muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)NAMEmuttrc ‐ Configuration file for the Mutt Mail User Agent
DESCRIPTION
A mutt configuration file consists of a series of "com‐
mands". Each line of the file may contain one or more
commands. When multiple commands 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 char‐
acters. The difference 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 quot‐
ing with a backslash [see next paragraph]), while double
quotes indicate a string for which should be evaluated.
For example, backtics are evaluated inside of double
quotes, but not for 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 "
character to be a literal instead of interpreted charac‐
ter.
\ r" have their usual C meanings of linefeed and car‐
and "
riage‐return, respectively.
A "
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 backquotes (‘command‘).
UNIX environments can be accessed like the way it is done
in shells like sh and bash: Prepend the name of the envi‐
ronment by a dollar ("$") sign.
COMMANDS
alias key address [, address [ ... ]]
unalias key
alias defines an alias key for the given addresses.
unalias removes the alias corresponding to the
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given key.
alternative_order type[/subtype] [ ... ]
This 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.
auto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
This commands permits you to specify that mutt
should automatically 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
subtype of "*" matches any subtype, as does an
empty subtype.
bind map key function
This command binds the given key for the given map
to the given function.
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.
charset‐hook alias charset
This command defines an alias for a character set.
This is useful to properly display messages which
are tagged with a character set name not known to
mutt.
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 exe‐
cuted.
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. For valid maps,
see bind.
color object foreground background [ regexp ]
color index foreground background [ pattern ]
uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ]
If your terminal supports color, these commands can
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be used to assign foreground/backgound 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 regular 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 excep‐
tions from the above mentioned list of ignored
headers.
lists address [ address ... ]
unlists address [ address ... ]
subscribe address [ address ... ]
unsubscribe address [ address ... ]
Mutt maintains two lists of mailing list addresses,
a list of subscribed mailing lists, and a list of
known mailing lists. All subscribed mailing lists
are known. A mail address matches a mailing list
if it begins with the given address. For example,
the lists pattern "mutt‐" will match mutt‐
dev@mutt.org and mutt‐users@mutt.org.
The lists command adds a mailing list address to
the list of known mailing lists. The unlists com‐
mand removes a mailig list from the lists of known
and subscribed mailing lists. The subscribe com‐
mand 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.
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mbox‐hook [!]pattern mailbox
When mutt changes to a mail folder which matches
pattern, mailbox 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 matchig mbox‐hook applies.
mailboxes filename [ filename ... ]
This command specifies folders which can receive
mail and which will be checked for new messages.
When changing folders, pressing space will cycle
through folders with new mail.
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 saving 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.
pgp‐hook pattern key‐id
The pgp‐hook command provides a method by which you
can specify the ID of the public key to be used
when encrypting messages to a certain recipient.
push string
This command adds the named string to the keyboard
buffer.
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set [no|inv]variable[=value] [ ... ]
toggle variable [ ... ]
unset variable [ ... ]
reset variable [ ... ]
These commands are used to set and manipulate con‐
figuration varibles.
Mutt knows four basic types of variables: boolean,
number, string and quadoption. Boolean variables
can be set (true), unset (false), or toggled. Num‐
ber 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 sequencesn ant for newline and tab,
respectively.
Quadoption variables are used to control whether or
not to be prompted for certain actions, or to spec‐
ify a default action. A value of yes will cause
the action to be carried out automatically 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
variabe all, all variables will reset to their sys‐
tem defaults.
source filename
The given file will be evaluated as a configuration
file.
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 docu‐
mented above.
PATTERNS
In various places with mutt, including some of the above‐
mentioned hook commands, you can specify patterns to match
messages.
Constructing Patterns
A simple pattern consists of an operator of the form
"~character", possibly followed by a parameter against
which mutt is supposed to match the obeject specified by
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this operator. (For a list of operators, see below.)
