1MUTT(1) User Manuals MUTT(1)
2
6 mutt - The Mutt Mail User Agent
7
9 mutt [-nRyzZ] [-e command] [-F rcfile] [-m type] [-f mailbox]
10 mutt [-Enx] [-e command] [-F rcfile] [-H draft] [-i include]
12 [-b bcc-addr] [-c cc-addr] [-s subject]
13 [-a file ... --] to-addr ...
14 mutt [-nx] [-e command] [-F rcfile] [-b bcc-addr] [-c cc-addr]
16 [-s subject] [-a file ... --] to-addr ... < message
17 mutt [-n] [-e command] [-F rcfile] -p
19 mutt [-n] [-e command] [-F rcfile] -A alias
21 mutt [-n] [-e command] [-F rcfile] -Q variable
23 mutt -v[v]
25 mutt -D
27
29 Mutt is a small but very powerful text based program for reading and
30 sending electronic mail under unix operating systems, including support
31 for color terminals, MIME, OpenPGP, and a threaded sorting mode.
32 Note: This manual page gives a brief overview of the mutt executable
34 command line options. A copy of the full manual is located in
35 /usr/share/doc/mutt, in text, HTML, and/or PDF format. Please refer to
36 the manual to learn how to use and configure Mutt.
37
39 -A alias
40 Print an expanded version of the given alias and exit.
41 -a file ...
43 Attach a file using MIME. Separating file and to-addr arguments
44 with “--” is mandatory. For example:
45 mutt -a image.jpg -- to-addr
47 mutt -a img.jpg *.png -- to-addr-1 to-addr-2
48 The -a option must be placed at the end of command line options.
50 -b bcc-addr
52 Specify a blind carbon copy (BCC) address.
53 -c cc-addr
55 Specify a carbon copy (CC) address.
56 -d level
58 If Mutt was compiled with +DEBUG log debugging output to
59 ~/.muttdebug0. Level can range from -5 to 5 and affects ver‐
60 bosity. A value of zero disables debugging. A value less than
61 zero disables automatic log file rotation; the log level is then
62 its absolute value. A value of 2 (-2) is recommended for most
63 diagnosis.
64 -D Print the value of all configuration options to stdout.
66 -E Edit the draft file specified by -H or include file specified by
68 -i during message composition.
69 -e command
71 Specify a configuration command to be run after processing of
72 initialization files.
73 -f mailbox
75 Specify a mailbox to load.
76 -F rcfile
78 Use rcfile instead of the user configuration file.
79 -h Display a short option summary and exit.
81 -H draft
83 Specify a draft file which contains header and body to use to
84 send a message. If draft is “-”, then data is read from stdin.
85 The draft file is expected to contain just an RFC822 email —
86 headers and a body. Although it is not an mbox file, if an mbox
87 "From " line is present, it will be silently discarded. Draft
88 files are processed the same in interactive and batch mode; they
89 are not passed through untouched. For example, encrypted draft
90 files will be decrypted.
91 -i include
93 Specify an include file to be inserted into the body of a mes‐
94 sage. Ignored if -H is set. If include is “-”, then data is
95 read from stdin.
96 -m type
98 Specify a default mailbox type for newly created folders. Can
99 be one of the following: mbox, MMDF, MH or Maildir. See also
100 $mbox_type in the manual.
101 -n Do not read the system-wide Muttrc configuration file.
103 -p Resume a postponed message. Exit immediately if there are no
105 postponed messages.
106 -Q variable
108 Query a configuration variable. The query is performed after
109 all configuration files have been parsed, and any commands given
110 on the command line have been executed.
111 -R Open a mailbox in read-only mode.
113 -s subject
115 Specify the subject of the message. Must be enclosed in quotes
116 if it contains spaces.
117 -v Display the Mutt version number and compile-time definitions.
119 -vv Display license and copyright information.
121 -x Emulate the mailx(1) compose mode.
123 -y Start Mutt with a listing of all mailboxes specified by the
125 mailboxes configuration command.
126 -z Exit immediately with code 1 if mailbox specified by -f does not
128 contain any messages.
