public key
2591              information.  Of the sequences supported by $pgp_decode_command,
2592              %r  is  the  only printf(3)-like sequence used with this format.
2593              (PGP only)
2594
2595
2596
2597       pgp_good_sign
2598              Type: regular expression
2599              Default: “”
2600
2601              If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP  signature  is
2602              only  considered verified if the output from $pgp_verify_command
2603              contains the text. Use this variable if the exit code  from  the
2604              command is 0 even for bad signatures.  (PGP only)
2605
2606
2607
2608       pgp_ignore_subkeys
2609              Type: boolean
2610              Default: yes
2611
2612              Setting this variable will cause Mutt to ignore OpenPGP subkeys.
2613              Instead, the principal key will inherit the  subkeys'  capabili‐
2614              ties.   Unset this if you want to play interesting key selection
2615              games.  (PGP only)
2616
2617
2618
2619       pgp_import_command
2620              Type: string
2621              Default: “”
2622
2623              This command is used to import a key from  a  message  into  the
2624              user's public key ring.
2625
2626              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2627              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2628
2629
2630
2631       pgp_list_pubring_command
2632              Type: string
2633              Default: “”
2634
2635              This command is used to list the  public  key  ring's  contents.
2636              The output format must be analogous to the one used by
2637
2638
2639              gpg --list-keys --with-colons.
2640
2641
2642
2643              This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes
2644              with mutt.
2645
2646              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2647              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2648
2649
2650
2651       pgp_list_secring_command
2652              Type: string
2653              Default: “”
2654
2655              This  command  is  used  to list the secret key ring's contents.
2656              The output format must be analogous to the one used by:
2657
2658
2659              gpg --list-keys --with-colons.
2660
2661
2662
2663              This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes
2664              with mutt.
2665
2666              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2667              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2668
2669
2670
2671       pgp_long_ids
2672              Type: boolean
2673              Default: no
2674
2675              If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs, if unset use the normal  32  bit
2676              key IDs.  (PGP only)
2677
2678
2679
2680       pgp_mime_auto
2681              Type: quadoption
2682              Default: ask-yes
2683
2684              This  option controls whether Mutt will prompt you for automati‐
2685              cally sending a (signed/encrypted) message using  PGP/MIME  when
2686              inline (traditional) fails (for any reason).
2687
2688              Also  note  that  using  the  old-style  PGP  message  format is
2689              strongly deprecated.  (PGP only)
2690
2691
2692
2693       pgp_replyinline
2694              Type: boolean
2695              Default: no
2696
2697              Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to  cre‐
2698              ate  an  inline (traditional) message when replying to a message
2699              which is PGP encrypted/signed inline.  This can be overridden by
2700              use  of  the pgp menu, when inline is not required.  This option
2701              does not automatically detect if  the  (replied-to)  message  is
2702              inline;  instead  it  relies  on  Mutt  internals for previously
2703              checked/flagged messages.
2704
2705              Note that Mutt might automatically  use  PGP/MIME  for  messages
2706              which consist of more than a single MIME part.  Mutt can be con‐
2707              figured to ask before  sending  PGP/MIME  messages  when  inline
2708              (traditional) would not work.
2709
2710              Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
2711
2712              Also  note  that  using  the  old-style  PGP  message  format is
2713              strongly deprecated.  (PGP only)
2714
2715
2716
2717       pgp_retainable_sigs
2718              Type: boolean
2719              Default: no
2720
2721              If set, signed and encrypted messages  will  consist  of  nested
2722              multipart/signed and multipart/encrypted body parts.
2723
2724              This  is useful for applications like encrypted and signed mail‐
2725              ing lists, where the outer layer  (multipart/encrypted)  can  be
2726              easily   removed,  while  the  inner  multipart/signed  part  is
2727              retained.  (PGP only)
2728
2729
2730
2731       pgp_show_unusable
2732              Type: boolean
2733              Default: yes
2734
2735              If set, mutt will display non-usable keys on the PGP key  selec‐
2736              tion  menu.   This  includes  keys which have been revoked, have
2737              expired, or have been marked as “disabled” by  the  user.   (PGP
2738              only)
2739
2740
2741
2742       pgp_sign_as
2743              Type: string
2744              Default: “”
2745
2746              If  you  have  more than one key pair, this option allows you to
2747              specify which of your private keys to use.   It  is  recommended
2748              that   you  use  the  keyid  form  to  specify  your  key  (e.g.
2749              0x00112233).  (PGP only)
2750
2751
2752
2753       pgp_sign_command
2754              Type: string
2755              Default: “”
2756
2757              This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for  a
2758              multipart/signed PGP/MIME body part.
2759
2760              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2761              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2762
2763
2764
2765       pgp_sort_keys
2766              Type: sort order
2767              Default: address
2768
2769              Specifies how the entries in the pgp menu are sorted.  The  fol‐
2770              lowing are legal values:
2771              address
2772                     sort alphabetically by user id
2773              keyid  sort alphabetically by key id
2774              date   sort by key creation date
2775              trust  sort by the trust of the key
2776
2777              If  you prefer reverse order of the above values, prefix it with
2778              “reverse-”.  (PGP only)
2779
2780
2781
2782       pgp_strict_enc
2783              Type: boolean
2784              Default: yes
2785
2786              If set, Mutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed  messages
2787              as  quoted-printable.   Please note that unsetting this variable
2788              may lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only
2789              change this if you know what you are doing.  (PGP only)
2790
2791
2792
2793       pgp_timeout
2794              Type: number
2795              Default: 300
2796
2797              The  number  of  seconds  after  which  a cached passphrase will
2798              expire if not used.  (PGP only)
2799
2800
2801
2802       pgp_use_gpg_agent
2803              Type: boolean
2804              Default: no
2805
2806              If set, mutt will use a possibly-running  gpg-agent(1)  process.
2807              (PGP only)
2808
2809
2810
2811       pgp_verify_command
2812              Type: string
2813              Default: “”
2814
2815              This command is used to verify PGP signatures.
2816
2817              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2818              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2819
2820
2821
2822       pgp_verify_key_command
2823              Type: string
2824              Default: “”
2825
2826              This command is used to verify  key  information  from  the  key
2827              selection menu.
2828
2829              This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
2830              possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (PGP only)
2831
2832
2833
2834       pipe_decode
2835              Type: boolean
2836              Default: no
2837
2838              Used in connection with the <pipe-message> command.  When unset,
2839              Mutt will pipe the messages without any preprocessing. When set,
2840              Mutt will weed headers and will attempt to decode  the  messages
2841              first.
2842
2843
2844
2845       pipe_sep
2846              Type: string
2847              Default: “\n”
2848
2849              The  separator  to  add  between  messages when piping a list of
2850              tagged messages to an external Unix command.
2851
2852
2853
2854       pipe_split
2855              Type: boolean
2856              Default: no
2857
2858              Used in connection with the  <pipe-message>  function  following
2859              <tag-prefix>.   If this variable is unset, when piping a list of
2860              tagged messages Mutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe
2861              them  all  concatenated.   When set, Mutt will pipe the messages
2862              one by one.  In both cases the messages are piped in the current
2863              sorted  order,  and  the $pipe_sep separator is added after each
2864              message.
