muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
NAME
muttrc - Configuration file for the Mutt Mail User Agent
DESCRIPTION
A mutt configuration file consists of a series of “commands”. Each
line of the file may contain one or more commands. When multiple com-
mands are used, they must be separated by a semicolon (“;”).
The hash mark, or pound sign (“#”), is used as a “comment” character.
You can use it to annotate your initialization file. All text after the
comment character to the end of the line is ignored.
Single quotes (“'”) and double quotes (“"”) can be used to quote
strings which contain spaces or other special characters. The differ-
ence between the two types of quotes is similar to that of many popular
shell programs, namely that a single quote is used to specify a literal
string (one that is not interpreted for shell variables or quoting with
a backslash [see next paragraph]), while double quotes indicate a
string which should be evaluated. For example, backticks are evaluated
inside of double quotes, but not single quotes.
\ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh.
For example, if want to put quotes (“"”) inside of a string, you can
use “\” to force the next character to be a literal instead of inter-
preted character.
“\\” means to insert a literal “\” into the line. “\n” and “\r” have
their usual C meanings of linefeed and carriage-return, respectively.
A “\” at the end of a line can be used to split commands over multiple
lines, provided that the split points don't appear in the middle of
command names.
It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an
initialization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in
backticks (`command`).
UNIX environment variables can be accessed like the way it is done in
shells like sh and bash: Prepend the name of the variable by a dollar
(“$”) sign.
COMMANDS
alias [-group name [...]] key address [, address [ ... ]]
unalias [ * | key ]
alias defines an alias key for the given addresses. Each address
will be resolved into either an email address (user@example.com)
or a named email address (User Name <user@example.com>). The
address may be specified in either format, or in the format
“user@example.com (User Name)”. unalias removes the alias cor-
responding to the given key or all aliases when “*” is used as
an argument. The optional -group argument to alias causes the
aliased address(es) to be added to the named group.
group [-group name] [-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]
ungroup [-group name ] [ * | [[-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]]
group is used to directly add either addresses or regular
expressions to the specified group or groups. The different cat-
egories of arguments to the group command can be in any order.
The flags -rx and -addr specify what the following strings (that
cannot begin with a hyphen) should be interpreted as: either a
regular expression or an email address, respectively. ungroup
is used to remove addresses or regular expressions from the
specified group or groups. The syntax is similar to the group
command, however the special character * can be used to empty a
group of all of its contents.
These address groups can also be created implicitly by the
alias, lists, subscribe and alternates commands by specifying
the optional -group option.
Once defined, these address groups can be used in patterns to
search for and limit the display to messages matching a group.
alternates [-group name] regexp [ , regexp [ ... ]]
unalternates [ * | regexp [ , regexp [ ... ]] ]
alternates is used to inform mutt about alternate addresses
where you receive mail; you can use regular expressions to spec-
ify alternate addresses. This affects mutt's idea about mes-
sages from you, and messages addressed to you. unalternates
removes a regular expression from the list of known alternates.
The -group flag causes all of the subsequent regular expressions
to be added to the named group.
alternative_order type[/subtype] [ ... ]
unalternative_order [ * | type/subtype] [...]
alternative_order command permits you to define an order of
preference which is used by mutt to determine which part of a
multipart/alternative body to display. A subtype of “*” matches
any subtype, as does an empty subtype. unalternative_order
removes entries from the ordered list or deletes the entire list
when “*” is used as an argument.
auto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
unauto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
This commands permits you to specify that mutt should automati-
cally convert the given MIME types to text/plain when displaying
messages. For this to work, there must be a mailcap(5) entry
for the given MIME type with the copiousoutput flag set. A sub-
type of “*” matches any subtype, as does an empty subtype.
mime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
unmime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
This command permits you to define a list of "data" MIME content
types for which mutt will try to determine the actual file type
from the file name, and not use a mailcap(5) entry given for the
original MIME type. For instance, you may add the applica-
tion/octet-stream MIME type to this list.
bind map1,map2,... key function
This command binds the given key for the given map or maps to
the given function. Multiple maps may be specified by separating
them with commas (no whitespace is allowed).
Valid maps are: generic, alias, attach, browser, editor, index,
compose, pager, pgp, postpone, mix.
For more information on keys and functions, please consult the
Mutt Manual.
account-hook [!]regexp command
This hook is executed whenever you access a remote mailbox. Use-
ful to adjust configuration settings to different IMAP or POP
servers.
charset-hook alias charset
This command defines an alias for a character set. This is use-
ful to properly display messages which are tagged with a charac-
ter set name not known to mutt.
iconv-hook charset local-charset
This command defines a system-specific name for a character set.
This is useful when your system's iconv(3) implementation does
not understand MIME character set names (such as iso-8859-1),
but instead insists on being fed with implementation-specific
character set names (such as 8859-1). In this specific case,
you'd put this into your configuration file:
iconv-hook iso-8859-1 8859-1
message-hook [!]pattern command
Before mutt displays (or formats for replying or forwarding) a
message which matches the given pattern (or, when it is preceded
by an exclamation mark, does not match the pattern), the given
command is executed. When multiple message-hooks match, they
are executed in the order in which they occur in the configu-
ration file.
folder-hook [!]regexp command
When mutt enters a folder which matches regexp (or, when regexp
is preceded by an exclamation mark, does not match regexp), the
given command is executed.
When several folder-hooks match a given mail folder, they are
executed in the order given in the configuration file.
macro map key sequence [ description ]
This command binds the given sequence of keys to the given key
in the given map or maps. For valid maps, see bind. To specify
multiple maps, put only a comma between the maps.
color object foreground background [ regexp ]
color index foreground background [ pattern ]
uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ]
If your terminal supports color, these commands can be used to
assign foreground/background combinations to certain objects.
Valid objects are: attachment, body, bold, header, hdrdefault,
index, indicator, markers, message, normal, quoted, quotedN,
search, signature, status, tilde, tree, underline. The body and
header objects allow you to restrict the colorization to a regu-
lar expression. The index object permits you to select colored
messages by pattern.
Valid colors include: white, black, green, magenta, blue, cyan,
yellow, red, default, colorN.
mono object attribute [ regexp ]
mono index attribute [ pattern ]
For terminals which don't support color, you can still assign
attributes to objects. Valid attributes include: none, bold,
underline, reverse, and standout.
[un]ignore pattern [ pattern ... ]
The ignore command permits you to specify header fields which
you usually don't wish to see. Any header field whose tag
begins with an “ignored” pattern will be ignored.
The unignore command permits you to define exceptions from the
above mentioned list of ignored headers.
lists [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
unlists regexp [ regexp ... ]
subscribe [-group name] regexp [ regexp ... ]
unsubscribe regexp [ regexp ... ]
Mutt maintains two lists of mailing list address patterns, a
list of subscribed mailing lists, and a list of known mailing
lists. All subscribed mailing lists are known. Patterns use
regular expressions.
The lists command adds a mailing list address to the list of
known mailing lists. The unlists command removes a mailing list
from the lists of known and subscribed mailing lists. The sub-
scribe command adds a mailing list to the lists of known and
subscribed mailing lists. The unsubscribe command removes it
from the list of subscribed mailing lists. The -group flag adds
all of the subsequent regular expressions to the named group.
mbox-hook [!]pattern mailbox
When mutt changes to a mail folder which matches pattern, mail-
box will be used as the “mbox” folder, i.e., read messages will
be moved to that folder when the mail folder is left.
The first matching mbox-hook applies.
mailboxes filename [ filename ... ]
unmailboxes [ * | filename ... ]
The mailboxes specifies folders which can receive mail and which
will be checked for new messages. When changing folders, press-
ing space will cycle through folders with new mail. The unmail-
boxes command is used to remove a file name from the list of
folders which can receive mail. If "*" is specified as the file
name, the list is emptied.
my_hdr string
unmy_hdr field
Using my_hdr, you can define headers which will be added to the
messages you compose. unmy_hdr will remove the given user-
defined headers.
hdr_order header1 header2 [ ... ]
With this command, you can specify an order in which mutt will
attempt to present headers to you when viewing messages.
save-hook [!]pattern filename
When a message matches pattern, the default file name when sav-
ing it will be the given filename.
fcc-hook [!]pattern filename
When an outgoing message matches pattern, the default file name
for storing a copy (fcc) will be the given filename.
fcc-save-hook [!]pattern filename
This command is an abbreviation for identical fcc-hook and save-
hook commands.
send-hook [!]pattern command
When composing a message matching pattern, command is executed.
When multiple send-hooks match, they are executed in the order
in which they occur in the configuration file.
send2-hook [!]pattern command
Whenever a message matching pattern is changed (either by edit-
ing it or by using the compose menu), command is executed. When
multiple send2-hooks match, they are executed in the order in
which they occur in the configuration file. Possible applica-
tions include setting the $sendmail variable when a message's
from header is changed.
send2-hook execution is not triggered by use of enter-command
from the compose menu.
reply-hook [!]pattern command
When replying to a message matching pattern, command is exe-
cuted. When multiple reply-hooks match, they are executed in
the order in which they occur in the configuration file, but all
reply-hooks are matched and executed before send-hooks, regard-
less of their order in the configuration file.
crypt-hook pattern key-id
The crypt-hook command provides a method by which you can spec-
ify the ID of the public key to be used when encrypting messages
to a certain recipient. The meaning of "key ID" is to be taken
broadly: This can be a different e-mail address, a numerical key
ID, or even just an arbitrary search string.
open-hook regexp "command"
close-hook regexp "command"
append-hook regexp "command"
These commands provide a way to handle compressed folders. The
given regexp specifies which folders are taken as compressed
(e.g. "\\.gz$"). The commands tell Mutt how to uncompress a
folder (open-hook), compress a folder (close-hook) or append a
compressed mail to a compressed folder (append-hook). The com-
mand string is the printf(3) like format string, and it should
accept two parameters: %f, which is replaced with the (com-
pressed) folder name, and %t which is replaced with the name of
the temporary folder to which to write.
push string
This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer.
set [no|inv|&|?]variable[=value] [ ... ]
toggle variable [ ... ]
unset variable [ ... ]
reset variable [ ... ]
These commands are used to set and manipulate configuration
variables.
Mutt knows four basic types of variables: boolean, number,
string and quadoption. Boolean variables can be set (true),
unset (false), or toggled. Number variables can be assigned a
positive integer value.
String variables consist of any number of printable characters.
Strings must be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces or
tabs. You may also use the “C” escape sequences \n and \t for
newline and tab, respectively.
Quadoption variables are used to control whether or not to be
prompted for certain actions, or to specify a default action. A
value of yes will cause the action to be carried out automati-
cally as if you had answered yes to the question. Similarly, a
value of no will cause the the action to be carried out as if
you had answered “no.” A value of ask-yes will cause a prompt
with a default answer of “yes” and ask-no will provide a default
answer of “no.”
The reset command resets all given variables to the compile time
defaults. If you reset the special variable all, all variables
will reset to their compile time defaults.
source filename
The given file will be evaluated as a configuration file.
spam pattern format
nospam pattern
These commands define spam-detection patterns from external spam
filters, so that mutt can sort, limit, and search on ``spam
tags'' or ``spam attributes'', or display them in the index. See
the Mutt manual for details.
unhook [ * | hook-type ]
This command will remove all hooks of a given type, or all hooks
when “*” is used as an argument. hook-type can be any of the
-hook commands documented above.