With some of these operators, the object to be matched
consists of several 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 insert‐
ing a vertical bar ("|") between two patterns, for
instance "~C mutt‐dev | ~s bug". Additionally, you can
negate a pattern 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 EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole mes‐
sage
~c EXPR messages carbon‐copied to EXPR
~C EXPR message is either to: or cc: EXPR
~D deleted messages
~d MIN‐MAX messages with "date‐sent" in a Date range
~E expired messages
~e EXPR message which contains EXPR in the "Sender"
field
~F flagged messages
~f EXPR messages originating from EXPR
~g PGP signed messages
~G PGP encrypted messages
~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message
header
~k message contains PGP key material
~i EXPR message which match EXPR in the "Message‐ID"
field
~L EXPR message is either originated or received by
EXPR
~l message is addressed to a known mailing list
~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 message is addressed to you (consults $alter‐
nates)
~P message is from you (consults $alternates)
~Q messages which have been replied to
~R read messages
~r MIN‐MAX messages with "date‐received" in a Date range
~S superseded messages
~s EXPR messages having EXPR in the "Subject" field.
~T tagged messages
~t EXPR messages addressed to EXPR
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~U unread messages
~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the "Refer‐
ences" field
~z MIN‐MAX messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX
In the above, EXPR is a regular expression.
With the ~m, ~n, and ~z operators, you can also specify
ranges in the forms <MAX, >MIN, MIN‐, and ‐MAX.
Matching dates
The ~d and ~r operators are used to match date ranges,
which are interpreted 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 specifica‐
tions. 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. Sim‐
ilarly, 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 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, specifying a unit of years,
months, weeks, or days. An offset which begins with the
character > matches dates which are older than the speci‐
fied amount of time, an offset which begins with the char‐
acter < matches dates which are more recent than the spec‐
ified 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
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If set to yes, when composing messages and no sub‐
ject 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 editing 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, composi‐
tion will never be aborted.
alias_file
Type: path
Default: "~/.muttrc"
The default file in which to save aliases created
by the "create‐alias" function.
Note: Mutt will not automatically source this file;
you must explicitly use the "source" command for it
to be executed.
alias_format
Type: string
Default: "%4n %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
%n index number
%r address which alias expands to
%t character which indicates if the alias is
tagged for inclusion
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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.
alternates
Type: regular expression
Default: ""
A regexp that allows you to specify alternate
addresses where you receive mail. This affects
Mutt’s idea about messages from you and addressed
to you.
arrow_cursor
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, an arrow ("‐>") will be used to indicate
the current entry in menus instead of hiliting 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 characters.
askbcc
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind‐carbon‐copy
(Bcc) recipients before editing an outgoing mes‐
sage.
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askcc
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will prompt you for carbon‐copy (Cc)
recipients before editing the body of an outgoing
message.
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 ‘attach‐
ment’ menu. The following printf‐style sequences
are understood:
%D deleted flag
%d description
%e MIME content‐transfer‐encoding
%f filename
%I disposition (I=inline, A=attachment)
%m major MIME type
%M MIME subtype
%n attachment number
%s size
%t tagged flag
%u unlink (=to delete) flag
%>X right justify the rest of the
string and pad with character "X"
%|X pad to the end of the line with
character "X"
attach_sep
Type: string
Default: "0
The separator to add between attachments when oper‐
ating (saving, printing, piping, etc) on a list of
tagged attachments.
attach_split
Type: boolean
Default: yes
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If this variable is unset, when operating (saving,
printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attach‐
ments, Mutt will concatenate the attachments and
will operate on them as a single attachment. The
"attach_sep" separator is added after each attach‐
ment. When set, Mutt will operate on the attach‐
ments 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 escape sequences see the section
on "index_format".
autoedit
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, Mutt will skip the initial send‐menu and
allow you to immediately begin editing the body of
your message when replying to another message. The
send‐menu may still be accessed once you have fin‐
ished editing the body of your message.
If the "edit_headers" variable is also set, the
initial prompts in the send‐menu are always
skipped, even when composing a new message.
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 (default: ";") to make the
next function apply to all tagged messages.
beep
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is set, mutt will beep when an
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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_delivered
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is set, mutt will include Deliv‐
ered‐To headers when bouncing messages. Postfix
users may wish to unset this variable.
charset
Type: string
Default: "iso‐8859‐1"
Character set your terminal uses to display and
enter textual data.