2865
2866
2867
2868       pop_auth_try_all
2869              Type: boolean
2870              Default: yes
2871
2872              If set, Mutt will  try  all  available  authentication  methods.
2873              When  unset,  Mutt  will  only fall back to other authentication
2874              methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method  is
2875              available but authentication fails, Mutt will not connect to the
2876              POP server.
2877
2878
2879
2880       pop_authenticators
2881              Type: string
2882              Default: “”
2883
2884              This is a colon-delimited list of  authentication  methods  mutt
2885              may attempt to use to log in to an POP server, in the order mutt
2886              should try them.   Authentication  methods  are  either  “user”,
2887              “apop”  or  any  SASL  mechanism, e.g. “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or
2888              “cram-md5”.  This option is case-insensitive. If this option  is
2889              unset  (the  default)  mutt  will  try all available methods, in
2890              order from most-secure to least-secure.
2891
2892              Example:
2893
2894
2895              set pop_authenticators=”digest-md5:apop:user”
2896
2897
2898
2899
2900
2901       pop_checkinterval
2902              Type: number
2903              Default: 60
2904
2905              This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
2906              for  new  mail  in the currently selected mailbox if it is a POP
2907              mailbox.
2908
2909
2910
2911       pop_delete
2912              Type: quadoption
2913              Default: ask-no
2914
2915              If set, Mutt will delete successfully downloaded  messages  from
2916              the  POP  server  when  using  the  <fetch-mail> function.  When
2917              unset, Mutt will download messages but also leave  them  on  the
2918              POP server.
2919
2920
2921
2922       pop_host
2923              Type: string
2924              Default: “”
2925
2926              The  name of your POP server for the <fetch-mail> function.  You
2927              can also specify an alternative  port,  username  and  password,
2928              i.e.:
2929
2930
2931              [pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]
2932
2933
2934
2935              where “[...]” denotes an optional part.
2936
2937
2938
2939       pop_last
2940              Type: boolean
2941              Default: no
2942
2943              If  this  variable  is  set, mutt will try to use the “LAST” POP
2944              command for retrieving only unread messages from the POP  server
2945              when using the <fetch-mail> function.
2946
2947
2948
2949       pop_pass
2950              Type: string
2951              Default: “”
2952
2953              Specifies  the  password  for  your POP account.  If unset, Mutt
2954              will prompt you for your password when you open a POP mailbox.
2955
2956              Warning: you should only use this  option  when  you  are  on  a
2957              fairly  secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut‐
2958              trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
2959
2960
2961
2962       pop_reconnect
2963              Type: quadoption
2964              Default: ask-yes
2965
2966              Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect  to  the  POP
2967              server if the connection is lost.
2968
2969
2970
2971       pop_user
2972              Type: string
2973              Default: “”
2974
2975              Your login name on the POP server.
2976
2977              This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
2978
2979
2980
2981       post_indent_string
2982              Type: string
2983              Default: “”
2984
2985              Similar  to  the  $attribution  variable,  Mutt will append this
2986              string after the inclusion of a message which is  being  replied
2987              to.
2988
2989
2990
2991       postpone
2992              Type: quadoption
2993              Default: ask-yes
2994
2995              Controls  whether  or  not  messages are saved in the $postponed
2996              mailbox when you elect not to send immediately.
2997
2998              Also see the $recall variable.
2999
3000
3001
3002       postponed
3003              Type: path
3004              Default: “~/postponed”
3005
3006              Mutt allows you to indefinitely  “postpone  sending  a  message”
3007              which  you  are editing.  When you choose to postpone a message,
3008              Mutt saves it in the mailbox specified by this variable.
3009
3010              Also see the $postpone variable.
3011
3012
3013
3014       preconnect
3015              Type: string
3016              Default: “”
3017
3018              If set, a shell command to be executed if mutt fails  to  estab‐
3019              lish  a  connection to the server. This is useful for setting up
3020              secure connections, e.g. with ssh(1). If the command  returns  a
3021              nonzero status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:
3022
3023
3024              set preconnect=”ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net \
3025              sleep 20 < /dev/null > /dev/null”
3026
3027
3028
3029              Mailbox  “foo”  on “mailhost.net” can now be reached as “{local‐
3030              host:1234}foo”.
3031
3032              Note: For this example to work, you must be able to  log  in  to
3033              the remote machine without having to enter a password.
3034
3035
3036
3037       print
3038              Type: quadoption
3039              Default: ask-no
3040
3041              Controls  whether  or  not Mutt really prints messages.  This is
3042              set to “ask-no” by default, because some people accidentally hit
3043              “p” often.
3044
3045
3046
3047       print_command
3048              Type: path
3049              Default: “lpr”
3050
3051              This  specifies  the  command  pipe that should be used to print
3052              messages.
3053
3054
3055
3056       print_decode
3057              Type: boolean
3058              Default: yes
3059
3060              Used in connection with the <print-message>  command.   If  this
3061              option is set, the message is decoded before it is passed to the
3062              external command specified by $print_command.  If this option is
3063              unset,  no processing will be applied to the message when print‐
3064              ing it.  The latter setting may be useful if you are using  some
3065              advanced  printer filter which is able to properly format e-mail
3066              messages for printing.
3067
3068
3069
3070       print_split
3071              Type: boolean
3072              Default: no
3073
3074              Used in connection with the <print-message>  command.   If  this
3075              option  is  set, the command specified by $print_command is exe‐
3076              cuted once for each message which is to  be  printed.   If  this
3077              option is unset, the command specified by $print_command is exe‐
3078              cuted only once, and all the messages are concatenated,  with  a
3079              form feed as the message separator.
3080
3081              Those  who use the enscript(1) program's mail-printing mode will
3082              most likely want to set this option.
3083
3084
3085
3086       prompt_after
3087              Type: boolean
3088              Default: yes
3089
3090              If you use an external $pager, setting this variable will  cause
3091              Mutt  to  prompt  you  for a command when the pager exits rather
3092              than returning to the index menu.  If unset, Mutt will return to
3093              the index menu when the external pager exits.
3094
3095
3096
3097       query_command
3098              Type: path
3099              Default: “”
3100
3101              This  specifies  the  command  Mutt  will  use  to make external
3102              address queries.  The string may contain a “%s”, which  will  be
3103              substituted with the query string the user types.  Mutt will add
3104              quotes around the  string  substituted  for  “%s”  automatically
3105              according  to  shell  quoting  rules, so you should avoid adding
3106              your own.  If no “%s” is found in the string, Mutt  will  append
3107              the user's query to the end of the string.  See “query” for more
3108              information.
3109
3110
3111
3112       query_format
3113              Type: string
3114              Default: “%4c %t %-25.25a %-25.25n %?e?(%e)?”
3115
3116              This variable describes the format of the “query” menu. The fol‐
3117              lowing printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
3118              %a     destination address
3119              %c     current entry number
3120              %e     extra information *
3121              %n     destination name
3122              %t     “*” if current entry is tagged, a space otherwise
3123              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
3124              %|X    pad to the end of the line with “X”
3125              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
3126
3127              For  an  explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
3128              mentation.
3129
3130              * = can be optionally printed if nonzero, see the $status_format
3131              documentation.
3132
3133
3134
3135       quit
3136              Type: quadoption
3137              Default: yes
3138
3139              This  variable  controls whether “quit” and “exit” actually quit
3140              from mutt.  If this option is set, they do quit, if it is unset,
3141              they  have no effect, and if it is set to ask-yes or ask-no, you
3142              are prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.