PATTERNS
In various places with mutt, including some of the abovementioned hook
commands, you can specify patterns to match messages.
Constructing Patterns
A simple pattern consists of an operator of the form “~character”, pos-
sibly followed by a parameter against which mutt is supposed to match
the object specified by this operator. For some characters, the ~ may
be replaced by another character to alter the behavior of the match.
These are described in the list of operators, below.
With some of these operators, the object to be matched consists of sev-
eral e-mail addresses. In these cases, the object is matched if at
least one of these e-mail addresses matches. You can prepend a hat
(“^”) character to such a pattern to indicate that all addresses must
match in order to match the object.
You can construct complex patterns by combining simple patterns with
logical operators. Logical AND is specified by simply concatenating
two simple patterns, for instance “~C mutt-dev ~s bug”. Logical OR is
specified by inserting a vertical bar (“|”) between two patterns, for
instance “~C mutt-dev | ~s bug”. Additionally, you can negate a pat-
tern by prepending a bang (“!”) character. For logical grouping, use
braces (“()”). Example: “!(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins”.
Simple Patterns
Mutt understands the following simple patterns:
~A all messages
~b EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message body.
=b STRING messages which contain STRING in the message body. If IMAP
is enabled, searches for STRING on the server, rather than
downloading each message and searching it locally.
~B EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole message.
~c EXPR messages carbon-copied to EXPR
%c GROUP messages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP
~C EXPR messages either to: or cc: EXPR
%C GROUP messages either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP
~d MIN-MAX messages with “date-sent” in a Date range
~D deleted messages
~e EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “Sender” field
%e GROUP messages which contain a member of GROUP in the “Sender”
field
~E expired messages
~f EXPR messages originating from EXPR
%f GROUP messages originating form any member of GROUP
~F flagged messages
~g PGP signed messages
~G PGP encrypted messages
~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message header
~H EXPR messages with spam tags matching EXPR
~i EXPR messages which match EXPR in the “Message-ID” field
~k messages containing PGP key material
~l messages addressed to a known mailing list (defined by
either subscribe or list)
~L EXPR messages either originated or received by EXPR
%L GROUP messages either originated or received by any member of
GROUP
~m MIN-MAX message in the range MIN to MAX
~n MIN-MAX messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX
~N new messages
~O old messages
~p messages addressed to you (as defined by alternates)
~P messages from you (as defined by alternates)
~Q messages which have been replied to
~r MIN-MAX messages with “date-received” in a Date range
~R read messages
~s EXPR messages having EXPR in the “Subject” field.
~S superseded messages
~t EXPR messages addressed to EXPR
~T tagged messages
~u messages addressed to a subscribed mailing list (defined by
subscribe commands)
~U unread messages
~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
~V cryptographically verified messages
~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “References” or “In-
Reply-To” field
~X MIN-MAX messages with MIN - MAX attachments
~y EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “X-Label” field
~z MIN-MAX messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX
~= duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
~$ unreferenced message (requires threaded view)
~(PATTERN) messages in threads containing messages matching a certain
pattern, e.g. all threads containing messages from you:
~(~P)
In the above, EXPR is a regular expression.
With the ~d, ~m, ~n, ~r, ~X, and ~z operators, you can also specify
ranges in the forms <MAX, >MIN, MIN-, and -MAX.
With the ~z operator, the suffixes “K” and “M” are allowed to specify
kilobyte and megabyte respectively.
Matching dates
The ~d and ~r operators are used to match date ranges, which are inter-
preted to be given in your local time zone.
A date is of the form DD[/MM[/[cc]YY]], that is, a two-digit date,
optionally followed by a two-digit month, optionally followed by a year
specifications. Omitted fields default to the current month and year.
Mutt understands either two or four digit year specifications. When
given a two-digit year, mutt will interpret values less than 70 as
lying in the 21st century (i.e., “38” means 2038 and not 1938, and “00”
is interpreted as 2000), and values greater than or equal to 70 as
lying in the 20th century.
Note that this behaviour is Y2K compliant, but that mutt does have a
Y2.07K problem.
If a date range consists of a single date, the operator in question
will match that precise date. If the date range consists of a dash
(“-”), followed by a date, this range will match any date before and up
to the date given. Similarly, a date followed by a dash matches the
date given and any later point of time. Two dates, separated by a
dash, match any date which lies in the given range of time.
You can also modify any absolute date by giving an error range. An
error range consists of one of the characters +, -, *, followed by a
positive number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d,
specifying a unit of years, months, weeks, or days. + increases the
maximum date matched by the given interval of time, - decreases the
minimum date matched by the given interval of time, and * increases the
maximum date and decreases the minimum date matched by the given inter-
val of time. It is possible to give multiple error margins, which
cumulate. Example: 1/1/2001-1w+2w*3d
You can also specify offsets relative to the current date. An offset
is specified as one of the characters <, >, =, followed by a positive
number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d. >
matches dates which are older than the specified amount of time, an
offset which begins with the character < matches dates which are more
recent than the specified amount of time, and an offset which begins
with the character = matches points of time which are precisely the
given amount of time ago.
CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
abort_nosubject
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
If set to yes, when composing messages and no subject is given
at the subject prompt, composition will be aborted. If set to
no, composing messages with no subject given at the subject
prompt will never be aborted.
abort_unmodified
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If set to yes, composition will automatically abort after edit-
ing the message body if no changes are made to the file (this
check only happens after the first edit of the file). When set
to no, composition will never be aborted.
alias_file
Type: path
Default: “~/.muttrc”
The default file in which to save aliases created by the <cre-
ate-alias> function. Entries added to this file are encoded in
the character set specified by $config_charset if it is set or
the current character set otherwise.
Note: Mutt will not automatically source this file; you must
explicitly use the “source” command for it to be executed in
case this option points to a dedicated alias file.
The default for this option is the currently used muttrc file,
or “~/.muttrc” if no user muttrc was found.
alias_format
Type: string
Default: “%4n %2f %t %-10a %r”
Specifies the format of the data displayed for the “alias” menu.
The following printf(3)-style sequences are available:
%a alias name
%f flags - currently, a “d” for an alias marked for deletion
%n index number
%r address which alias expands to
%t character which indicates if the alias is tagged for
inclusion
allow_8bit
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either
Quoted- Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.
allow_ansi
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in
rich text messages) are to be interpreted. Messages containing
these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will
be colored accordingly. Note that this may override your color
choices, and even present a security problem, since a message
could include a line like
[-- PGP output follows ...
and give it the same color as your attachment color (see also
$crypt_timestamp).
arrow_cursor
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, an arrow (“->”) will be used to indicate the current
entry in menus instead of highlighting the whole line. On slow
network or modem links this will make response faster because
there is less that has to be redrawn on the screen when moving
to the next or previous entries in the menu.
ascii_chars
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will use plain ASCII characters when displaying
thread and attachment trees, instead of the default ACS charac-
ters.
askbcc
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipi-
ents before editing an outgoing message.
askcc
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients
before editing the body of an outgoing message.
assumed_charset
Type: string
Default: “”
This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
schemes for messages without character encoding indication.
Header field values and message body content without character
encoding indication would be assumed that they are written in
one of this list. By default, all the header fields and message
body without any charset indication are assumed to be in
“us-ascii”.
For example, Japanese users might prefer this:
set assumed_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
However, only the first content is valid for the message body.
attach_charset
Type: string
Default: “”
This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
schemes for text file attachments. Mutt uses this setting to
guess which encoding files being attached are encoded in to con-
vert them to a proper character set given in $send_charset.
If unset, the value of $charset will be used instead. For exam-
ple, the following configuration would work for Japanese text
handling:
set attach_charset=”iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8”
Note: for Japanese users, “iso-2022-*” must be put at the head
of the value as shown above if included.
attach_format
Type: string
Default: “%u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s] ”
This variable describes the format of the “attachment” menu.
The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
%C charset
%c requires charset conversion (“n” or “c”)
%D deleted flag
%d description
%e MIME content-transfer-encoding
%f filename
%I disposition (“I” for inline, “A” for attachment)
%m major MIME type
%M MIME subtype
%n attachment number
%Q “Q”, if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting
%s size
%t tagged flag
%T graphic tree characters
%u unlink (=to delete) flag
%X number of qualifying MIME parts in this part and its
children (please see the “attachments” section for possi-
ble speed effects)
%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac-
ter “X”
%|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
%*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu-
mentation.
attach_sep
Type: string
Default: “\n”
The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving,
printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.
attach_split
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If this variable is unset, when operating (saving, printing,
piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments, Mutt will concate-
nate the attachments and will operate on them as a single
attachment. The $attach_sep separator is added after each
attachment. When set, Mutt will operate on the attachments one
by one.
attribution
Type: string
Default: “On %d, %n wrote:”
This is the string that will precede a message which has been
included in a reply. For a full listing of defined
printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.
auto_tag
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, functions in the index menu which affect a message
will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any). When
unset, you must first use the <tag-prefix> function (bound to
“;” by default) to make the next function apply to all tagged
messages.
autoedit
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set along with $edit_headers, Mutt will skip the initial
send-menu (prompting for subject and recipients) and allow you
to immediately begin editing the body of your message. The
send-menu may still be accessed once you have finished editing
the body of your message.
Note: when this option is set, you cannot use send-hooks that
depend on the recipients when composing a new (non-reply) mes-
sage, as the initial list of recipients is empty.
Also see $fast_reply.
beep
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is set, mutt will beep when an error occurs.
beep_new
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, mutt will beep whenever it prints a
message notifying you of new mail. This is independent of the
setting of the $beep variable.
bounce
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether you will be asked to confirm bouncing messages.
If set to yes you don't get asked if you want to bounce a mes-
sage. Setting this variable to no is not generally useful, and
thus not recommended, because you are unable to bounce messages.
bounce_delivered
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is set, mutt will include Delivered-To head-
ers when bouncing messages. Postfix users may wish to unset
this variable.
Note: On Debian systems, this option is unset by default in
/etc/Muttrc.
braille_friendly
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, mutt will place the cursor at the
beginning of the current line in menus, even when the
$arrow_cursor variable is unset, making it easier for blind per-
sons using Braille displays to follow these menus. The option
is unset by default because many visual terminals don't permit
making the cursor invisible.
certificate_file
Type: path
Default: “~/.mutt_certificates”
This variable specifies the file where the certificates you
trust are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you
are asked if you accept it or not. If you accept it, the cer-
tificate can also be saved in this file and further connections
are automatically accepted.
You can also manually add CA certificates in this file. Any
server certificate that is signed with one of these CA certifi-
cates is also automatically accepted.
Example:
set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
charset
Type: string
Default: “”
Character set your terminal uses to display and enter textual
data. It is also the fallback for $send_charset.
Upon startup Mutt tries to derive this value from environment
variables such as $LC_CTYPE or $LANG.
Note: It should only be set in case Mutt isn't abled to deter-
mine the character set used correctly.
check_mbox_size
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, mutt will use file size attribute
instead of access time when checking for new mail in mbox and
mmdf folders.
This variable is unset by default and should only be enabled
when new mail detection for these folder types is unreliable or
doesn't work.