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 mailbox is open. Especially with MH
mailboxes, this operation can take quite some time
since it involves scanning the directory and check‐
ing each file to see if it has already been looked
at. If check_new is unset, no check for new mail
is performed while the mailbox is open.
collapse_unread
Type: boolean
Default: yes
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When unset, Mutt will not collapse a thread if it
contains any unread messages.
uncollapse_jump
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, Mutt will jump to the next unread mes‐
sage, if any, when the current thread is uncol‐
lapsed.
confirmappend
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when
appending messages 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.
copy
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not copies of
your outgoing messages will be saved for later ref‐
erences. Also see "record", "save_name",
"force_name" and "fcc‐hook".
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 strftime call to process the
date. See the man page for strftime(3) for the
proper syntax.
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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 send‐hooks, save‐hooks,
and fcc‐hooks will be interpreted if they are spec‐
ified with only a simple regexp, instead of a
matching pattern. The hooks are expanded when they
are declared, so a hook will be interpreted accord‐
ing 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 automati‐
cally 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.
dsn_notify
Type: string
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Default: ""
Note: you should not enable this unless you are
using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater.
This variable sets the request for when notifica‐
tion 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 transmission
failure, delay, to be notified of message delays,
success, to be notified of successful transmission.
Example: set dsn_notify="failure,delay"
dsn_return
Type: string
Default: ""
Note: you should not enable this unless you are
using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater.
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
edit_headers
Type: boolean
Default: no
This option allows you to edit the header of your
outgoing messages along with the body of your mes‐
sage.
editor
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable specifies which editor is used by
mutt. It defaults to the value of the EDITOR or
VISUAL environment variable, or to the string "vi".
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encode_from
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will quoted‐printable encode mes‐
sages when they contain the string "From " in the
beginning of a line. Useful to avoid the tampering
certain mail delivery and transport agents tend to
do with messages.
envelope_from
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, mutt will try to derive the message’s
envelope sender from the "From:" header. Note that
this information is passed to sendmail command
using the "‐f" command line switch, so don’t set
this option if you are using that switch in send‐
mail yourself, or if the sendmail on your machine
doesn’t support that command line switch.
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 for‐
warding messages.
Note: this variable has no effect when the
"autoedit" variable is set.
fcc_attach
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not attachments
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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 mes‐
sage is encrypted and/or signed.
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 expansion takes place during the ‘set’ com‐
mand.
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_format", but has its
own set of printf()‐like sequences:
%C current file number
%d date/time folder was last modified
%f filename
%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 character "X"
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%|X pad to the end of the line with character
"X"
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 "sub‐
scribe" or "lists" commands.
This field has two purposes. First, preventing you
from receiving duplicate copies of replies to mes‐
sages which you send to mailing lists. Second,
ensuring that you do get a reply separately 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 unsub‐
scribed 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 mes‐
sage 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.
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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 send‐hooks) and "reverse_name".
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. By default the regular expression is set to
"^[^,]*" which will return the string up to the
first "," encountered. If the GECOS field contains
a string like "lastname, firstname" then you should
set the gecos_mask=".*".
This can be useful if you see the following behav‐
ior: you address a 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
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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.
help
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, help lines describing the bindings for
the major functions provided by each menu are dis‐
played on the first line of the screen.
Note: The binding will not be displayed correctly
if the function 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 run‐
ning. 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" variable when adding the domain part to
addresses. This variable does not affect the gen‐
eration of Message‐IDs, and it will not lead to the
cut‐off of first‐level domains.
history
Type: number
Default: 10
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
This variable controls the size (in number of
strings remembered) of the string history buffer.