3143
3144
3145
3146       quote_regexp
3147              Type: regular expression
3148              Default: “^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+”
3149
3150              A regular expression used in the  internal  pager  to  determine
3151              quoted  sections  of  text in the body of a message. Quoted text
3152              may be filtered out using the <toggle-quoted> command,  or  col‐
3153              ored according to the “color quoted” family of directives.
3154
3155              Higher  levels  of  quoting  may  be colored differently (“color
3156              quoted1”, “color quoted2”, etc.). The quoting  level  is  deter‐
3157              mined  by  removing the last character from the matched text and
3158              recursively reapplying the regular expression until it fails  to
3159              produce a match.
3160
3161              Match  detection  may  be  overridden  by  the  $smileys regular
3162              expression.
3163
3164
3165
3166       read_inc
3167              Type: number
3168              Default: 10
3169
3170              If set to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display  which  mes‐
3171              sage  it is currently on when reading a mailbox or when perform‐
3172              ing search actions such as search  and  limit.  The  message  is
3173              printed  after  this  many  messages  have been read or searched
3174              (e.g., if set to 25, Mutt will print a message  when  it  is  at
3175              message  25,  and  then again when it gets to message 50).  This
3176              variable is meant to indicate progress when reading or searching
3177              large mailboxes which may take some time.  When set to 0, only a
3178              single message will appear before the reading the mailbox.
3179
3180              Also see the $write_inc, $net_inc and  $time_inc  variables  and
3181              the  “tuning”  section  of the manual for performance considera‐
3182              tions.
3183
3184
3185
3186       read_only
3187              Type: boolean
3188              Default: no
3189
3190              If set, all folders are opened in read-only mode.
3191
3192
3193
3194       realname
3195              Type: string
3196              Default: “”
3197
3198              This variable specifies what “real” or “personal” name should be
3199              used when sending messages.
3200
3201              By default, this is the GECOS field from /etc/passwd.  Note that
3202              this variable will not be used when the user has set a real name
3203              in the $from variable.
3204
3205
3206
3207       recall
3208              Type: quadoption
3209              Default: ask-yes
3210
3211              Controls  whether  or  not  Mutt recalls postponed messages when
3212              composing a new message.
3213
3214              Setting this variable to is not generally useful, and  thus  not
3215              recommended.
3216
3217              Also see $postponed variable.
3218
3219
3220
3221       record
3222              Type: path
3223              Default: “~/sent”
3224
3225              This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should
3226              be appended.  (This is meant as the primary method for saving  a
3227              copy  of  your messages, but another way to do this is using the
3228              “my_hdr” command to  create  a  “Bcc:”  field  with  your  email
3229              address in it.)
3230
3231              The  value  of  $record  is  overridden  by  the $force_name and
3232              $save_name variables, and the “fcc-hook” command.
3233
3234
3235
3236       reply_regexp
3237              Type: regular expression
3238              Default: “^(re([\[0-9\]+])*|aw):[ \t]*”
3239
3240              A regular expression  used  to  recognize  reply  messages  when
3241              threading  and  replying.  The  default value corresponds to the
3242              English ”Re:” and the German ”Aw:”.
3243
3244
3245
3246       reply_self
3247              Type: boolean
3248              Default: no
3249
3250              If unset and you are replying to a message  sent  by  you,  Mutt
3251              will  assume  that  you  want to reply to the recipients of that
3252              message rather than to yourself.
3253
3254              Also see the “alternates” command.
3255
3256
3257
3258       reply_to
3259              Type: quadoption
3260              Default: ask-yes
3261
3262              If set, when replying to a message, Mutt will  use  the  address
3263              listed  in  the  Reply-to: header as the recipient of the reply.
3264              If unset, it will use the address  in  the  From:  header  field
3265              instead.   This option is useful for reading a mailing list that
3266              sets the Reply-To: header field to the list address and you want
3267              to send a private message to the author of a message.
3268
3269
3270
3271       resolve
3272              Type: boolean
3273              Default: yes
3274
3275              When  set, the cursor will be automatically advanced to the next
3276              (possibly undeleted) message whenever a  command  that  modifies
3277              the current message is executed.
3278
3279
3280
3281       reverse_alias
3282              Type: boolean
3283              Default: no
3284
3285              This  variable  controls  whether  or  not Mutt will display the
3286              “personal” name from your aliases in the index menu if it  finds
3287              an alias that matches the message's sender.  For example, if you
3288              have the following alias:
3289
3290
3291              alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
3292
3293
3294
3295              and then you receive mail which contains the following header:
3296
3297
3298              From: abd30425@somewhere.net
3299
3300
3301
3302              It would be displayed in the index menu as “Joe User” instead of
3303              “abd30425@somewhere.net.”   This  is  useful  when  the person's
3304              e-mail address is not human friendly.
3305
3306
3307
3308       reverse_name
3309              Type: boolean
3310              Default: no
3311
3312              It may sometimes arrive that  you  receive  mail  to  a  certain
3313              machine, move the messages to another machine, and reply to some
3314              the messages from there.  If this variable is set,  the  default
3315              From:  line  of  the  reply  messages is built using the address
3316              where you received the messages you  are  replying  to  if  that
3317              address matches your “alternates”.  If the variable is unset, or
3318              the address that would be used doesn't match your  “alternates”,
3319              the From: line will use your address on the current machine.
3320
3321              Also see the “alternates” command.
3322
3323
3324
3325       reverse_realname
3326              Type: boolean
3327              Default: yes
3328
3329              This  variable fine-tunes the behavior of the $reverse_name fea‐
3330              ture.  When it is set, mutt will use the address  from  incoming
3331              messages as-is, possibly including eventual real names.  When it
3332              is unset, mutt will override any such real names with  the  set‐
3333              ting of the $realname variable.
3334
3335
3336
3337       rfc2047_parameters
3338              Type: boolean
3339              Default: no
3340
3341              When this variable is set, Mutt will decode RFC2047-encoded MIME
3342              parameters. You want to set this variable when mutt suggests you
3343              to save attachments to files named like:
3344
3345
3346              =?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
3347
3348
3349
3350              When  this  variable  is  set interactively, the change won't be
3351              active until you change folders.
3352
3353              Note that this use of RFC2047's encoding is  explicitly  prohib‐
3354              ited by the standard, but nevertheless encountered in the wild.
3355
3356              Also  note  that setting this parameter will not have the effect
3357              that mutt generates this kind of encoding.  Instead,  mutt  will
3358              unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC2231.
3359
3360
3361
3362       save_address
3363              Type: boolean
3364              Default: no
3365
3366              If set, mutt will take the sender's full address when choosing a
3367              default folder for saving a mail. If $save_name  or  $force_name
3368              is  set  too, the selection of the Fcc folder will be changed as
3369              well.
3370
3371
3372
3373       save_empty
3374              Type: boolean
3375              Default: yes
3376
3377              When unset, mailboxes which contain no saved  messages  will  be
3378              removed  when closed (the exception is $spoolfile which is never
3379              removed).  If set, mailboxes are never removed.
3380
3381              Note: This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders, Mutt does  not
3382              delete MH and Maildir directories.