Note that enabling this variable should happen before any “mail-
boxes” directives occur in configuration files regarding mbox or
mmdf folders because mutt needs to determine the initial new
mail status of such a mailbox by performing a fast mailbox scan
when it is defined. Afterwards the new mail status is tracked
by file size changes.
check_new
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.
When set, Mutt will check for new mail delivered while the mail-
box is open. Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can
take quite some time since it involves scanning the directory
and checking each file to see if it has already been looked at.
If this variable is unset, no check for new mail is performed
while the mailbox is open.
collapse_unread
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, Mutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any
unread messages.
compose_format
Type: string
Default: “-- Mutt: Compose [Approx. msg size: %l Atts: %a]%>-”
Controls the format of the status line displayed in the “com-
pose” menu. This string is similar to $status_format, but has
its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%a total number of attachments
%h local hostname
%l approximate size (in bytes) of the current message
%v Mutt version string
See the text describing the $status_format option for more
information on how to set $compose_format.
config_charset
Type: string
Default: “”
When defined, Mutt will recode commands in rc files from this
encoding to the current character set as specified by $charset
and aliases written to $alias_file from the current character
set.
Please note that if setting $charset it must be done before set-
ting $config_charset.
Recoding should be avoided as it may render unconvertable char-
acters as question marks which can lead to undesired side
effects (for example in regular expressions).
confirmappend
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when appending mes-
sages to an existing mailbox.
confirmcreate
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages
to a mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.
connect_timeout
Type: number
Default: 30
Causes Mutt to timeout a network connection (for IMAP, POP or
SMTP) after this many seconds if the connection is not able to
be established. A negative value causes Mutt to wait indefi-
nitely for the connection attempt to succeed.
content_type
Type: string
Default: “text/plain”
Sets the default Content-Type for the body of newly composed
messages.
copy
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not copies of your outgoing
messages will be saved for later references. Also see $record,
$save_name, $force_name and “fcc-hook”.
crypt_autoencrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to PGP
encrypt outgoing messages. This is probably only useful in con-
nection to the “send-hook” command. It can be overridden by use
of the pgp menu, when encryption is not required or signing is
requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL is
used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be over-
ridden by use of the smime menu instead. (Crypto only)
crypt_autopgp
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically
enable PGP encryption/signing for messages. See also
$crypt_autoencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign,
$crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.
crypt_autosign
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cryp-
tographically sign outgoing messages. This can be overridden by
use of the pgp menu, when signing is not required or encryption
is requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL
is used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be
overridden by use of the smime menu instead of the pgp menu.
(Crypto only)
crypt_autosmime
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically
enable S/MIME encryption/signing for messages. See also
$crypt_autoencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign,
$crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.
crypt_replyencrypt
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL encrypt replies to messages
which are encrypted. (Crypto only)
crypt_replysign
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
which are signed.
Note: this does not work on messages that are encrypted and
signed! (Crypto only)
crypt_replysignencrypted
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
which are encrypted. This makes sense in combination with
$crypt_replyencrypt, because it allows you to sign all messages
which are automatically encrypted. This works around the prob-
lem noted in $crypt_replysign, that mutt is not able to find out
whether an encrypted message is also signed. (Crypto only)
crypt_timestamp
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, mutt will include a time stamp in the lines surrounding
PGP or S/MIME output, so spoofing such lines is more difficult.
If you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on these,
you may unset this setting. (Crypto only)
crypt_use_gpgme
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls the use of the GPGME-enabled crypto back-
ends. If it is set and Mutt was built with gpgme support, the
gpgme code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the clas-
sic code. Note that you need to set this option in .muttrc; it
won't have any effect when used interactively.
crypt_use_pka
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls whether mutt uses PKA (see
http://www.g10code.de/docs/pka-intro.de.pdf) during signature
verification (only supported by the GPGME backend).
crypt_verify_sig
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If “yes”, always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures. If
“ask-*”, ask whether or not to verify the signature. If “no”,
never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures. (Crypto only)
date_format
Type: string
Default: “!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z”
This variable controls the format of the date printed by the
“%d” sequence in $index_format. This is passed to the strf-
time(3) function to process the date, see the man page for the
proper syntax.
Unless the first character in the string is a bang (“!”), the
month and week day names are expanded according to the locale
specified in the variable $locale. If the first character in the
string is a bang, the bang is discarded, and the month and week
day names in the rest of the string are expanded in the C locale
(that is in US English).
default_hook
Type: string
Default: “~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)”
This variable controls how “message-hook”, “reply-hook”, “send-
hook”, “send2-hook”, “save-hook”, and “fcc-hook” will be inter-
preted if they are specified with only a simple regexp, instead
of a matching pattern. The hooks are expanded when they are
declared, so a hook will be interpreted according to the value
of this variable at the time the hook is declared.
The default value matches if the message is either from a user
matching the regular expression given, or if it is from you (if
the from address matches “alternates”) and is to or cc'ed to a
user matching the given regular expression.
delete
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing
or synchronizing a mailbox. If set to yes, messages marked for
deleting will automatically be purged without prompting. If set
to no, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.
delete_untag
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If this option is set, mutt will untag messages when marking
them for deletion. This applies when you either explicitly
delete a message, or when you save it to another folder.
digest_collapse
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If this option is set, mutt's received-attachments menu will not
show the subparts of individual messages in a multipart/digest.
To see these subparts, press “v” on that menu.
display_filter
Type: path
Default: “”
When set, specifies a command used to filter messages. When a
message is viewed it is passed as standard input to $dis-
play_filter, and the filtered message is read from the standard
output.
dotlock_program
Type: path
Default: “/usr/bin/mutt_dotlock”
Contains the path of the mutt_dotlock(8) binary to be used by
mutt.
dsn_notify
Type: string
Default: “”
This variable sets the request for when notification is
returned. The string consists of a comma separated list (no
spaces!) of one or more of the following: never, to never
request notification, failure, to request notification on trans-
mission failure, delay, to be notified of message delays, suc-
cess, to be notified of successful transmission.
Example:
set dsn_notify=”failure,delay”
Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable
this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a
MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the
-N option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is autode-
tected so that it depends on the server whether DSN will be used
or not.
dsn_return
Type: string
Default: “”
This variable controls how much of your message is returned in
DSN messages. It may be set to either hdrs to return just the
message header, or full to return the full message.
Example:
set dsn_return=hdrs
Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable
this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a
MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the
-R option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is autode-
tected so that it depends on the server whether DSN will be used
or not.
duplicate_threads
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether mutt, when $sort is set to
threads, threads messages with the same Message-Id together. If
it is set, it will indicate that it thinks they are duplicates
of each other with an equals sign in the thread tree.
edit_headers
Type: boolean
Default: no
This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing mes-
sages along with the body of your message.
Note that changes made to the References: and Date: headers are
ignored for interoperability reasons.
editor
Type: path
Default: “”
This variable specifies which editor is used by mutt. It
defaults to the value of the $VISUAL, or $EDITOR, environment
variable, or to the string “/usr/bin/editor” if neither of those
are set.
encode_from
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will quoted-printable encode messages when they
contain the string “From ” (note the trailing space) in the
beginning of a line. This is useful to avoid the tampering cer-
tain mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages
(in order to prevent tools from misinterpreting the line as a
mbox message separator).
envelope_from_address
Type: e-mail address
Default: “”
Manually sets the envelope sender for outgoing messages. This
value is ignored if $use_envelope_from is unset.
escape
Type: string
Default: “~”
Escape character to use for functions in the builtin editor.
fast_reply
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the initial prompt for recipients and subject are
skipped when replying to messages, and the initial prompt for
subject is skipped when forwarding messages.
Note: this variable has no effect when the $autoedit variable is
set.
fcc_attach
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not attachments on outgoing
messages are saved along with the main body of your message.
fcc_clear
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and
unsigned, even when the actual message is encrypted and/or
signed. (PGP only)
folder
Type: path
Default: “~/Mail”
Specifies the default location of your mailboxes. A “+” or “=”
at the beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value of
this variable. Note that if you change this variable (from the
default) value you need to make sure that the assignment occurs
before you use “+” or “=” for any other variables since expan-
sion takes place when handling the “mailboxes” command.
folder_format
Type: string
Default: “%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f”
This variable allows you to customize the file browser display
to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_for-
mat, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%C current file number
%d date/time folder was last modified
%f filename (“/” is appended to directory names, “@” to sym-
bolic links and “*” to executable files)
%F file permissions
%g group name (or numeric gid, if missing)
%l number of hard links
%N N if folder has new mail, blank otherwise
%s size in bytes
%t “*” if the file is tagged, blank otherwise
%u owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)
%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac-
ter “X”
%|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
%*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu-
mentation.
followup_to
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether or not the “Mail-Followup-To:” header field is
generated when sending mail. When set, Mutt will generate this
field when you are replying to a known mailing list, specified
with the “subscribe” or “lists” commands.
This field has two purposes. First, preventing you from receiv-
ing duplicate copies of replies to messages which you send to
mailing lists, and second, ensuring that you do get a reply sep-
arately for any messages sent to known lists to which you are
not subscribed.
The header will contain only the list's address for subscribed
lists, and both the list address and your own email address for
unsubscribed lists. Without this header, a group reply to your
message sent to a subscribed list will be sent to both the list
and your address, resulting in two copies of the same email for
you.
force_name
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable is similar to $save_name, except that Mutt will
store a copy of your outgoing message by the username of the
address you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.
Also see the $record variable.
forward_decode
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain
when forwarding a message. The message header is also RFC2047
decoded. This variable is only used, if $mime_forward is unset,
otherwise $mime_forward_decode is used instead.
forward_decrypt
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the handling of encrypted messages when forwarding a
message. When set, the outer layer of encryption is stripped
off. This variable is only used if $mime_forward is set and
$mime_forward_decode is unset. (PGP only)
forward_edit
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This quadoption controls whether or not the user is automati-
cally placed in the editor when forwarding messages. For those
who always want to forward with no modification, use a setting
of “no”.
forward_format
Type: string
Default: “[%a: %s]”
This variable controls the default subject when forwarding a
message. It uses the same format sequences as the $index_format
variable.
forward_quote
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, forwarded messages included in the main body of the
message (when $mime_forward is unset) will be quoted using
$indent_string.
from
Type: e-mail address
Default: “”
When set, this variable contains a default from address. It can
be overridden using “my_hdr” (including from a “send-hook”) and
$reverse_name. This variable is ignored if $use_from is unset.
This setting defaults to the contents of the environment vari-
able $EMAIL.
gecos_mask
Type: regular expression
Default: “^[^,]*”
A regular expression used by mutt to parse the GECOS field of a
password entry when expanding the alias. The default value will
return the string up to the first “,” encountered. If the GECOS
field contains a string like “lastname, firstname” then you
should set it to “.*”.