The buffer is cleared each time the variable is
set.
honor_followup_to
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not a Mail‐Fol‐
lowup‐To header is honored when group‐replying to a
message.
hostname
Type: string
Default: ""
Specifies the hostname to use after the "@" in
local e‐mail addresses. This overrides the compile
time definition obtained from /etc/resolv.conf.
ignore_list_reply_to
Type: boolean
Default: no
Affects the behaviour of the reply function when
replying to messages from mailing lists. 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_checkinterval
Type: number
Default: 60
This variable configures how often (in seconds)
IMAP should look for new mail.
imap_force_ssl
Type: boolean
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
Default: no
If this variable is set, Mutt will always use SSL
when connecting to IMAP servers.
imap_list_subscribed
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable configures whether IMAP folder brows‐
ing will look for only subscribed folders or all
folders. This can be toggled in the IMAP browser
with the toggle‐subscribed command.
imap_user
Type: string
Default: ""
Your login name on the IMAP server.
This variable defaults to your user name on the
local machine.
imap_cramkey
Type: string
Default: ""
Sets your CRAM secret, for use with the CRAM‐MD5
IMAP authentication method (this is the IMAP equiv‐
elent of APOP). This method will be attempted auto‐
matically if the server supports it, in preference
to the less secure login technique. If you use
CRAM‐MD5, you do not need to set imap_pass.
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 fetch‐mail function. Warning: you
should only use this option when you are on a
fairly secure machine, because the superuser can
read your muttrc even if you are the only one who
can read the file.
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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 open‐
ing the connection is slow.
imap_servernoise
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will display warning messages from
the IMAP server as error messages. Since these mes‐
sages are often harmless, or generated due to con‐
figuration problems on the server which are out of
the users’ hands, you may wish to suppress them at
some point.
imap_home_namespace
Type: string
Default: ""
You normally want to see your personal folders
alongside your INBOX in the IMAP browser. If you
see something else, you may set this variable to
the IMAP path to your folders.
imap_preconnect
Type: string
Default: ""
If set, a shell command to be executed if mutt
fails to establish a connection to the server. This
is useful for setting up secure connections, e.g.
with ssh(1). If the command returns a nonzero sta‐
tus, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:
imap_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
’{localhost:1234}foo’.
NOTE: For this example to work, you must be able to
Unix February 2000 23
muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
log in to the remote machine without having to
enter a password.
implicit_autoview
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set to "yes", mutt will look for a 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 replying to is included in your reply.
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 fanatical
netizens.
in_reply_to
Type: string
Default: "%i; from %a on %{!%a, %b %d, %Y at
%I:%M:%S%p %Z}"
This specifies the format of the In‐Reply‐To header
field added when replying to a message. For a ful
llisting of defined escape sequences, see the sec‐
tion on index_format.
Note: Don’t use any sequences in this format string
which may include 8‐bit characters. Using such
escape sequences may lead to bad headers.
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
index_format
Type: string
Default: "%4C %Z %{%b %d} %‐15.15L (%4l) %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" function printf to format output (see the
man page for more detail). The following sequences
are defined in Mutt:
%a address of the 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
%f entire From: line (address + real name)
%F author name, or recipient name if the
message is from you
%i message‐id of the current message
%l number of lines in the message
%L list‐from function
%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 (_O_riginal save folder) Where
mutt would formerly have stashed the
message: list name or recipient name
if no list
%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
%Z message status flags
%{fmt} the date and time of the message is
converted to sender’s time zone, and
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
"fmt" is expanded by the library
function "strftime"; 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"; a leading bang
disables locales
%(fmt) the local date and time when the
message was received.
"fmt" is expanded by the library
function "strftime";
a leading bang disables locales
%<fmt> the current local time.
"fmt" is expanded by the library
function "strftime";
a leading bang disables locales.
%>X right justify the rest of the string
and pad with character "X"
%|X pad to the end of the line with
character "X"
See also: "to_chars".
ispell
Type: path
Default: "ispell"
How to invoke ispell (GNU’s spell‐checking soft‐
ware).
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 variable LC_TIME.
mail_check
Type: number
Default: 5
This variable configures how often (in seconds)
mutt should look for new mail.
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
mailcap_path
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable specifies which files to consult when
attempting to display MIME bodies not directly sup‐
ported 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!
mark_old
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether or not Mutt makes the distinction
between new messages and old unread messages. By
default, Mutt will mark new messages as old if you
exit a mailbox without reading them. 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. In order to make Mutt treat all
unread messages as new only, you can unset this
variable.
markers
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the display of wrapped lines in the inter‐
nal pager. If set, a "+" marker is displayed at the
beginning of wrapped lines. Also see the
"smart_wrap" variable.
mask
Type: regular expression
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
Default: "!^.[^.]"