3383
3384
3385
3386       save_history
3387              Type: number
3388              Default: 0
3389
3390              This  variable  controls  the size of the history (per category)
3391              saved in the $history_file file.
3392
3393
3394
3395       save_name
3396              Type: boolean
3397              Default: no
3398
3399              This variable controls  how  copies  of  outgoing  messages  are
3400              saved.   When set, a check is made to see if a mailbox specified
3401              by the recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a
3402              mailbox  in  the $folder directory with the username part of the
3403              recipient address).  If the mailbox exists, the outgoing message
3404              will be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to
3405              the $record mailbox.
3406
3407              Also see the $force_name variable.
3408
3409
3410
3411       score
3412              Type: boolean
3413              Default: yes
3414
3415              When this variable is unset, scoring is turned off.  This can be
3416              useful  to  selectively disable scoring for certain folders when
3417              the $score_threshold_delete variable and related are used.
3418
3419
3420
3421       score_threshold_delete
3422              Type: number
3423              Default: -1
3424
3425              Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
3426              the value of this variable are automatically marked for deletion
3427              by mutt.  Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal  to
3428              zero,  the  default  setting  of this variable will never mark a
3429              message for deletion.
3430
3431
3432
3433       score_threshold_flag
3434              Type: number
3435              Default: 9999
3436
3437              Messages which have been assigned a score greater than or  equal
3438              to this variable's value are automatically marked ”flagged”.
3439
3440
3441
3442       score_threshold_read
3443              Type: number
3444              Default: -1
3445
3446              Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
3447              the value of this variable are automatically marked as  read  by
3448              mutt.   Since  mutt  scores  are always greater than or equal to
3449              zero, the default setting of this variable  will  never  mark  a
3450              message read.
3451
3452
3453
3454       search_context
3455              Type: number
3456              Default: 0
3457
3458              For the pager, this variable specifies the number of lines shown
3459              before search  results.  By  default,  search  results  will  be
3460              top-aligned.
3461
3462
3463
3464       send_charset
3465              Type: string
3466              Default: “us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8”
3467
3468              A  colon-delimited list of character sets for outgoing messages.
3469              Mutt will use the first character set into which the text can be
3470              converted  exactly.   If  your  $charset is not “iso-8859-1” and
3471              recipients may  not  understand  “UTF-8”,  it  is  advisable  to
3472              include  in the list an appropriate widely used standard charac‐
3473              ter set (such as “iso-8859-2”, “koi8-r” or “iso-2022-jp”) either
3474              instead of or after “iso-8859-1”.
3475
3476              In  case the text cannot be converted into one of these exactly,
3477              mutt uses $charset as a fallback.
3478
3479
3480
3481       sendmail
3482              Type: path
3483              Default: “/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi”
3484
3485              Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by
3486              Mutt.   Mutt expects that the specified program interprets addi‐
3487              tional arguments as recipient addresses.
3488
3489
3490
3491       sendmail_wait
3492              Type: number
3493              Default: 0
3494
3495              Specifies the number  of  seconds  to  wait  for  the  $sendmail
3496              process  to  finish before giving up and putting delivery in the
3497              background.
3498
3499              Mutt interprets the value of this variable as follows:
3500              >0     number of seconds to wait for sendmail to  finish  before
3501                     continuing
3502              0      wait forever for sendmail to finish
3503              <0     always put sendmail in the background without waiting
3504
3505              Note that if you specify a value other than 0, the output of the
3506              child process will be put in a temporary file.  If there is some
3507              error, you will be informed as to where to find the output.
3508
3509
3510
3511       shell
3512              Type: path
3513              Default: “”
3514
3515              Command to use when spawning a subshell.  By default, the user's
3516              login shell from /etc/passwd is used.
3517
3518
3519
3520       sig_dashes
3521              Type: boolean
3522              Default: yes
3523
3524              If set, a line containing “-- ” (note the trailing  space)  will
3525              be  inserted before your $signature.  It is strongly recommended
3526              that you not unset this variable unless your signature  contains
3527              just  your  name.   The reason for this is because many software
3528              packages use “-- \n” to detect  your  signature.   For  example,
3529              Mutt  has  the ability to highlight the signature in a different
3530              color in the built-in pager.
3531
3532
3533
3534       sig_on_top
3535              Type: boolean
3536              Default: no
3537
3538              If set, the signature will be included before any quoted or for‐
3539              warded  text.   It  is  strongly recommended that you do not set
3540              this variable unless you really know what you are doing, and are
3541              prepared to take some heat from netiquette guardians.
3542
3543
3544
3545       signature
3546              Type: path
3547              Default: “~/.signature”
3548
3549              Specifies  the  filename of your signature, which is appended to
3550              all outgoing messages.   If the filename ends with a pipe (“|”),
3551              it  is assumed that filename is a shell command and input should
3552              be read from its standard output.
3553
3554
3555
3556       simple_search
3557              Type: string
3558              Default: “~f %s | ~s %s”
3559
3560              Specifies how Mutt should expand a simple  search  into  a  real
3561              search  pattern.   A  simple search is one that does not contain
3562              any of the “~”  pattern  operators.   See  “patterns”  for  more
3563              information on search patterns.
3564
3565              For  example,  if  you  simply  type  “joe” at a search or limit
3566              prompt, Mutt will automatically expand it to the value specified
3567              by  this  variable  by  replacing “%s” with the supplied string.
3568              For the default value, “joe” would be expanded to: “~f joe |  ~s
3569              joe”.
3570
3571
3572
3573       sleep_time
3574              Type: number
3575              Default: 1
3576
3577              Specifies  time,  in  seconds, to pause while displaying certain
3578              informational messages, while moving from folder to  folder  and
3579              after  expunging  messages from the current folder.  The default
3580              is to pause one second, so a value of zero for this option  sup‐
3581              presses the pause.
3582
3583
3584
3585       smart_wrap
3586              Type: boolean
3587              Default: yes
3588
3589              Controls  the  display  of lines longer than the screen width in
3590              the internal pager. If set, long lines are  wrapped  at  a  word
3591              boundary.   If  unset,  lines  are  simply wrapped at the screen
3592              edge. Also see the $markers variable.
3593
3594
3595
3596       smileys
3597              Type: regular expression
3598              Default: “(>From )|(:[-^]?[][)(><}{|/DP])”
3599
3600              The pager uses this variable to catch some  common  false  posi‐
3601              tives  of $quote_regexp, most notably smileys and not consider a
3602              line quoted text if it also matches $smileys. This  mostly  hap‐
3603              pens at the beginning of a line.
3604
3605
3606
3607       smime_ask_cert_label
3608              Type: boolean
3609              Default: yes
3610
3611              This flag controls whether you want to be asked to enter a label
3612              for a certificate about to be added to the database or  not.  It
3613              is set by default.  (S/MIME only)
3614
3615
3616
3617       smime_ca_location
3618              Type: path
3619              Default: “”
3620
3621              This variable contains the name of either a directory, or a file
3622              which  contains  trusted  certificates  for  use  with  OpenSSL.
3623              (S/MIME only)
3624
3625
3626
3627       smime_certificates
3628              Type: path
3629              Default: “”
3630
3631              Since  for  S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt
3632              has to handle storage and retrieval of keys by itself.  This  is
3633              very  basic  right  now, and keys and certificates are stored in
3634              two  different  directories,  both  named  as   the   hash-value
3635              retrieved  from  OpenSSL.  There is an index file which contains
3636              mailbox-address keyid pairs, and which can be  manually  edited.