This can be useful if you see the following behavior: you
address an e-mail to user ID “stevef” whose full name is “Steve
Franklin”. If mutt expands “stevef” to “”Franklin”
stevef@foo.bar” then you should set the $gecos_mask to a regular
expression that will match the whole name so mutt will expand
“Franklin” to “Franklin, Steve”.
hdrs
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, the header fields normally added by the “my_hdr”
command are not created. This variable must be unset before
composing a new message or replying in order to take effect. If
set, the user defined header fields are added to every new mes-
sage.
header
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, this variable causes Mutt to include the header of the
message you are replying to into the edit buffer. The $weed
setting applies.
header_cache
Type: path
Default: “”
This variable points to the header cache database. If pointing
to a directory Mutt will contain a header cache database file
per folder, if pointing to a file that file will be a single
global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching
will be used.
Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP
MH or Maildir folders, see “caching” for details.
header_cache_compress
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When mutt is compiled with qdbm or tokyocabinet as header cache
backend, this option determines whether the database will be
compressed. Compression results in database files roughly being
one fifth of the usual diskspace, but the uncompression can
result in a slower opening of cached folder(s) which in general
is still much faster than opening non header cached folders.
help
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, help lines describing the bindings for the major func-
tions provided by each menu are displayed on the first line of
the screen.
Note: The binding will not be displayed correctly if the func-
tion is bound to a sequence rather than a single keystroke.
Also, the help line may not be updated if a binding is changed
while Mutt is running. Since this variable is primarily aimed
at new users, neither of these should present a major problem.
hidden_host
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will skip the host name part of $hostname vari-
able when adding the domain part to addresses. This variable
does not affect the generation of Message-IDs, and it will not
lead to the cut-off of first-level domains.
hide_limited
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are
hidden by limiting, in the thread tree.
hide_missing
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages in
the thread tree.
hide_thread_subject
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will not show the subject of messages in the
thread tree that have the same subject as their parent or clos-
est previously displayed sibling.
hide_top_limited
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are
hidden by limiting, at the top of threads in the thread tree.
Note that when $hide_limited is set, this option will have no
effect.
hide_top_missing
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages at
the top of threads in the thread tree. Note that when
$hide_missing is set, this option will have no effect.
history
Type: number
Default: 10
This variable controls the size (in number of strings remem-
bered) of the string history buffer per category. The buffer is
cleared each time the variable is set.
history_file
Type: path
Default: “~/.mutthistory”
The file in which Mutt will save its history.
honor_disposition
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, Mutt will not display attachments with a disposition
of “attachment” inline even if it could render the part to plain
text. These MIME parts can only be viewed from the attachment
menu.
If unset, Mutt will render all MIME parts it can properly trans-
form to plain text.
honor_followup_to
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header
is honored when group-replying to a message.
hostname
Type: string
Default: “”
Specifies the fully-qualified hostname of the system mutt is
running on containing the host's name and the DNS domain it
belongs to. It is used as the domain part (after “@”) for local
email addresses as well as Message-Id headers.
Its value is determined at startup as follows: If the node's
name as returned by the uname(3) function contains the hostname
and the domain, these are used to construct $hostname. If there
is no domain part returned, Mutt will look for a “domain” or
“search” line in /etc/resolv.conf to determine the domain.
Optionally, Mutt can be compiled with a fixed domain name in
which case a detected one is not used.
Also see $use_domain and $hidden_host.
Note: On Debian systems, the default for this variable is
obtained from /etc/mailname when Mutt starts.
ignore_linear_white_space
Type: boolean
Default: no
This option replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word and
text to a single space to prevent the display of MIME-encoded
“Subject:” field from being divided into multiple lines.
ignore_list_reply_to
Type: boolean
Default: no
Affects the behaviour of the <reply> function when replying to
messages from mailing lists (as defined by the “subscribe” or
“lists” commands). When set, if the “Reply-To:” field is set to
the same value as the “To:” field, Mutt assumes that the
“Reply-To:” field was set by the mailing list to automate
responses to the list, and will ignore this field. To direct a
response to the mailing list when this option is set, use the
<list-reply> function; <group-reply> will reply to both the
sender and the list.
imap_authenticators
Type: string
Default: “”
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
may attempt to use to log in to an IMAP server, in the order
mutt should try them. Authentication methods are either “login”
or the right side of an IMAP “AUTH=xxx” capability string, eg
“digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is case-insen-
sitive. If it's unset (the default) mutt will try all available
methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.
Example:
set imap_authenticators=”gssapi:cram-md5:login”
Note: Mutt will only fall back to other authentication methods
if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is avail-
able but authentication fails, mutt will not connect to the IMAP
server.
imap_check_subscribed
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will fetch the set of subscribed folders from
your server on connection, and add them to the set of mailboxes
it polls for new mail just as if you had issued individual
“mailboxes” commands.
imap_delim_chars
Type: string
Default: “/.”
This contains the list of characters which you would like to
treat as folder separators for displaying IMAP paths. In partic-
ular it helps in using the “=” shortcut for your folder vari-
able.
imap_headers
Type: string
Default: “”
Mutt requests these header fields in addition to the default
headers (“Date:”, “From:”, “Subject:”, “To:”, “Cc:”, “Mes-
sage-Id:”, “References:”, “Content-Type:”, “Content-Descrip-
tion:”, “In-Reply-To:”, “Reply-To:”, “Lines:”, “List-Post:”,
“X-Label:”) from IMAP servers before displaying the index menu.
You may want to add more headers for spam detection.
Note: This is a space separated list, items should be uppercase
and not contain the colon, e.g. “X-BOGOSITY X-SPAM-STATUS” for
the “X-Bogosity:” and “X-Spam-Status:” header fields.
imap_idle
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension to
check for new mail in the current mailbox. Some servers (dovecot
was the inspiration for this option) react badly to mutt's
implementation. If your connection seems to freeze up periodi-
cally, try unsetting this.
imap_keepalive
Type: number
Default: 900
This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds
that mutt will wait before polling open IMAP connections, to
prevent the server from closing them before mutt has finished
with them. The default is well within the RFC-specified minimum
amount of time (30 minutes) before a server is allowed to do
this, but in practice the RFC does get violated every now and
then. Reduce this number if you find yourself getting discon-
nected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.
imap_list_subscribed
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will look
for only subscribed folders or all folders. This can be toggled
in the IMAP browser with the <toggle-subscribed> function.
imap_login
Type: string
Default: “”
Your login name on the IMAP server.
This variable defaults to the value of $imap_user.
imap_pass
Type: string
Default: “”
Specifies the password for your IMAP account. If unset, Mutt
will prompt you for your password when you invoke the
<imap-fetch-mail> function or try to open an IMAP folder.
Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut-
trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
imap_passive
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for
new mail. Mutt will only check for new mail over existing IMAP
connections. This is useful if you don't want to be prompted to
user/password pairs on mutt invocation, or if opening the con-
nection is slow.
imap_peek
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read
whenever you fetch a message from the server. This is generally
a good thing, but can make closing an IMAP folder somewhat
slower. This option exists to appease speed freaks.
imap_pipeline_depth
Type: number
Default: 15
Controls the number of IMAP commands that may be queued up
before they are sent to the server. A deeper pipeline reduces
the amount of time mutt must wait for the server, and can make
IMAP servers feel much more responsive. But not all servers cor-
rectly handle pipelined commands, so if you have problems you
might want to try setting this variable to 0.
Note: Changes to this variable have no effect on open connec-
tions.
imap_servernoise
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will display warning messages from the IMAP
server as error messages. Since these messages are often harm-
less, or generated due to configuration problems on the server
which are out of the users' hands, you may wish to suppress them
at some point.
imap_user
Type: string
Default: “”
The name of the user whose mail you intend to access on the IMAP
server.
This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
implicit_autoview
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set to “yes”, mutt will look for a mailcap entry with the
“copiousoutput” flag set for every MIME attachment it doesn't
have an internal viewer defined for. If such an entry is found,
mutt will use the viewer defined in that entry to convert the
body part to text form.
include
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are reply-
ing to is included in your reply.
include_onlyfirst
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls whether or not Mutt includes only the first attachment
of the message you are replying.
indent_string
Type: string
Default: “> ”
Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a
message to which you are replying. You are strongly encouraged
not to change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanat-
ical netizens.
The value of this option is ignored if $text_flowed is set, too
because the quoting mechanism is strictly defined for for-
mat=flowed.
This option is a format string, please see the description of
$index_format for supported printf(3)-style sequences.
index_format
Type: string
Default: “%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&%4c?) %s”
This variable allows you to customize the message index display
to your personal taste.
“Format strings” are similar to the strings used in the C func-
tion printf(3) to format output (see the man page for more
details). The following sequences are defined in Mutt:
%a address of the author
%A reply-to address (if present; otherwise: address of
author)
%b filename of the original message folder (think mailbox)
%B the list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder
name (%b).
%c number of characters (bytes) in the message
%C current message number
%d date and time of the message in the format specified by
$date_format converted to sender's time zone
%D date and time of the message in the format specified by
$date_format converted to the local time zone
%e current message number in thread
%E number of messages in current thread
%f sender (address + real name), either From: or
Return-Path:
%F author name, or recipient name if the message is from you
%H spam attribute(s) of this message
%i message-id of the current message
%l number of lines in the message (does not work with
maildir, mh, and possibly IMAP folders)
%L If an address in the “To:” or “Cc:” header field matches
an address defined by the users “subscribe” command, this
displays ”To <list-name>”, otherwise the same as %F.
%m total number of message in the mailbox
%M number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.
%N message score
%n author's real name (or address if missing)
%O original save folder where mutt would formerly have
stashed the message: list name or recipient name if not
sent to a list
%P progress indicator for the builtin pager (how much of the
file has been displayed)
%s subject of the message
%S status of the message (“N”/“D”/“d”/“!”/“r”/*)
%t “To:” field (recipients)
%T the appropriate character from the $to_chars string
%u user (login) name of the author
%v first name of the author, or the recipient if the message
is from you
%X number of attachments (please see the “attachments” sec-
tion for possible speed effects)
%y “X-Label:” field, if present
%Y “X-Label:” field, if present, and (1) not at part of a
thread tree, (2) at the top of a thread, or (3)
“X-Label:” is different from preceding message's
“X-Label:”.
%Z message status flags
%{fmt} the date and time of the message is converted to sender's
time zone, and “fmt” is expanded by the library function
strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
%[fmt] the date and time of the message is converted to the
local time zone, and “fmt” is expanded by the library
function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
%(fmt) the local date and time when the message was received.
“fmt” is expanded by the library function strftime(3); a
leading bang disables locales
%<fmt> the current local time. “fmt” is expanded by the library
function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales.
%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac-
ter “X”
%|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
%*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
“Soft-fill” deserves some explanation: Normal right-justifica-
tion will print everything to the left of the “%>”, displaying
padding and whatever lies to the right only if there's room. By
contrast, soft-fill gives priority to the right-hand side, guar-
anteeing space to display it and showing padding only if there's
still room. If necessary, soft-fill will eat text leftwards to
make room for rightward text.
Note that these expandos are supported in “save-hook”, “fcc-
hook” and “fcc-save-hook”, too.
ispell
Type: path
Default: “ispell”
How to invoke ispell (GNU's spell-checking software).
keep_flagged
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, read messages marked as flagged will not be moved from
your spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a
“mbox-hook” command.
locale
Type: string
Default: “C”
The locale used by strftime(3) to format dates. Legal values are
the strings your system accepts for the locale environment vari-
able $LC_TIME.
mail_check
Type: number
Default: 5
This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
for new mail. Also see the $timeout variable.
mailcap_path
Type: string
Default: “”
This variable specifies which files to consult when attempting
to display MIME bodies not directly supported by Mutt.
mailcap_sanitize
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, mutt will restrict possible characters in mailcap %
expandos to a well-defined set of safe characters. This is the
safe setting, but we are not sure it doesn't break some more
advanced MIME stuff.