129 -Z Open the first mailbox specified by the mailboxes configuration
131 command which contains new mail. Exit immediately with code 1
132 if there is no new mail in any of them.
133 -- Treat remaining arguments as to-addr even if they start with a
135 dash. See also -a above. To-addr can be a local or network
136 mail address as well as mailto: URL.
137
139 EDITOR, VISUAL
140 Specifies the editor to use when composing messages. If both
141 EDITOR and VISUAL are set, VISUAL takes precedence. If neither
142 EDITOR nor VISUAL are set, the default is vi(1).
143 EGDSOCKET, RANDFILE
145 Paths used to initialize the random engine for SSL library.
146 EMAIL The user's e-mail address.
148 HOME Full path of the user's home directory.
150 MAIL Full path of the user's spool mailbox.
152 MAILDIR
154 Full path of the user's spool mailbox if MAIL is unset. Com‐
155 monly used when the spool mailbox is a maildir(5) folder.
156 MAILCAPS
158 Path to search for mailcap files.
159 MM_NOASK
161 If this variable is set, mailcap are always used without prompt‐
162 ing first.
163 PGPPATH
165 Directory in which the user's PGP public keyring can be found.
166 When used with the original PGP program, mutt and mutt_pg‐
167 pring(1) rely on this being set.
168 REPLYTO
170 Default Reply-To address.
171 TMPDIR Directory in which temporary files are created. If unset, /tmp
173 is used. See also $tmpdir configuration variable.
174 LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, LANG
176 Used to determine charset and locale to use.
177 TEXTDOMAINDIR
179 Directory containing translation files. If set, this path over‐
180 write the Mutt installation directory. Used for testing trans‐
181 lation changes.
182
184 ~/.muttrc
185 ~/.mutt/muttrc
186 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mutt/muttrc
187 User configuration files.
188 /etc/Muttrc or /usr/share/mutt/Muttrc
190 System-wide configuration file.
191 /tmp/muttXXXXXX
193 Temporary files created by Mutt.
194 ~/.muttdebug0
196 File containing debugging output. Log files are automatically
197 rotated by mutt changing the number at the end. See -d option
198 above.
199 ~/.mailcap
201 User definition for handling non-text MIME types.
202 /etc/mailcap
204 System definition for handling non-text MIME types.
205 ~/.mime.types
207 User's personal mapping between MIME types and file extensions.
208 /etc/mime.types
210 System mapping between MIME types and file extensions.
211 /usr/bin/mutt_dotlock
213 The privileged dotlocking program.
214 /usr/share/doc/mutt/manual.txt
216 The Mutt manual.
217
219 None. Mutts have fleas, not bugs.
220
222 Suspend/resume while editing a file with an external editor does not
223 work under SunOS 4.x if you use the curses lib in /usr/5lib. It does
224 work with the S-Lang library, however.
225 Resizing the screen while using an external pager causes Mutt to go
227 haywire on some systems.
228 Suspend/resume does not work under Ultrix.
230 The help line for the index menu is not updated if you change the bind‐
232 ings for one of the functions listed while Mutt is running.
233 For a more up-to-date list of bugs, errm, fleas, please visit the mutt
235 project's bug tracking system under https://gitlab.com/muttmua/mutt/is‐
236 sues.
237
239 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
240 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MER‐
241 CHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
242 Public License for more details.
243
245 mutt_dotlock(1), mutt_pgpring(1), pgpewrap(1), sendmail(1), smail(1),
246 smime_keys(1), curses(3), ncurses(3), mailcap(5), maildir(5), mbox(5),
247 mmdf(5), muttrc(5)
248 Mutt Home Page: http://www.mutt.org/
250 The Mutt manual
252 RFC5322 — Internet Message Format: https://tools.ietf.org/rfc‐
254 markup/5322 (obsoletes RFC2822 and RFC822)
255
257 Michael Elkins, and others. Use <mutt-dev@mutt.org> to contact the de‐
258 velopers.
259Unix July 24, 2020 MUTT(1)