3637              This option points to the location of the certificates.  (S/MIME
3638              only)
3639
3640
3641
3642       smime_decrypt_command
3643              Type: string
3644              Default: “”
3645
3646              This format string specifies a command which is used to  decrypt
3647              application/x-pkcs7-mime attachments.
3648
3649              The OpenSSL command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like
3650              sequences similar to PGP's:
3651              %f     Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
3652              %s     Expands to the name of a file  containing  the  signature
3653                     part
3654                                of  a multipart/signed attachment when verify‐
3655                     ing it.
3656              %k     The key-pair specified with $smime_default_key
3657              %c     One or more certificate IDs.
3658              %a     The algorithm used for encryption.
3659              %C     CA location:  Depending on whether $smime_ca_location
3660                                points to a directory or file, this expands to
3661                                “-CApath   $smime_ca_location”   or   “-CAfile
3662                     $smime_ca_location”.
3663
3664              For examples on how to configure these formats, see the smime.rc
3665              in the samples/ subdirectory which has been  installed  on  your
3666              system alongside the documentation.  (S/MIME only)
3667
3668
3669
3670       smime_decrypt_use_default_key
3671              Type: boolean
3672              Default: yes
3673
3674              If  set  (default)  this  tells  mutt to use the default key for
3675              decryption.   Otherwise,   if   managing    multiple    certifi‐
3676              cate-key-pairs,  mutt  will  try  to  use the mailbox-address to
3677              determine the key to use. It will ask you to supply a key, if it
3678              can't find one.  (S/MIME only)
3679
3680
3681
3682       smime_default_key
3683              Type: string
3684              Default: “”
3685
3686              This  is  the  default key-pair to use for signing. This must be
3687              set to the keyid (the hash-value that OpenSSL generates) to work
3688              properly (S/MIME only)
3689
3690
3691
3692       smime_encrypt_command
3693              Type: string
3694              Default: “”
3695
3696              This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages.
3697
3698              This  is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
3699              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3700
3701
3702
3703       smime_encrypt_with
3704              Type: string
3705              Default: “”
3706
3707              This sets the algorithm that  should  be  used  for  encryption.
3708              Valid  choices are “des”, “des3”, “rc2-40”, “rc2-64”, “rc2-128”.
3709              If unset, “3des” (TripleDES) is used.  (S/MIME only)
3710
3711
3712
3713       smime_get_cert_command
3714              Type: string
3715              Default: “”
3716
3717              This command is used to extract X509 certificates from  a  PKCS7
3718              structure.
3719
3720              This  is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
3721              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3722
3723
3724
3725       smime_get_cert_email_command
3726              Type: string
3727              Default: “”
3728
3729              This command is used to extract the mail  address(es)  used  for
3730              storing  X509  certificates,  and  for verification purposes (to
3731              check whether the certificate was issued for the sender's  mail‐
3732              box).
3733
3734              This  is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
3735              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3736
3737
3738
3739       smime_get_signer_cert_command
3740              Type: string
3741              Default: “”
3742
3743              This command is used to extract only the signers  X509  certifi‐
3744              cate  from  a  S/MIME signature, so that the certificate's owner
3745              may get compared to the email's “From:” field.
3746
3747              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
3748              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3749
3750
3751
3752       smime_import_cert_command
3753              Type: string
3754              Default: “”
3755
3756              This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys.
3757
3758              This  is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
3759              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3760
3761
3762
3763       smime_is_default
3764              Type: boolean
3765              Default: no
3766
3767              The  default  behavior  of  mutt  is   to   use   PGP   on   all
3768              auto-sign/encryption  operations. To override and to use OpenSSL
3769              instead this must be set.  However, this  has  no  effect  while
3770              replying, since mutt will automatically select the same applica‐
3771              tion that was used to sign/encrypt the original message.   (Note
3772              that    this   variable   can   be   overridden   by   unsetting
3773              $crypt_autosmime.)  (S/MIME only)
3774
3775
3776
3777       smime_keys
3778              Type: path
3779              Default: “”
3780
3781              Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with  PGP,  mutt
3782              has  to  handle  storage  and retrieval of keys/certs by itself.
3783              This is very basic right now, and stores keys  and  certificates
3784              in  two  different  directories,  both  named  as the hash-value
3785              retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an index  file  which  contains
3786              mailbox-address  keyid  pair,  and which can be manually edited.
3787              This option points to the location of the private keys.  (S/MIME
3788              only)
3789
3790
3791
3792       smime_pk7out_command
3793              Type: string
3794              Default: “”
3795
3796              This  command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME sig‐
3797              natures, in order to extract the public X509 certificate(s).
3798
3799              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
3800              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3801
3802
3803
3804       smime_sign_command
3805              Type: string
3806              Default: “”
3807
3808              This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type multi‐
3809              part/signed, which can be read by all mail clients.
3810
3811              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
3812              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3813
3814
3815
3816       smime_sign_opaque_command
3817              Type: string
3818              Default: “”
3819
3820              This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type appli‐
3821              cation/x-pkcs7-signature, which can  only  be  handled  by  mail
3822              clients supporting the S/MIME extension.
3823
3824              This  is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
3825              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3826
3827
3828
3829       smime_timeout
3830              Type: number
3831              Default: 300
3832
3833              The number of seconds  after  which  a  cached  passphrase  will
3834              expire if not used.  (S/MIME only)
3835
3836
3837
3838       smime_verify_command
3839              Type: string
3840              Default: “”
3841
3842              This  command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type multi‐
3843              part/signed.
3844
3845              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
3846              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3847
3848
3849
3850       smime_verify_opaque_command
3851              Type: string
3852              Default: “”
3853
3854              This  command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type appli‐
3855              cation/x-pkcs7-mime.
3856
3857              This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command  command
3858              for possible printf(3)-like sequences.  (S/MIME only)
3859
3860
3861
3862       smtp_authenticators
3863              Type: string
3864              Default: “”
3865
3866              This  is  a  colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
3867              may attempt to use to log in to an SMTP  server,  in  the  order
3868              mutt should try them.  Authentication methods are any SASL mech‐
3869              anism, e.g.  “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”.  This  option
3870              is  case-insensitive.  If  it is “unset” (the default) mutt will
3871              try  all  available  methods,  in  order  from  most-secure   to
3872              least-secure.
3873
3874              Example:
3875
3876
3877              set smtp_authenticators=”digest-md5:cram-md5”
3878
3879
3880
3881
3882
3883       smtp_pass
3884              Type: string
3885              Default: “”
3886
3887              Specifies  the  password  for your SMTP account.  If unset, Mutt
3888              will prompt you for your password when you first send  mail  via
3889              SMTP.  See $smtp_url to configure mutt to send mail via SMTP.
3890
3891              Warning:  you  should  only  use  this  option when you are on a
3892              fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your  mut‐
3893              trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
3894
3895
3896
3897       smtp_url
3898              Type: string
3899              Default: “”
3900
3901              Defines  the  SMTP  smarthost where sent messages should relayed
3902              for delivery. This should take the form of an SMTP URL, e.g.:
3903
3904
3905              smtp[s]://[user[:pass]@]host[:port]
3906
3907
3908
3909              where “[...]” denotes an optional part.  Setting  this  variable
3910              overrides the value of the $sendmail variable.