DON'T CHANGE THIS SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE WHAT YOU
ARE DOING!
maildir_header_cache_verify
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Check for Maildir unaware programs other than mutt having modi-
fied maildir files when the header cache is in use. This incurs
one stat(2) per message every time the folder is opened (which
can be very slow for NFS folders).
maildir_trash
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, messages marked as deleted will be saved with the
maildir trashed flag instead of unlinked. Note: this only
applies to maildir-style mailboxes. Setting it will have no
effect on other mailbox types.
mark_old
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether or not mutt marks new unread messages as old if
you exit a mailbox without reading them. With this option set,
the next time you start mutt, the messages will show up with an
“O” next to them in the index menu, indicating that they are
old.
markers
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the display of wrapped lines in the internal pager. If
set, a “+” marker is displayed at the beginning of wrapped
lines.
Also see the $smart_wrap variable.
mask
Type: regular expression
Default: “!^\.[^.]”
A regular expression used in the file browser, optionally pre-
ceded by the not operator “!”. Only files whose names match
this mask will be shown. The match is always case-sensitive.
mbox
Type: path
Default: “~/mbox”
This specifies the folder into which read mail in your
$spoolfile folder will be appended.
Also see the $move variable.
mbox_type
Type: folder magic
Default: mbox
The default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be
any of “mbox”, “MMDF”, “MH” and “Maildir”. This is overridden by
the -m command-line option.
menu_context
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable controls the number of lines of context that are
given when scrolling through menus. (Similar to $pager_context.)
menu_move_off
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, the bottom entry of menus will never scroll up past
the bottom of the screen, unless there are less entries than
lines. When set, the bottom entry may move off the bottom.
menu_scroll
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, menus will be scrolled up or down one line when you
attempt to move across a screen boundary. If unset, the screen
is cleared and the next or previous page of the menu is dis-
played (useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
message_cache_clean
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, mutt will clean out obsolete entries from the message
cache when the mailbox is synchronized. You probably only want
to set it every once in a while, since it can be a little slow
(especially for large folders).
message_cachedir
Type: path
Default: “”
Set this to a directory and mutt will cache copies of messages
from your IMAP and POP servers here. You are free to remove
entries at any time.
When setting this variable to a directory, mutt needs to fetch
every remote message only once and can perform regular expres-
sion searches as fast as for local folders.
Also see the $message_cache_clean variable.
message_format
Type: string
Default: “%s”
This is the string displayed in the “attachment” menu for
attachments of type message/rfc822. For a full listing of
defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_for-
mat.
meta_key
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, forces Mutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit
(bit 8) set as if the user had pressed the Esc key and whatever
key remains after having the high bit removed. For example, if
the key pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf8, then this is treated
as if the user had pressed Esc then “x”. This is because the
result of removing the high bit from 0xf8 is 0x78, which is the
ASCII character “x”.
metoo
Type: boolean
Default: no
If unset, Mutt will remove your address (see the “alternates”
command) from the list of recipients when replying to a message.
mh_purge
Type: boolean
Default: no
When unset, mutt will mimic mh's behaviour and rename deleted
messages to ,<old file name> in mh folders instead of really
deleting them. This leaves the message on disk but makes pro-
grams reading the folder ignore it. If the variable is set, the
message files will simply be deleted.
This option is similar to $maildir_trash for Maildir folders.
mh_seq_flagged
Type: string
Default: “flagged”
The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.
mh_seq_replied
Type: string
Default: “replied”
The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.
mh_seq_unseen
Type: string
Default: “unseen”
The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.
mime_forward
Type: quadoption
Default: no
When set, the message you are forwarding will be attached as a
separate message/rfc822 MIME part instead of included in the
main body of the message. This is useful for forwarding MIME
messages so the receiver can properly view the message as it was
delivered to you. If you like to switch between MIME and not
MIME from mail to mail, set this variable to “ask-no” or
“ask-yes”.
Also see $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode.
mime_forward_decode
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain
when forwarding a message while $mime_forward is set. Otherwise
$forward_decode is used instead.
mime_forward_rest
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from the
attachment menu, attachments which cannot be decoded in a rea-
sonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if
this option is set.
mix_entry_format
Type: string
Default: “%4n %c %-16s %a”
This variable describes the format of a remailer line on the
mixmaster chain selection screen. The following printf(3)-like
sequences are supported:
%n The running number on the menu.
%c Remailer capabilities.
%s The remailer's short name.
%a The remailer's e-mail address.
mixmaster
Type: path
Default: “mixmaster”
This variable contains the path to the Mixmaster binary on your
system. It is used with various sets of parameters to gather
the list of known remailers, and to finally send a message
through the mixmaster chain.
Note: On Debian systems, this option is set by default to “mix-
master-filter” in /etc/Muttrc.
move
Type: quadoption
Default: no
Controls whether or not Mutt will move read messages from your
spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox, or as a result of a “mbox-
hook” command.
narrow_tree
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable, when set, makes the thread tree narrower, allow-
ing deeper threads to fit on the screen.
net_inc
Type: number
Default: 10
Operations that expect to transfer a large amount of data over
the network will update their progress every $net_inc kilobytes.
If set to 0, no progress messages will be displayed.
See also $read_inc, $write_inc and $net_inc.
pager
Type: path
Default: “builtin”
This variable specifies which pager you would like to use to
view messages. The value “builtin” means to use the builtin
pager, otherwise this variable should specify the pathname of
the external pager you would like to use.
Using an external pager may have some disadvantages: Additional
keystrokes are necessary because you can't call mutt functions
directly from the pager, and screen resizes cause lines longer
than the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.
pager_context
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable controls the number of lines of context that are
given when displaying the next or previous page in the internal
pager. By default, Mutt will display the line after the last
one on the screen at the top of the next page (0 lines of con-
text).
This variable also specifies the amount of context given for
search results. If positive, this many lines will be given
before a match, if 0, the match will be top-aligned.
pager_format
Type: string
Default: “-%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n %s%* -- (%P)”
This variable controls the format of the one-line message “sta-
tus” displayed before each message in either the internal or an
external pager. The valid sequences are listed in the
$index_format section.
pager_index_lines
Type: number
Default: 0
Determines the number of lines of a mini-index which is shown
when in the pager. The current message, unless near the top or
bottom of the folder, will be roughly one third of the way down
this mini-index, giving the reader the context of a few messages
before and after the message. This is useful, for example, to
determine how many messages remain to be read in the current
thread. One of the lines is reserved for the status bar from
the index, so a setting of 6 will only show 5 lines of the
actual index. A value of 0 results in no index being shown. If
the number of messages in the current folder is less than
$pager_index_lines, then the index will only use as many lines
as it needs.
pager_stop
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the internal-pager will not move to the next message
when you are at the end of a message and invoke the <next-page>
function.
pgp_auto_decode
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, mutt will automatically attempt to decrypt traditional
PGP messages whenever the user performs an operation which ordi-
narily would result in the contents of the message being oper-
ated on. For example, if the user displays a pgp-traditional
message which has not been manually checked with the <check-tra-
ditional-pgp> function, mutt will automatically check the mes-
sage for traditional pgp.
pgp_autoinline
Type: boolean
Default: no
This option controls whether Mutt generates old-style inline
(traditional) PGP encrypted or signed messages under certain
circumstances. This can be overridden by use of the pgp menu,
when inline is not required.
Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
which consist of more than a single MIME part. Mutt can be con-
figured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
(traditional) would not work.
Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
pgp_check_exit
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, mutt will check the exit code of the PGP subprocess when
signing or encrypting. A non-zero exit code means that the sub-
process failed. (PGP only)
pgp_clearsign_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This format is used to create an old-style “clearsigned” PGP
message. Note that the use of this format is strongly depre-
cated.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_decode_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This format strings specifies a command which is used to decode
application/pgp attachments.
The PGP command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like
sequences:
%p Expands to PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is needed, to
an empty string otherwise. Note: This may be used with a
%? construct.
%f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
%s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature
part
of a multipart/signed attachment when verify-
ing it.
%a The value of $pgp_sign_as.
%r One or more key IDs.
For examples on how to configure these formats for the various
versions of PGP which are floating around, see the pgp and gpg
sample configuration files in the samples/ subdirectory which
has been installed on your system alongside the documentation.
(PGP only)
pgp_decrypt_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_encrypt_only_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_encrypt_sign_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_entry_format
Type: string
Default: “%4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u”
This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu
to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_format,
but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%n number
%k key id
%u user id
%a algorithm
%l key length
%f flags
%c capabilities
%t trust/validity of the key-uid association
%[<s>] date of the key where <s> is an strftime(3) expression
(PGP only)
pgp_export_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to export a public key from the user's key
ring.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_getkeys_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is invoked whenever mutt will need public key
information. Of the sequences supported by $pgp_decode_command,
%r is the only printf(3)-like sequence used with this format.
(PGP only)
pgp_good_sign
Type: regular expression
Default: “”
If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP signature is
only considered verified if the output from $pgp_verify_command
contains the text. Use this variable if the exit code from the
command is 0 even for bad signatures. (PGP only)
pgp_ignore_subkeys
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to ignore OpenPGP subkeys.
Instead, the principal key will inherit the subkeys' capabili-
ties. Unset this if you want to play interesting key selection
games. (PGP only)
pgp_import_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to import a key from a message into the
user's public key ring.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_list_pubring_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to list the public key ring's contents.
The output format must be analogous to the one used by
gpg --list-keys --with-colons.
This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes
with mutt.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_list_secring_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to list the secret key ring's contents.
The output format must be analogous to the one used by:
gpg --list-keys --with-colons.
This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes
with mutt.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_long_ids
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs, if unset use the normal 32 bit
key IDs. (PGP only)
pgp_mime_auto
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
This option controls whether Mutt will prompt you for automati-
cally sending a (signed/encrypted) message using PGP/MIME when
inline (traditional) fails (for any reason).
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
pgp_replyinline
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cre-
ate an inline (traditional) message when replying to a message
which is PGP encrypted/signed inline. This can be overridden by
use of the pgp menu, when inline is not required. This option
does not automatically detect if the (replied-to) message is
inline; instead it relies on Mutt internals for previously
checked/flagged messages.
Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
which consist of more than a single MIME part. Mutt can be con-
figured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
(traditional) would not work.
Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
pgp_retainable_sigs
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, signed and encrypted messages will consist of nested
multipart/signed and multipart/encrypted body parts.
This is useful for applications like encrypted and signed mail-
ing lists, where the outer layer (multipart/encrypted) can be
easily removed, while the inner multipart/signed part is
retained. (PGP only)
pgp_show_unusable
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, mutt will display non-usable keys on the PGP key selec-
tion menu. This includes keys which have been revoked, have
expired, or have been marked as “disabled” by the user. (PGP
only)
pgp_sign_as
Type: string
Default: “”
If you have more than one key pair, this option allows you to
specify which of your private keys to use. It is recommended
that you use the keyid form to specify your key (e.g.