A regular expression used in the file browser,
optionally preceded 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.
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.
metoo
Type: boolean
Default: no
If unset, Mutt will remove your address from the
list of recipients when replying to a message.
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 displayed
(useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
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
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
the ESC key and whatever key remains after having
the high bit removed. For example, if the key
pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf4, then this is
treated as if the user had pressed ESC then "x".
This is because the result of removing the high bit
from "0xf4" is "0x74", which is the ASCII character
"x".
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. If the
variable is set, the message files will simply be
deleted.
mime_forward
Type: quadoption
Default: no
When set, the message you are forwarding will be
attached as a separate 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_for‐
ward_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
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME mes‐
sage from the recvattach menu, attachments which
cannot be decoded in a reasonable 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‐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.
move
Type: quadoption
Default: ask‐no
Controls whether you will be asked to confirm mov‐
ing read messages from your spool mailbox to your
"mbox" mailbox, or as a result of a "mbox‐hook"
command.
message_format
Type: string
Default: "%s"
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
This is the string displayed in the "attachment"
menu for attachments of type message/rfc822. For a
full listing of defined escape sequences see the
section on "index_format".
pager
Type: path
Default: "builtin"
This variable specifies which pager you would like
to use to view messages. builtin means to use the
builtin pager, otherwise this variable should spec‐
ify the pathname of the external pager you would
like to use.
Using an external pager may have some disadvan‐
tages: 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 con‐
text 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
context).
pager_format
Type: string
Default: "‐%Z‐ %C/%m: %‐20.20n %s"
This variable controls the format of the one‐line
message "status" 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
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
Determines the number of lines of a mini‐index
which is shown when in the pager. The current mes‐
sage, 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 pager_index_lines 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_autosign
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always
attempt to PGP/MIME sign outgoing messages. This
can be overridden by use of the pgp‐ menu, when
signing is not required or encryption is requested
as well.
pgp_autoencrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always
attempt to PGP/MIME encrypt outgoing messages.
This is probably only useful in connection 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.
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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()‐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_long_ids
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs. Unset uses the nor‐
mal 32 bit Key IDs.
pgp_replyencrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, automatically PGP encrypt replies to mes‐
sages which are encrypted.
pgp_replysign
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, automatically PGP sign replies to messages
which are signed.
Note: this does not work on messages that are
encrypted and signed!
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
pgp_replysignencrypted
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, automatically PGP sign replies to messages
which are encrypted. This makes sense in combina‐
tion with "pgp_replyencrypt", because it allows you
to sign all messages which are automatically
encrypted. This works around the problem noted in
"pgp_replysign", that mutt is not able to find out
whether an encrypted message is also signed.
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 mailing lists, where the outer layer (multi‐
part/encrypted) can be easily removed, while the
inner multipart/signed part is retained.
pgp_show_unusable
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, mutt will display non‐usable keys on the
PGP key selection menu. This includes keys which
have been revoked, have expired, or have been
marked as "disabled" by the user.
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., "0xABCDEFGH").
pgp_sign_micalg
Type: string
Default: "pgp‐md5"
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
This variable contains the default message
integrity check algorithm. Valid values are "pgp‐
md5", "pgp‐sha1", and "pgp‐rmd160". If you select a
signing key using the sign as option on the compose
menu, mutt will automagically figure out the cor‐
rect value to insert here, but it does not know
about the user’s default key.
So if you are using an RSA key for signing, set
this variable to "pgp‐md5", if you use a PGP 5 DSS
key for signing, say "pgp‐sha1" here. The value of
this variable will show up in the micalg parameter
of MIME headers when creating RFC 2015 signatures.