3911
3912
3913
3914       sort
3915              Type: sort order
3916              Default: date
3917
3918              Specifies  how to sort messages in the “index” menu.  Valid val‐
3919              ues are:
3920              ‐ date or date-sent
3921              ‐ date-received
3922              ‐ from
3923              ‐ mailbox-order (unsorted)
3924              ‐ score
3925              ‐ size
3926              ‐ spam
3927              ‐ subject
3928              ‐ threads
3929              ‐ to
3930
3931              You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify  reverse
3932              sorting order (example: “set sort=reverse-date-sent”).
3933
3934
3935
3936       sort_alias
3937              Type: sort order
3938              Default: alias
3939
3940              Specifies  how  the entries in the “alias” menu are sorted.  The
3941              following are legal values:
3942              ‐ address (sort alphabetically by email address)
3943              ‐ alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
3944              ‐ unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)
3945
3946
3947       sort_aux
3948              Type: sort order
3949              Default: date
3950
3951              When sorting by threads, this variable controls how threads  are
3952              sorted in relation to other threads, and how the branches of the
3953              thread trees are sorted.  This can be  set  to  any  value  that
3954              $sort  can,  except  “threads” (in that case, mutt will just use
3955              “date-sent”).  You can also specify the “last-” prefix in  addi‐
3956              tion  to  the  “reverse-”  prefix,  but  “last-” must come after
3957              “reverse-”.  The “last-” prefix causes  messages  to  be  sorted
3958              against its siblings by which has the last descendant, using the
3959              rest of $sort_aux as an ordering.  For instance,
3960
3961
3962              set sort_aux=last-date-received
3963
3964
3965
3966              would mean that if a new message is received in a  thread,  that
3967              thread becomes the last one displayed (or the first, if you have
3968              “set sort=reverse-threads”.)
3969
3970              Note: For reversed  $sort  order  $sort_aux  is  reversed  again
3971              (which  is  not the right thing to do, but kept to not break any
3972              existing configuration setting).
3973
3974
3975
3976       sort_browser
3977              Type: sort order
3978              Default: alpha
3979
3980              Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser.  By  default,
3981              the entries are sorted alphabetically.  Valid values:
3982              ‐ alpha (alphabetically)
3983              ‐ date
3984              ‐ size
3985              ‐ unsorted
3986
3987              You  may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
3988              sorting order (example: “set sort_browser=reverse-date”).
3989
3990
3991
3992       sort_re
3993              Type: boolean
3994              Default: yes
3995
3996              This variable is  only  useful  when  sorting  by  threads  with
3997              $strict_threads  unset.   In that case, it changes the heuristic
3998              mutt uses to thread messages by  subject.   With  $sort_re  set,
3999              mutt  will only attach a message as the child of another message
4000              by subject if the subject of the child  message  starts  with  a
4001              substring  matching the setting of $reply_regexp.  With $sort_re
4002              unset, mutt will attach the message whether or not this  is  the
4003              case,  as  long  as the non-$reply_regexp parts of both messages
4004              are identical.
4005
4006
4007
4008       spam_separator
4009              Type: string
4010              Default: “,”
4011
4012              This variable controls what happens when multiple  spam  headers
4013              are matched: if unset, each successive header will overwrite any
4014              previous matches value for the spam label. If set, each  succes‐
4015              sive  match  will  append to the previous, using this variable's
4016              value as a separator.
4017
4018
4019
4020       spoolfile
4021              Type: path
4022              Default: “”
4023
4024              If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where Mutt  can‐
4025              not  find  it,  you can specify its location with this variable.
4026              Mutt will initially set this variable to the value of the  envi‐
4027              ronment variable $MAIL or $MAILDIR if either is defined.
4028
4029
4030
4031       ssl_ca_certificates_file
4032              Type: path
4033              Default: “”
4034
4035              This  variable  specifies  a file containing trusted CA certifi‐
4036              cates.  Any server certificate that is signed with one of  these
4037              CA certificates is also automatically accepted.
4038
4039              Example:
4040
4041
4042              set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
4043
4044
4045
4046
4047
4048       ssl_client_cert
4049              Type: path
4050              Default: “”
4051
4052              The file containing a client certificate and its associated pri‐
4053              vate key.
4054
4055
4056
4057       ssl_force_tls
4058              Type: boolean
4059              Default: no
4060
4061              If this variable is set, Mutt will require that all  connections
4062              to  remote  servers be encrypted. Furthermore it will attempt to
4063              negotiate TLS even if the server does not advertise the capabil‐
4064              ity,  since it would otherwise have to abort the connection any‐
4065              way. This option supersedes $ssl_starttls.
4066
4067
4068
4069       ssl_min_dh_prime_bits
4070              Type: number
4071              Default: 0
4072
4073              This variable specifies the minimum acceptable  prime  size  (in
4074              bits)  for  use in any Diffie-Hellman key exchange. A value of 0
4075              will use the default from the GNUTLS library.
4076
4077
4078
4079       ssl_starttls
4080              Type: quadoption
4081              Default: yes
4082
4083              If set (the default), mutt  will  attempt  to  use  STARTTLS  on
4084              servers  advertising  the  capability. When unset, mutt will not
4085              attempt to use STARTTLS regardless of the server's capabilities.
4086
4087
4088
4089       ssl_use_sslv3
4090              Type: boolean
4091              Default: yes
4092
4093              This variable specifies whether to attempt to use SSLv3  in  the
4094              SSL authentication process.
4095
4096
4097
4098       ssl_use_tlsv1
4099              Type: boolean
4100              Default: yes
4101
4102              This  variable  specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1 in the
4103              SSL authentication process.
4104
4105
4106
4107       ssl_verify_dates
4108              Type: boolean
4109              Default: yes
4110
4111              If set (the default),  mutt  will  not  automatically  accept  a
4112              server  certificate  that  is  either  not  yet valid or already
4113              expired. You should only unset this for particular known  hosts,
4114              using the <account-hook> function.
4115
4116
4117
4118       ssl_verify_host
4119              Type: boolean
4120              Default: yes
4121
4122              If  set  (the  default),  mutt  will  not automatically accept a
4123              server certificate whose host name does not match the host  used
4124              in  your  folder  URL. You should only unset this for particular
4125              known hosts, using the <account-hook> function.
4126
4127
4128
4129       status_chars
4130              Type: string
4131              Default: “-*%A”
4132
4133              Controls the characters used by  the  “%r”  indicator  in  $sta‐
4134              tus_format.  The  first  character  is  used when the mailbox is
4135              unchanged. The second is used when the mailbox has been changed,
4136              and  it  needs  to  be  resynchronized. The third is used if the
4137              mailbox is in read-only mode, or if  the  mailbox  will  not  be
4138              written  when  exiting  that  mailbox (You can toggle whether to
4139              write changes to a mailbox with  the  <toggle-write>  operation,
4140              bound  by  default  to “%”). The fourth is used to indicate that
4141              the current folder has been opened in attach- message mode (Cer‐
4142              tain operations like composing a new mail, replying, forwarding,
4143              etc. are not permitted in this mode).