0x00112233). (PGP only)
pgp_sign_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for a
multipart/signed PGP/MIME body part.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_sort_keys
Type: sort order
Default: address
Specifies how the entries in the pgp menu are sorted. The fol-
lowing are legal values:
address
sort alphabetically by user id
keyid sort alphabetically by key id
date sort by key creation date
trust sort by the trust of the key
If you prefer reverse order of the above values, prefix it with
“reverse-”. (PGP only)
pgp_strict_enc
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, Mutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed messages
as quoted-printable. Please note that unsetting this variable
may lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only
change this if you know what you are doing. (PGP only)
pgp_timeout
Type: number
Default: 300
The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will
expire if not used. (PGP only)
pgp_use_gpg_agent
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, mutt will use a possibly-running gpg-agent(1) process.
(PGP only)
pgp_verify_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to verify PGP signatures.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_verify_key_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to verify key information from the key
selection menu.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for
possible printf(3)-like sequences. (PGP only)
pipe_decode
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the <pipe-message> command. When unset,
Mutt will pipe the messages without any preprocessing. When set,
Mutt will weed headers and will attempt to decode the messages
first.
pipe_sep
Type: string
Default: “\n”
The separator to add between messages when piping a list of
tagged messages to an external Unix command.
pipe_split
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the <pipe-message> function following
<tag-prefix>. If this variable is unset, when piping a list of
tagged messages Mutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe
them all concatenated. When set, Mutt will pipe the messages
one by one. In both cases the messages are piped in the current
sorted order, and the $pipe_sep separator is added after each
message.
pop_auth_try_all
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, Mutt will try all available authentication methods.
When unset, Mutt will only fall back to other authentication
methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is
available but authentication fails, Mutt will not connect to the
POP server.
pop_authenticators
Type: string
Default: “”
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
may attempt to use to log in to an POP server, in the order mutt
should try them. Authentication methods are either “user”,
“apop” or any SASL mechanism, eg “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or
“cram-md5”. This option is case-insensitive. If this option is
unset (the default) mutt will try all available methods, in
order from most-secure to least-secure.
Example:
set pop_authenticators=”digest-md5:apop:user”
pop_checkinterval
Type: number
Default: 60
This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
for new mail in the currently selected mailbox if it is a POP
mailbox.
pop_delete
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-no
If set, Mutt will delete successfully downloaded messages from
the POP server when using the <fetch-mail> function. When
unset, Mutt will download messages but also leave them on the
POP server.
pop_host
Type: string
Default: “”
The name of your POP server for the <fetch-mail> function. You
can also specify an alternative port, username and password, ie:
[pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]
where “[...]” denotes an optional part.
pop_last
Type: boolean
Default: no
If this variable is set, mutt will try to use the “LAST” POP
command for retrieving only unread messages from the POP server
when using the <fetch-mail> function.
pop_pass
Type: string
Default: “”
Specifies the password for your POP account. If unset, Mutt
will prompt you for your password when you open a POP mailbox.
Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut-
trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
pop_reconnect
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect to the POP
server if the connection is lost.
pop_user
Type: string
Default: “”
Your login name on the POP server.
This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
post_indent_string
Type: string
Default: “”
Similar to the $attribution variable, Mutt will append this
string after the inclusion of a message which is being replied
to.
postpone
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not messages are saved in the $postponed
mailbox when you elect not to send immediately.
Also see the $recall variable.
postponed
Type: path
Default: “~/postponed”
Mutt allows you to indefinitely “postpone sending a message”
which you are editing. When you choose to postpone a message,
Mutt saves it in the mailbox specified by this variable.
Also see the $postpone variable.
preconnect
Type: string
Default: “”
If set, a shell command to be executed if mutt fails to estab-
lish a connection to the server. This is useful for setting up
secure connections, e.g. with ssh(1). If the command returns a
nonzero status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:
set preconnect=”ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net \
sleep 20 < /dev/null > /dev/null”
Mailbox “foo” on “mailhost.net” can now be reached as “{local-
host:1234}foo”.
Note: For this example to work, you must be able to log in to
the remote machine without having to enter a password.
print
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-no
Controls whether or not Mutt really prints messages. This is
set to “ask-no” by default, because some people accidentally hit
“p” often.
print_command
Type: path
Default: “lpr”
This specifies the command pipe that should be used to print
messages.
print_decode
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Used in connection with the <print-message> command. If this
option is set, the message is decoded before it is passed to the
external command specified by $print_command. If this option is
unset, no processing will be applied to the message when print-
ing it. The latter setting may be useful if you are using some
advanced printer filter which is able to properly format e-mail
messages for printing.
print_split
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the <print-message> command. If this
option is set, the command specified by $print_command is exe-
cuted once for each message which is to be printed. If this
option is unset, the command specified by $print_command is exe-
cuted only once, and all the messages are concatenated, with a
form feed as the message separator.
Those who use the enscript(1) program's mail-printing mode will
most likely want to set this option.
prompt_after
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If you use an external $pager, setting this variable will cause
Mutt to prompt you for a command when the pager exits rather
than returning to the index menu. If unset, Mutt will return to
the index menu when the external pager exits.
query_command
Type: path
Default: “”
This specifies the command that mutt will use to make external
address queries. The string should contain a “%s”, which will
be substituted with the query string the user types. See
“query” for more information.
query_format
Type: string
Default: “%4c %t %-25.25a %-25.25n %?e?(%e)?”
This variable describes the format of the “query” menu. The fol-
lowing printf(3)-style sequences are understood:
%a destination address
%c current entry number
%e extra information *
%n destination name
%t “*” if current entry is tagged, a space otherwise
%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
%|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
%*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu-
mentation.
* = can be optionally printed if nonzero, see the $status_format
documentation.
quit
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether “quit” and “exit” actually quit
from mutt. If this option is set, they do quit, if it is unset,
they have no effect, and if it is set to ask-yes or ask-no, you
are prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.
quote_regexp
Type: regular expression
Default: “^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+”
A regular expression used in the internal pager to determine
quoted sections of text in the body of a message. Quoted text
may be filtered out using the <toggle-quoted> command, or col-
ored according to the “color quoted” family of directives.
Higher levels of quoting may be colored differently (“color
quoted1”, “color quoted2”, etc.). The quoting level is deter-
mined by removing the last character from the matched text and
recursively reapplying the regular expression until it fails to
produce a match.
Match detection may be overridden by the $smileys regular
expression.
read_inc
Type: number
Default: 10
If set to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display which mes-
sage it is currently on when reading a mailbox or when perform-
ing search actions such as search and limit. The message is
printed after this many messages have been read or searched
(e.g., if set to 25, Mutt will print a message when it is at
message 25, and then again when it gets to message 50). This
variable is meant to indicate progress when reading or searching
large mailboxes which may take some time. When set to 0, only a
single message will appear before the reading the mailbox.
Also see the $write_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and
the “tuning” section of the manual for performance considera-
tions.
read_only
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, all folders are opened in read-only mode.
realname
Type: string
Default: “”
This variable specifies what “real” or “personal” name should be
used when sending messages.
By default, this is the GECOS field from /etc/passwd. Note that
this variable will not be used when the user has set a real name
in the $from variable.
recall
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not Mutt recalls postponed messages when
composing a new message.
Setting this variable to is not generally useful, and thus not
recommended.
Also see $postponed variable.
record
Type: path
Default: “~/sent”
This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should
be appended. (This is meant as the primary method for saving a
copy of your messages, but another way to do this is using the
“my_hdr” command to create a “Bcc:” field with your email
address in it.)
The value of $record is overridden by the $force_name and
$save_name variables, and the “fcc-hook” command.
reply_regexp
Type: regular expression
Default: “^(re([\[0-9\]+])*|aw):[ \t]*”
A regular expression used to recognize reply messages when
threading and replying. The default value corresponds to the
English ”Re:” and the German ”Aw:”.
reply_self
Type: boolean
Default: no
If unset and you are replying to a message sent by you, Mutt
will assume that you want to reply to the recipients of that
message rather than to yourself.
Also see the “alternates” command.
reply_to
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
If set, when replying to a message, Mutt will use the address
listed in the Reply-to: header as the recipient of the reply.
If unset, it will use the address in the From: header field
instead. This option is useful for reading a mailing list that
sets the Reply-To: header field to the list address and you want
to send a private message to the author of a message.
resolve
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, the cursor will be automatically advanced to the next
(possibly undeleted) message whenever a command that modifies
the current message is executed.
reverse_alias
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls whether or not Mutt will display the
“personal” name from your aliases in the index menu if it finds
an alias that matches the message's sender. For example, if you
have the following alias:
alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
and then you receive mail which contains the following header:
From: abd30425@somewhere.net
It would be displayed in the index menu as “Joe User” instead of
“abd30425@somewhere.net.” This is useful when the person's
e-mail address is not human friendly.
reverse_name
Type: boolean
Default: no
It may sometimes arrive that you receive mail to a certain
machine, move the messages to another machine, and reply to some
the messages from there. If this variable is set, the default
From: line of the reply messages is built using the address
where you received the messages you are replying to if that
address matches your “alternates”. If the variable is unset, or
the address that would be used doesn't match your “alternates”,
the From: line will use your address on the current machine.
Also see the “alternates” command.
reverse_realname
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable fine-tunes the behaviour of the $reverse_name fea-
ture. When it is set, mutt will use the address from incoming
messages as-is, possibly including eventual real names. When it
is unset, mutt will override any such real names with the set-
ting of the $realname variable.
rfc2047_parameters
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, Mutt will decode RFC2047-encoded MIME
parameters. You want to set this variable when mutt suggests you
to save attachments to files named like:
=?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
When this variable is set interactively, the change won't be
active until you change folders.
Note that this use of RFC2047's encoding is explicitly prohib-
ited by the standard, but nevertheless encountered in the wild.
Also note that setting this parameter will not have the effect
that mutt generates this kind of encoding. Instead, mutt will
unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC2231.
save_address
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, mutt will take the sender's full address when choosing a
default folder for saving a mail. If $save_name or $force_name
is set too, the selection of the Fcc folder will be changed as
well.
save_empty
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, mailboxes which contain no saved messages will be
removed when closed (the exception is $spoolfile which is never
removed). If set, mailboxes are never removed.
Note: This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders, Mutt does not
delete MH and Maildir directories.
save_history
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable controls the size of the history (per category)
saved in the $history_file file.
save_name
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls how copies of outgoing messages are
saved. When set, a check is made to see if a mailbox specified
by the recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a
mailbox in the $folder directory with the username part of the
recipient address). If the mailbox exists, the outgoing message
will be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to
the $record mailbox.
Also see the $force_name variable.
score
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is unset, scoring is turned off. This can be
useful to selectively disable scoring for certain folders when
the $score_threshold_delete variable and related are used.
score_threshold_delete
Type: number
Default: -1
Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
the value of this variable are automatically marked for deletion
by mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to
zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a
message for deletion.
score_threshold_flag
Type: number
Default: 9999
Messages which have been assigned a score greater than or equal
to this variable's value are automatically marked ”flagged”.
score_threshold_read
Type: number
Default: -1
Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
the value of this variable are automatically marked as read by
mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to
zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a
message read.
search_context
Type: number
Default: 0
For the pager, this variable specifies the number of lines shown
before search results. By default, search results will be
top-aligned.
send_charset
Type: string
Default: “us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8”
A colon-delimited list of character sets for outgoing messages.