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_timeout
Type: number
Default: 300
The number of seconds after which a cached
passphrase will expire if not used.
pgp_verify_sig
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If "yes", always attempt to verify PGP/MIME signa‐
tures. If "ask", ask whether or not to verify the
signature. If "no", never attempt to verify
PGP/MIME signatures.
pgp_sort_keys
Type: sort oder
Default: address
Specifies how the entries in the ‘pgp keys’ menu
are sorted. The following are legal values:
Unix February 2000 35
muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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_create_traditional
Type: quadoption
Default: no
This option controls whether Mutt generates old‐
style PGP encrypted or signed messages under cer‐
tain circumstances.
Note that PGP/MIME will be used automatically for
messages which have a character set different from
us‐ascii, or which consist of more than a single
MIME part.
Also note that using the old‐style PGP message for‐
mat is strongly deprecated.
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‐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 %? con‐
struct.
%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 verifying it.
%a The value of pgp_sign_as.
%r One or more key IDs.
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
For examples on how to configure these formats for
the various versions of PGP which are floating
around, see the pgp*.rc and gpg.rc files in the
samples/ subdirectory which has been installed on
your system alongside the documentation.
pgp_getkeys_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is invoked whenever mutt will need
public key information. %r is the only printf‐like
sequence used with this format.
pgp_verify_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to verify PGP/MIME signatures.
pgp_decrypt_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to decrypt a PGP/MIME
encrypted message.
pgp_clearsign_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This format is used to create a "clearsigned" old‐
style PGP attachment. Note that the use of this
format is strongly deprecated.
pgp_sign_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to create the detached PGP
signature for a multipart/signed PGP/MIME body
part.
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
pgp_encrypt_sign_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to combinedly sign/encrypt a
body part.
pgp_encrypt_only_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to encrypt a body part without
signing it.
pgp_import_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to import a key from a message
into the user’s public key ring.
pgp_export_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to export a public key from
the user’s key ring.
pgp_verify_key_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to verify key information from
the key selection menu.
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
Unix February 2000 38
muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
utility which comes with mutt.
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 util‐
ity which comes with mutt.
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_for‐
ward_decode" is unset.
certificate_file
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable specifies the file where the certifi‐
cates you trust are saved. When an unknown certifi‐
cate is encountered, you are asked if you accept it
or not. If you accept it, the certificate 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 certificates are also automatically
accepted.
Example: set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
ssl_usesystemcerts
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set to yes, mutt will use CA certificates in the
Unix February 2000 39
muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
system‐wide certificate store when checking if
server certificate is signed by a trusted CA.
entropy_file
Type: path
Default: ""
library functions.
ssl_use_sslv2
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variables specifies whether to attempt to use
SSLv2 in the SSL authentication process.
ssl_use_sslv3
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variables specifies whether to attempt to use
SSLv3 in the SSL authentication process.
ssl_use_tlsv1
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variables specifies whether to attempt to use
TLSv1 in the SSL authentication process.
pipe_split
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the pipe‐message command
and the "tag‐ prefix" operator. If this variable
is unset, when piping a list of tagged messages
Mutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe
them as a single folder. When set, Mutt will pipe
the messages one by one. In both cases the the
messages are piped in the current sorted order, and
the "pipe_sep" separator is added after each mes‐
sage.
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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 PGP/MIME decode the messages first.
pipe_sep
Type: string
Default: "0
The separator to add between messages when piping a
list of tagged messages to an external Unix com‐
mand.
pop_delete
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, Mutt will delete successfully downloaded
messages from the POP server when using the fetch‐
mail function. When unset, Mutt will download mes‐
sages but also leave them on the POP server.
pop_host
Type: string
Default: ""
The name or address of your POP3 server.
pop_port
Type: number
Default: 110
This variable specifies which port your POP server
is listening on.
pop_last
Type: boolean
Default: no
If this variable is set, mutt will try to use the
Unix February 2000 41
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"LAST" POP command for retrieving only unread mes‐
sages from the POP server.
pop_user
Type: string
Default: ""
Your login name on the POP3 server.
Defaults to your login name on the local system.
pop_pass
Type: string
Default: ""
Your password on the POP3 server.
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.
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 folder
specified by this variable. Also see the "post‐
pone" variable.