4144
4145
4146
4147       status_format
4148              Type: string
4149              Default: “-%r-Mutt: %f [Msgs:%?M?%M/?%m%?n? New:%n?%?o? Old:%o?%?d? Del:%d?%?F? Flag:%F?%?t? Tag:%t?%?p? Post:%p?%?b? Inc:%b?%?l? %l?]---(%s/%S)-%>-(%P)---”
4150
4151              Controls the format of the status line displayed in the  “index”
4152              menu.   This string is similar to $index_format, but has its own
4153              set of printf(3)-like sequences:
4154              %b     number of mailboxes with new mail *
4155              %d     number of deleted messages *
4156              %f     the full pathname of the current mailbox
4157              %F     number of flagged messages *
4158              %h     local hostname
4159              %l     size (in bytes) of the current mailbox *
4160              %L     size (in bytes) of the messages shown (i.e., which  match
4161                     the current limit) *
4162              %m     the number of messages in the mailbox *
4163              %M     the  number of messages shown (i.e., which match the cur‐
4164                     rent limit) *
4165              %n     number of new messages in the mailbox *
4166              %o     number of old unread messages *
4167              %p     number of postponed messages *
4168              %P     percentage of the way through the index
4169              %r     modified/read-only/won't-write/attach-message  indicator,
4170                     according to $status_chars
4171              %s     current sorting mode ($sort)
4172              %S     current aux sorting method ($sort_aux)
4173              %t     number of tagged messages *
4174              %u     number of unread messages *
4175              %v     Mutt version string
4176              %V     currently active limit pattern, if any *
4177              %>X    right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
4178              %|X    pad to the end of the line with “X”
4179              %*X    soft-fill with character “X” as pad
4180
4181              For  an  explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu‐
4182              mentation.
4183
4184              * = can be optionally printed if nonzero
4185
4186              Some of the above sequences can be used to  optionally  print  a
4187              string  if  their  value  is nonzero.  For example, you may only
4188              want to see the number of  flagged  messages  if  such  messages
4189              exist, since zero is not particularly meaningful.  To optionally
4190              print a string based upon one of the above sequences,  the  fol‐
4191              lowing construct is used:
4192
4193              %?<sequence_char>?<optional_string>?
4194
4195              where  sequence_char  is  a  character from the table above, and
4196              optional_string  is  the  string  you  would  like  printed   if
4197              sequence_char  is  nonzero.   optional_string  may contain other
4198              sequences as well as normal text, but you may not nest  optional
4199              strings.
4200
4201              Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the num‐
4202              ber of new messages in a mailbox:
4203
4204              %?n?%n new messages.?
4205
4206              You can also switch between two strings using the following con‐
4207              struct:
4208
4209              %?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>?
4210
4211              If  the  value  of  sequence_char is non-zero, if_string will be
4212              expanded, otherwise else_string will be expanded.
4213
4214              You can force the result of any printf(3)-like  sequence  to  be
4215              lowercase by prefixing the sequence character with an underscore
4216              (“_”) sign.  For example, if you want to display the local host‐
4217              name in lowercase, you would use: “%_h”.
4218
4219              If  you prefix the sequence character with a colon (“:”) charac‐
4220              ter, mutt will replace any dots in the expansion by underscores.
4221              This  might be helpful with IMAP folders that don't like dots in
4222              folder names.
4223
4224
4225
4226       status_on_top
4227              Type: boolean
4228              Default: no
4229
4230              Setting this variable causes the “status bar” to be displayed on
4231              the  first  line  of  the screen rather than near the bottom. If
4232              $help is set, too it'll be placed at the bottom.
4233
4234
4235
4236       strict_threads
4237              Type: boolean
4238              Default: no
4239
4240              If set, threading will only make use of  the  “In-Reply-To”  and
4241              “References:”  fields  when  you  $sort  by message threads.  By
4242              default, messages with the same subject are grouped together  in
4243              “pseudo  threads.”. This may not always be desirable, such as in
4244              a personal mailbox where you might have several  unrelated  mes‐
4245              sages  with  the  subjects  like  “hi”  which  will  get grouped
4246              together. See also $sort_re for a less drastic way  of  control‐
4247              ling this behavior.
4248
4249
4250
4251       suspend
4252              Type: boolean
4253              Default: yes
4254
4255              When unset, mutt won't stop when the user presses the terminal's
4256              susp key, usually “^Z”. This is useful if you run mutt inside an
4257              xterm using a command like “xterm -e mutt”.
4258
4259
4260
4261       text_flowed
4262              Type: boolean
4263              Default: no
4264
4265              When  set, mutt will generate “format=flowed” bodies with a con‐
4266              tent type of “text/plain; format=flowed”.  This format is easier
4267              to  handle  for  some mailing software, and generally just looks
4268              like ordinary text.  To actually make use of this format's  fea‐
4269              tures, you'll need support in your editor.
4270
4271              Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.
4272
4273
4274
4275       thorough_search
4276              Type: boolean
4277              Default: yes
4278
4279              Affects  the  ~b  and  ~h search operations described in section
4280              “patterns”.  If set, the headers and  body/attachments  of  mes‐
4281              sages  to  be  searched  are decoded before searching. If unset,
4282              messages are searched as they appear in the folder.
4283
4284              Users searching attachments or for non-ASCII  characters  should
4285              set  this  value  because  decoding  also  includes  MIME  pars‐
4286              ing/decoding and possible character set  conversions.  Otherwise
4287              mutt will attempt to match against the raw message received (for
4288              example quoted-printable encoded or with encoded headers)  which
4289              may lead to incorrect search results.
4290
4291
4292
4293       thread_received
4294              Type: boolean
4295              Default: no
4296
4297              When  set, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent
4298              to thread messages by subject.
4299
4300
4301
4302       tilde
4303              Type: boolean
4304              Default: no
4305
4306              When set, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the  bottom
4307              of the screen with a tilde (“~”).
4308
4309
4310
4311       time_inc
4312              Type: number
4313              Default: 0
4314
4315              Along  with  $read_inc,  $write_inc, and $net_inc, this variable
4316              controls the frequency with  which  progress  updates  are  dis‐
4317              played.  It  suppresses updates less than $time_inc milliseconds
4318              apart. This can improve throughput on systems with  slow  termi‐
4319              nals, or when running mutt on a remote system.
4320
4321              Also see the “tuning” section of the manual for performance con‐
4322              siderations.
4323
4324
4325
4326       timeout
4327              Type: number
4328              Default: 600
4329
4330              When Mutt is waiting for user input either idling in menus or in
4331              an  interactive prompt, Mutt would block until input is present.
4332              Depending on the context, this would prevent certain  operations
4333              from working, like checking for new mail or keeping an IMAP con‐
4334              nection alive.
4335
4336              This variable controls how many seconds Mutt will at  most  wait
4337              until it aborts waiting for input, performs these operations and
4338              continues to wait for input.
4339
4340              A value of zero or less will cause Mutt to never time out.
4341
4342
4343
4344       tmpdir
4345              Type: path
4346              Default: “”
4347
4348              This variable allows you to specify where Mutt  will  place  its
4349              temporary  files  needed  for displaying and composing messages.
4350              If this variable is not set, the environment variable $TMPDIR is
4351              used.  If $TMPDIR is not set then “/tmp” is used.