Mutt will use the first character set into which the text can be
converted exactly. If your $charset is not “iso-8859-1” and
recipients may not understand “UTF-8”, it is advisable to
include in the list an appropriate widely used standard charac-
ter set (such as “iso-8859-2”, “koi8-r” or “iso-2022-jp”) either
instead of or after “iso-8859-1”.
In case the text cannot be converted into one of these exactly,
mutt uses $charset as a fallback.
sendmail
Type: path
Default: “/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi”
Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by
Mutt. Mutt expects that the specified program interprets addi-
tional arguments as recipient addresses.
sendmail_wait
Type: number
Default: 0
Specifies the number of seconds to wait for the $sendmail
process to finish before giving up and putting delivery in the
background.
Mutt interprets the value of this variable as follows:
>0 number of seconds to wait for sendmail to finish before
continuing
0 wait forever for sendmail to finish
<0 always put sendmail in the background without waiting
Note that if you specify a value other than 0, the output of the
child process will be put in a temporary file. If there is some
error, you will be informed as to where to find the output.
shell
Type: path
Default: “”
Command to use when spawning a subshell. By default, the user's
login shell from /etc/passwd is used.
sig_dashes
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, a line containing “-- ” (note the trailing space) will
be inserted before your $signature. It is strongly recommended
that you not unset this variable unless your signature contains
just your name. The reason for this is because many software
packages use “-- \n” to detect your signature. For example,
Mutt has the ability to highlight the signature in a different
color in the builtin pager.
sig_on_top
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, the signature will be included before any quoted or for-
warded text. It is strongly recommended that you do not set
this variable unless you really know what you are doing, and are
prepared to take some heat from netiquette guardians.
signature
Type: path
Default: “~/.signature”
Specifies the filename of your signature, which is appended to
all outgoing messages. If the filename ends with a pipe (“|”),
it is assumed that filename is a shell command and input should
be read from its standard output.
simple_search
Type: string
Default: “~f %s | ~s %s”
Specifies how Mutt should expand a simple search into a real
search pattern. A simple search is one that does not contain
any of the “~” pattern operators. See “patterns” for more
information on search patterns.
For example, if you simply type “joe” at a search or limit
prompt, Mutt will automatically expand it to the value specified
by this variable by replacing “%s” with the supplied string.
For the default value, “joe” would be expanded to: “~f joe | ~s
joe”.
sleep_time
Type: number
Default: 1
Specifies time, in seconds, to pause while displaying certain
informational messages, while moving from folder to folder and
after expunging messages from the current folder. The default
is to pause one second, so a value of zero for this option sup-
presses the pause.
smart_wrap
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the display of lines longer than the screen width in
the internal pager. If set, long lines are wrapped at a word
boundary. If unset, lines are simply wrapped at the screen
edge. Also see the $markers variable.
smileys
Type: regular expression
Default: “(>From )|(:[-^]?[][)(><}{|/DP])”
The pager uses this variable to catch some common false posi-
tives of $quote_regexp, most notably smileys and not consider a
line quoted text if it also matches $smileys. This mostly hap-
pens at the beginning of a line.
pgp_mime_signature_filename
Type: string
Default: “signature.asc”
This option sets the filename used for signature parts in
PGP/MIME signed messages.
pgp_mime_signature_description
Type: string
Default: “Digital signature”
This option sets the Content-Description used for signature
parts in PGP/MIME signed messages.
smime_ask_cert_label
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This flag controls whether you want to be asked to enter a label
for a certificate about to be added to the database or not. It
is set by default. (S/MIME only)
smime_ca_location
Type: path
Default: “”
This variable contains the name of either a directory, or a file
which contains trusted certificates for use with OpenSSL.
(S/MIME only)
Note: On Debian systems, this defaults to the first existing
file in the following list: ~/.smime/ca-certificates.crt
~/.smime/ca-bundle.crt /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt.
smime_certificates
Type: path
Default: “”
Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt
has to handle storage and retrieval of keys by itself. This is
very basic right now, and keys and certificates are stored in
two different directories, both named as the hash-value
retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains
mailbox-address keyid pairs, and which can be manually edited.
This option points to the location of the certificates. (S/MIME
only)
smime_decrypt_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This format string specifies a command which is used to decrypt
application/x-pkcs7-mime attachments.
The OpenSSL command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like
sequences similar to PGP's:
%f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
%s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature
part
of a multipart/signed attachment when verify-
ing it.
%k The key-pair specified with $smime_default_key
%c One or more certificate IDs.
%a The algorithm used for encryption.
%C CA location: Depending on whether $smime_ca_location
points to a directory or file, this expands to
“-CApath $smime_ca_location” or “-CAfile
$smime_ca_location”.
For examples on how to configure these formats, see the smime.rc
in the samples/ subdirectory which has been installed on your
system alongside the documentation. (S/MIME only)
smime_decrypt_use_default_key
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set (default) this tells mutt to use the default key for
decryption. Otherwise, if managing multiple certifi-
cate-key-pairs, mutt will try to use the mailbox-address to
determine the key to use. It will ask you to supply a key, if it
can't find one. (S/MIME only)
smime_default_key
Type: string
Default: “”
This is the default key-pair to use for signing. This must be
set to the keyid (the hash-value that OpenSSL generates) to work
properly (S/MIME only)
smime_encrypt_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_encrypt_with
Type: string
Default: “”
This sets the algorithm that should be used for encryption.
Valid choices are “des”, “des3”, “rc2-40”, “rc2-64”, “rc2-128”.
If unset, “3des” (TripleDES) is used. (S/MIME only)
smime_get_cert_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to extract X509 certificates from a PKCS7
structure.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_get_cert_email_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to extract the mail address(es) used for
storing X509 certificates, and for verification purposes (to
check whether the certificate was issued for the sender's mail-
box).
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_get_signer_cert_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to extract only the signers X509 certifi-
cate from a S/MIME signature, so that the certificate's owner
may get compared to the email's “From:” field.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_import_cert_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_is_default
Type: boolean
Default: no
The default behaviour of mutt is to use PGP on all
auto-sign/encryption operations. To override and to use OpenSSL
instead this must be set. However, this has no effect while
replying, since mutt will automatically select the same applica-
tion that was used to sign/encrypt the original message. (Note
that this variable can be overridden by unsetting
$crypt_autosmime.) (S/MIME only)
smime_keys
Type: path
Default: “”
Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt
has to handle storage and retrieval of keys/certs by itself.
This is very basic right now, and stores keys and certificates
in two different directories, both named as the hash-value
retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains
mailbox-address keyid pair, and which can be manually edited.
This option points to the location of the private keys. (S/MIME
only)
smime_pk7out_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME sig-
natures, in order to extract the public X509 certificate(s).
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_sign_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type multi-
part/signed, which can be read by all mail clients.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_sign_opaque_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type appli-
cation/x-pkcs7-signature, which can only be handled by mail
clients supporting the S/MIME extension.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_timeout
Type: number
Default: 300
The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will
expire if not used. (S/MIME only)
smime_verify_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type multi-
part/signed.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_verify_opaque_command
Type: string
Default: “”
This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type appli-
cation/x-pkcs7-mime.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command
for possible printf(3)-like sequences. (S/MIME only)
smtp_authenticators
Type: string
Default: “”
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
may attempt to use to log in to an SMTP server, in the order
mutt should try them. Authentication methods are any SASL mech-
anism, eg “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is
case-insensitive. If it is “unset” (the default) mutt will try
all available methods, in order from most-secure to
least-secure.
Example:
set smtp_authenticators=”digest-md5:cram-md5”
Note: On Debian systems, this variable defaults to the example
mentioned. This file is managed by the “ca-certificates” pack-
age.
smtp_pass
Type: string
Default: “”
Specifies the password for your SMTP account. If unset, Mutt
will prompt you for your password when you first send mail via
SMTP. See $smtp_url to configure mutt to send mail via SMTP.
Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut-
trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
smtp_url
Type: string
Default: “”
Defines the SMTP smarthost where sent messages should relayed
for delivery. This should take the form of an SMTP URL, eg:
smtp[s]://[user[:pass]@]host[:port]/
where “[...]” denotes an optional part. Setting this variable
overrides the value of the $sendmail variable.
sort
Type: sort order
Default: date
Specifies how to sort messages in the “index” menu. Valid val-
ues are:
- date or date-sent
- date-received
- from
- mailbox-order (unsorted)
- score
- size
- spam
- subject
- threads
- to
You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
sorting order (example: “set sort=reverse-date-sent”).
Note: On Debian systems, this option is set by default to
“threads” in /etc/Muttrc.
sort_alias
Type: sort order
Default: alias
Specifies how the entries in the “alias” menu are sorted. The
following are legal values:
- address (sort alphabetically by email address)
- alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
- unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)
sort_aux
Type: sort order
Default: date
When sorting by threads, this variable controls how threads are
sorted in relation to other threads, and how the branches of the
thread trees are sorted. This can be set to any value that
$sort can, except “threads” (in that case, mutt will just use
“date-sent”). You can also specify the “last-” prefix in addi-
tion to the “reverse-” prefix, but “last-” must come after
“reverse-”. The “last-” prefix causes messages to be sorted
against its siblings by which has the last descendant, using the
rest of $sort_aux as an ordering. For instance,
set sort_aux=last-date-received
would mean that if a new message is received in a thread, that
thread becomes the last one displayed (or the first, if you have
“set sort=reverse-threads”.)
Note: For reversed $sort order $sort_aux is reversed again
(which is not the right thing to do, but kept to not break any
existing configuration setting).
sort_browser
Type: sort order
Default: alpha
Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser. By default,
the entries are sorted alphabetically. Valid values:
- alpha (alphabetically)
- date
- size
- unsorted
You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse
sorting order (example: “set sort_browser=reverse-date”).
sort_re
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable is only useful when sorting by threads with
$strict_threads unset. In that case, it changes the heuristic
mutt uses to thread messages by subject. With $sort_re set,
mutt will only attach a message as the child of another message
by subject if the subject of the child message starts with a
substring matching the setting of $reply_regexp. With $sort_re
unset, mutt will attach the message whether or not this is the
case, as long as the non-$reply_regexp parts of both messages
are identical.
spam_separator
Type: string
Default: “,”
This variable controls what happens when multiple spam headers
are matched: if unset, each successive header will overwrite any
previous matches value for the spam label. If set, each succes-
sive match will append to the previous, using this variable's
value as a separator.
spoolfile
Type: path
Default: “”
If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where Mutt can-
not find it, you can specify its location with this variable.
Mutt will initially set this variable to the value of the envi-
ronment variable $MAIL or $MAILDIR if either is defined.
ssl_ca_certificates_file
Type: path
Default: “”
This variable specifies a file containing trusted CA certifi-
cates. Any server certificate that is signed with one of these
CA certificates is also automatically accepted.