4352
4353
4354
4355       to_chars
4356              Type: string
4357              Default: “ +TCFL”
4358
4359              Controls  the  character used to indicate mail addressed to you.
4360              The first character is  the  one  used  when  the  mail  is  not
4361              addressed  to your address.  The second is used when you are the
4362              only recipient of the message.  The third is when  your  address
4363              appears  in  the  “To:”  header  field, but you are not the only
4364              recipient of the message.  The fourth  character  is  used  when
4365              your address is specified in the “Cc:” header field, but you are
4366              not the only recipient.  The fifth character is used to indicate
4367              mail that was sent by you.  The sixth character is used to indi‐
4368              cate when a mail was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to.
4369
4370
4371
4372       tunnel
4373              Type: string
4374              Default: “”
4375
4376              Setting this variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to  a  com‐
4377              mand instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set
4378              up preauthenticated connections to your  IMAP/POP3/SMTP  server.
4379              Example:
4380
4381
4382              set tunnel=”ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd”
4383
4384
4385
4386              Note: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the
4387              remote machine without having to enter a password.
4388
4389              When set, Mutt uses  the  tunnel  for  all  remote  connections.
4390              Please see “account-hook” in the manual for how to use different
4391              tunnel commands per connection.
4392
4393
4394
4395       uncollapse_jump
4396              Type: boolean
4397              Default: no
4398
4399              When set, Mutt will jump to the next  unread  message,  if  any,
4400              when the current thread is uncollapsed.
4401
4402
4403
4404       use_8bitmime
4405              Type: boolean
4406              Default: no
4407
4408              Warning: do not set this variable unless you are using a version
4409              of sendmail which supports the -B8BITMIME flag (such as sendmail
4410              8.8.x) or you may not be able to send mail.
4411
4412              When  set,  Mutt  will invoke $sendmail with the -B8BITMIME flag
4413              when sending 8-bit messages to enable ESMTP negotiation.
4414
4415
4416
4417       use_domain
4418              Type: boolean
4419              Default: yes
4420
4421              When set, Mutt will qualify all local  addresses  (ones  without
4422              the  “@host” portion) with the value of $hostname.  If unset, no
4423              addresses will be qualified.
4424
4425
4426
4427       use_envelope_from
4428              Type: boolean
4429              Default: no
4430
4431              When set, mutt will set the envelope sender of the message.   If
4432              $envelope_from_address  is  set,  it  will be used as the sender
4433              address. If unset, mutt will attempt to derive the  sender  from
4434              the “From:” header.
4435
4436              Note  that  this information is passed to sendmail command using
4437              the -f command line switch. Therefore setting this option is not
4438              useful  if  the $sendmail variable already contains -f or if the
4439              executable pointed  to  by  $sendmail  doesn't  support  the  -f
4440              switch.
4441
4442
4443
4444       use_from
4445              Type: boolean
4446              Default: yes
4447
4448              When set, Mutt will generate the “From:” header field when send‐
4449              ing messages.  If unset, no “From:” header field will be  gener‐
4450              ated unless the user explicitly sets one using the “my_hdr” com‐
4451              mand.
4452
4453
4454
4455       use_idn
4456              Type: boolean
4457              Default: yes
4458
4459              When set, Mutt will show you international domain names decoded.
4460              Note:  You  can  use  IDNs  for addresses even if this is unset.
4461              This variable only affects decoding.
4462
4463
4464
4465       use_ipv6
4466              Type: boolean
4467              Default: yes
4468
4469              When set, Mutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to
4470              contact.   If this option is unset, Mutt will restrict itself to
4471              IPv4 addresses.  Normally, the default should work.
4472
4473
4474
4475       user_agent
4476              Type: boolean
4477              Default: yes
4478
4479              When set, mutt will add a “User-Agent:” header to outgoing  mes‐
4480              sages,  indicating  which version of mutt was used for composing
4481              them.
4482
4483
4484
4485       visual
4486              Type: path
4487              Default: “”
4488
4489              Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the “~v”  command  is
4490              given in the built-in editor.
4491
4492
4493
4494       wait_key
4495              Type: boolean
4496              Default: yes
4497
4498              Controls  whether  Mutt  will  ask  you  to press a key after an
4499              external  command  has  been   invoked   by   these   functions:
4500              <shell-escape>,  <pipe-message>,  <pipe-entry>, <print-message>,
4501              and <print-entry> commands.
4502
4503              It is also used when viewing attachments with “auto_view”,  pro‐
4504              vided  that  the corresponding mailcap entry has a needsterminal
4505              flag, and the external program is interactive.
4506
4507              When set, Mutt will always ask for a key. When unset, Mutt  will
4508              wait  for a key only if the external command returned a non-zero
4509              status.
4510
4511
4512
4513       weed
4514              Type: boolean
4515              Default: yes
4516
4517              When set, mutt will weed headers  when  displaying,  forwarding,
4518              printing, or replying to messages.
4519
4520
4521
4522       wrap
4523              Type: number
4524              Default: 0
4525
4526              When set to a positive value, mutt will wrap text at $wrap char‐
4527              acters.  When set to a negative value, mutt will  wrap  text  so
4528              that there are $wrap characters of empty space on the right side
4529              of the terminal. Setting it to zero makes mutt wrap at the  ter‐
4530              minal width.
4531
4532
4533
4534       wrap_headers
4535              Type: number
4536              Default: 78
4537
4538              This  option specifies the number of characters to use for wrap‐
4539              ping an outgoing message's headers. Allowed values  are  between
4540              78 and 998 inclusive.
4541
4542              Note:  This  option usually shouldn't be changed. RFC5233 recom‐
4543              mends a line length of 78 (the default), so please  only  change
4544              this setting when you know what you're doing.
4545
4546
4547
4548       wrap_search
4549              Type: boolean
4550              Default: yes
4551
4552              Controls whether searches wrap around the end.
4553
4554              When  set,  searches  will wrap around the first (or last) item.
4555              When unset, incremental searches will not wrap.
4556
4557
4558
4559       wrapmargin
4560              Type: number
4561              Default: 0
4562
4563              (DEPRECATED) Equivalent to setting $wrap with a negative value.
4564
4565
4566
4567       write_bcc
4568              Type: boolean
4569              Default: yes
4570
4571              Controls whether mutt writes out the “Bcc:” header when  prepar‐
4572              ing  messages to be sent.  Exim users may wish to unset this. If
4573              mutt is set to deliver directly via SMTP (see  $smtp_url),  this
4574              option does nothing: mutt will never write out the “Bcc:” header
4575              in this case.
4576
4577
4578
4579       write_inc
4580              Type: number
4581              Default: 10
4582
4583              When  writing  a  mailbox,  a  message  will  be  printed  every
4584              $write_inc  messages  to indicate progress.  If set to 0, only a
4585              single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.
4586
4587              Also see the $read_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and the
4588              “tuning” section of the manual for performance considerations.
4589
4590
4591

SEE ALSO

4593       iconv(1),   iconv(3),   mailcap(5),   maildir(5),   mbox(5),   mutt(1),
4594       printf(3), regex(7), strftime(3)
4595
4596       The Mutt Manual
4597
4598       The Mutt home page: http://www.mutt.org/
4599

AUTHOR

4601       Michael Elkins, and others.  Use  <mutt-dev@mutt.org>  to  contact  the
4602       developers.
4603
4604
4605
4606Unix                            September 2002                       muttrc(5)
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