Example:
set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
ssl_client_cert
Type: path
Default: “”
The file containing a client certificate and its associated pri-
vate key.
ssl_force_tls
Type: boolean
Default: no
If this variable is set, Mutt will require that all connections
to remote servers be encrypted. Furthermore it will attempt to
negotiate TLS even if the server does not advertise the capabil-
ity, since it would otherwise have to abort the connection any-
way. This option supersedes $ssl_starttls.
ssl_min_dh_prime_bits
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable specifies the minimum acceptable prime size (in
bits) for use in any Diffie-Hellman key exchange. A value of 0
will use the default from the GNUTLS library.
ssl_starttls
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If set (the default), mutt will attempt to use STARTTLS on
servers advertising the capability. When unset, mutt will not
attempt to use STARTTLS regardless of the server's capabilities.
ssl_use_sslv3
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use SSLv3 in the
SSL authentication process.
ssl_use_tlsv1
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1 in the
SSL authentication process.
ssl_verify_dates
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set (the default), mutt will not automatically accept a
server certificate that is either not yet valid or already
expired. You should only unset this for particular known hosts,
using the <account-hook> function.
ssl_verify_host
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set (the default), mutt will not automatically accept a
server certificate whose host name does not match the host used
in your folder URL. You should only unset this for particular
known hosts, using the <account-hook> function.
status_chars
Type: string
Default: “-*%A”
Controls the characters used by the “%r” indicator in $sta-
tus_format. The first character is used when the mailbox is
unchanged. The second is used when the mailbox has been changed,
and it needs to be resynchronized. The third is used if the
mailbox is in read-only mode, or if the mailbox will not be
written when exiting that mailbox (You can toggle whether to
write changes to a mailbox with the <toggle-write> operation,
bound by default to “%”). The fourth is used to indicate that
the current folder has been opened in attach- message mode (Cer-
tain operations like composing a new mail, replying, forwarding,
etc. are not permitted in this mode).
status_format
Type: string
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)---”
Controls the format of the status line displayed in the “index”
menu. This string is similar to $index_format, but has its own
set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%b number of mailboxes with new mail *
%d number of deleted messages *
%f the full pathname of the current mailbox
%F number of flagged messages *
%h local hostname
%l size (in bytes) of the current mailbox *
%L size (in bytes) of the messages shown (i.e., which match
the current limit) *
%m the number of messages in the mailbox *
%M the number of messages shown (i.e., which match the cur-
rent limit) *
%n number of new messages in the mailbox *
%o number of old unread messages *
%p number of postponed messages *
%P percentage of the way through the index
%r modified/read-only/won't-write/attach-message indicator,
according to $status_chars
%s current sorting mode ($sort)
%S current aux sorting method ($sort_aux)
%t number of tagged messages *
%u number of unread messages *
%v Mutt version string
%V currently active limit pattern, if any *
%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
%|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
%*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format docu-
mentation.
* = can be optionally printed if nonzero
Some of the above sequences can be used to optionally print a
string if their value is nonzero. For example, you may only
want to see the number of flagged messages if such messages
exist, since zero is not particularly meaningful. To optionally
print a string based upon one of the above sequences, the fol-
lowing construct is used:
%?<sequence_char>?<optional_string>?
where sequence_char is a character from the table above, and
optional_string is the string you would like printed if
sequence_char is nonzero. optional_string may contain other
sequences as well as normal text, but you may not nest optional
strings.
Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the num-
ber of new messages in a mailbox:
%?n?%n new messages.?
You can also switch between two strings using the following con-
struct:
%?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>?
If the value of sequence_char is non-zero, if_string will be
expanded, otherwise else_string will be expanded.
You can force the result of any printf(3)-like sequence to be
lowercase by prefixing the sequence character with an underscore
(“_”) sign. For example, if you want to display the local host-
name in lowercase, you would use: “%_h”.
If you prefix the sequence character with a colon (“:”) charac-
ter, mutt will replace any dots in the expansion by underscores.
This might be helpful with IMAP folders that don't like dots in
folder names.
status_on_top
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable causes the “status bar” to be displayed on
the first line of the screen rather than near the bottom. If
$help is set, too it'll be placed at the bottom.
strict_threads
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, threading will only make use of the “In-Reply-To” and
“References:” fields when you $sort by message threads. By
default, messages with the same subject are grouped together in
“pseudo threads.”. This may not always be desirable, such as in
a personal mailbox where you might have several unrelated mes-
sages with the subjects like “hi” which will get grouped
together. See also $sort_re for a less drastic way of control-
ling this behaviour.
suspend
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, mutt won't stop when the user presses the terminal's
susp key, usually “^Z”. This is useful if you run mutt inside an
xterm using a command like “xterm -e mutt”.
text_flowed
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will generate “format=flowed” bodies with a con-
tent type of “text/plain; format=flowed”. This format is easier
to handle for some mailing software, and generally just looks
like ordinary text. To actually make use of this format's fea-
tures, you'll need support in your editor.
Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.
thorough_search
Type: boolean
Default: no
Affects the ~b and ~h search operations described in section
“patterns”. If set, the headers and body/attachments of mes-
sages to be searched are decoded before searching. If unset,
messages are searched as they appear in the folder.
Users searching attachments or for non-ASCII characters should
set this value because decoding also includes MIME pars-
ing/decoding and possible character set conversions. Otherwise
mutt will attempt to match against the raw message received (for
example quoted-printable encoded or with encoded headers) which
may lead to incorrect search results.
thread_received
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent
to thread messages by subject.
tilde
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the bottom
of the screen with a tilde (“~”).
time_inc
Type: number
Default: 0
Along with $read_inc, $write_inc, and $net_inc, this variable
controls the frequency with which progress updates are dis-
played. It suppresses updates less than $time_inc milliseconds
apart. This can improve throughput on systems with slow termi-
nals, or when running mutt on a remote system.
Also see the “tuning” section of the manual for performance con-
siderations.
timeout
Type: number
Default: 600
When Mutt is waiting for user input either idleing in menus or
in an interactive prompt, Mutt would block until input is
present. Depending on the context, this would prevent certain
operations from working, like checking for new mail or keeping
an IMAP connection alive.
This variable controls how many seconds Mutt will at most wait
until it aborts waiting for input, performs these operations and
continues to wait for input.
A value of zero or less will cause Mutt to never time out.
tmpdir
Type: path
Default: “”
This variable allows you to specify where Mutt will place its
temporary files needed for displaying and composing messages.
If this variable is not set, the environment variable $TMPDIR is
used. If $TMPDIR is not set then “/tmp” is used.
to_chars
Type: string
Default: “ +TCFL”
Controls the character used to indicate mail addressed to you.
The first character is the one used when the mail is not
addressed to your address. The second is used when you are the
only recipient of the message. The third is when your address
appears in the “To:” header field, but you are not the only
recipient of the message. The fourth character is used when
your address is specified in the “Cc:” header field, but you are
not the only recipient. The fifth character is used to indicate
mail that was sent by you. The sixth character is used to indi-
cate when a mail was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to.
trash
Type: path
Default: “”
If set, this variable specifies the path of the trash folder
where the mails marked for deletion will be moved, instead of
being irremediably purged.
NOTE: When you delete a message in the trash folder, it is
really deleted, so that you have a way to clean the trash.
tunnel
Type: string
Default: “”
Setting this variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to a com-
mand instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set
up preauthenticated connections to your IMAP/POP3/SMTP server.
Example:
set tunnel=”ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd”
Note: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the
remote machine without having to enter a password.
When set, Mutt uses the tunnel for all remote connections.
Please see “account-hook” in the manual for how to use different
tunnel commands per connection.
uncollapse_jump
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, Mutt will jump to the next unread message, if any,
when the current thread is uncollapsed.
use_8bitmime
Type: boolean
Default: no
Warning: do not set this variable unless you are using a version
of sendmail which supports the -B8BITMIME flag (such as sendmail
8.8.x) or you may not be able to send mail.
When set, Mutt will invoke $sendmail with the -B8BITMIME flag
when sending 8-bit messages to enable ESMTP negotiation.
use_domain
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will qualify all local addresses (ones without
the “@host” portion) with the value of $hostname. If unset, no
addresses will be qualified.
use_envelope_from
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will set the envelope sender of the message. If
$envelope_from_address is set, it will be used as the sender
address. If unset, mutt will attempt to derive the sender from
the “From:” header.
Note that this information is passed to sendmail command using
the -f command line switch. Therefore setting this option is not
useful if the $sendmail variable already contains -f or if the
executable pointed to by $sendmail doesn't support the -f
switch.
use_from
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will generate the “From:” header field when send-
ing messages. If unset, no “From:” header field will be gener-
ated unless the user explicitly sets one using the “my_hdr” com-
mand.
use_idn
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will show you international domain names decoded.
Note: You can use IDNs for addresses even if this is unset.
This variable only affects decoding.
use_ipv6
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to
contact. If this option is unset, Mutt will restrict itself to
IPv4 addresses. Normally, the default should work.
user_agent
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will add a “User-Agent:” header to outgoing mes-
sages, indicating which version of mutt was used for composing
them.
visual
Type: path
Default: “”
Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the “~v” command is
given in the builtin editor.
wait_key
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether Mutt will ask you to press a key after an
external command has been invoked by these functions:
<shell-escape>, <pipe-message>, <pipe-entry>, <print-message>,
and <print-entry> commands.
It is also used when viewing attachments with “auto_view”, pro-
vided that the corresponding mailcap entry has a needsterminal
flag, and the external program is interactive.
When set, Mutt will always ask for a key. When unset, Mutt will
wait for a key only if the external command returned a non-zero
status.
weed
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will weed headers when displaying, forwarding,
printing, or replying to messages.
wrap
Type: number
Default: 0
When set to a positive value, mutt will wrap text at $wrap char-
acters. When set to a negative value, mutt will wrap text so
that there are $wrap characters of empty space on the right side
of the terminal.
wrap_search
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether searches wrap around the end.
When set, searches will wrap around the first (or last) item.
When unset, incremental searches will not wrap.
wrapmargin
Type: number
Default: 0
(DEPRECATED) Equivalent to setting $wrap with a negative value.
write_bcc
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether mutt writes out the Bcc header when saving mes-
sages to FCC. Bcc headers will never be written to a message
when sending it. Note: this behavior is Debian specific.
write_inc
Type: number
Default: 10
When writing a mailbox, a message will be printed every
$write_inc messages to indicate progress. If set to 0, only a
single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.
Also see the $read_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and the
“tuning” section of the manual for performance considerations.
xterm_icon
Type: string
Default: “M%?n?AIL&ail?”
Controls the format of the icon title, as long as
xterm_set_titles is enabled. This string is identical in format-
ting to the one used by “$status_format”.
xterm_set_titles
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls whether mutt sets the xterm title bar and icon name (as
long as you are in an appropriate terminal).
xterm_title
Type: string
Default: “Mutt with %?m?%m messages&no messages?%?n? [%n NEW]?”
Controls the format of the title bar of the xterm provided that
xterm_set_titles has been set. This string is identical in for-
matting to the one used by “$status_format”.
SEE ALSO
iconv(1), iconv(3), mailcap(5), maildir(5), mbox(5), mutt(1),
printf(3), regex(7), strftime(3)
The Mutt Manual
The Mutt home page: http://www.mutt.org/
AUTHOR
Michael Elkins, and others. Use <mutt-dev@mutt.org> to contact the
developers.
Unix September 2002 muttrc(5)
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