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print
Type: quadoption
Default: ask‐no
Controls whether or not Mutt asks for confirmation
before printing. This is useful for people (like
me) who 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 speci‐
fied by print_command. If this option is unset, no
processing will be applied to the message when
printing 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 print‐
ing.
prompt_after
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If you use an external "pager", setting this vari‐
able 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
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
query string the user types. See "query" for more
information.
quit
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether "quit" and "exit"
actually quit from mutt. If it set to yes, they do
quit, if it is set to no, 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: "^([ ]*[|>:}#])+"
A regular expression used in the internal‐pager to
determine quoted sections of text in the body of a
message.
Note: In order to use the quotedx patterns in the
internal pager, you need to set this to a regular
expression that matches exactly the quote charac‐
ters at the beginning of quoted lines.
read_inc
Type: number
Default: 10
If set to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display
which message it is currently on when reading a
mailbox. The message is printed after read_inc
messages have been read (e.g., if set to 25, Mutt
will print a message when it reads message 25, and
then again when it gets to message 50). This vari‐
able is meant to indicate progress when reading
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" variable.
read_only
Type: boolean
Default: no
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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 GCOS 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 you are prompted to recall
postponed messages when composing a new message.
Also see "postponed".
Setting this variable to "yes" is not generally
useful, and thus not recommended.
record
Type: path
Default: ""
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([+])*|aw):[ ]*"
A regular expression used to recognize reply mes‐
sages when threading and replying. The default
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
value corresponds to the English "Re:" and the Ger‐
man "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.
reply_to
Type: quadoption
Default: ask‐yes
If set, Mutt will ask you if you want to use the
address listed in the Reply‐To: header field when
replying to a message. If you answer no, 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 exe‐
cuted.
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:
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
and then you receive mail which contains the fol‐
lowing 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 (like CompuServe addresses).
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
the variable is unset, the From: line will use your
address on the current machine.
reverse_realname
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable fine‐tunes the behaviour of the
reverse_name feature. When it is set, mutt will
use the address from incoming messages as‐is, pos‐
sibly including eventual real names. When it is
unset, mutt will override any such realnames with
the setting of the realname variable.
rfc2047_parameters
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, Mutt will decode
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
RFC‐2047‐encoded MIME parameters. You want to set
this variable when mutt suggests you to save
attachments to files named like this:
=?iso‐8859‐1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
When this variable is set interactively, the change
doesn’t have the desired effect before you have
changed folders.
Note that this use of RFC 2047’s encoding is
explicitly, prohibited by the standard, but never‐
theless 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 RFC 2231.
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 mes‐
sages will be removed when closed (the exception is
"spoolfile" which is never removed). If set, mail‐
boxes are never removed.
Note: This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders,
Mutt does not delete MH and Maildir directories.
save_name
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls how copies of outgoing mes‐
sages 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
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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_thresh‐
old_delete" variable and friends 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 auto‐
matically 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 wich have been assigned a score greater
than or equal to this variable’s value are automat‐
ically 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 auto‐
matically 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.
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
send_charset
Type: string
Default: ""
The character set that mutt will use for outgoing
messages. If this variable is not set, mutt will
fall back to "charset".
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 additional arguments as recipi‐
ent 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 fol‐
lows:
>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 tempo‐
rary 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
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
default, the user’s login shell from /etc/passwd is
used.
sig_dashes
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, a line containing "‐‐ " will be inserted
before your "signature". It is strongly recom‐
mended that you not unset this variable unless your
"signature" contains just your name. The reason
for this is because many software packages use "‐‐
0 to detect your signature. For example, Mutt
has the ability to highlight the signature in a
different color in the builtin pager.
signature
Type: path
Default: "~/.signature"
Specifies the filename of your signature, which is
appended to all outgoing messages. If the file‐
name ends with a pipe ("|"), it is assumed that
filename is a shell command and input should be
read from its stdout.
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 ~ 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. For the
default value it would be:
~f joe | ~s joe
smart_wrap
Type: boolean
Default: yes
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
Controls the display of lines longer then 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 positives of "quote_regexp", most notably
smileys in the beginning of a line
sort
Type: sort oder
Default: date
Specifies how to sort messages in the index menu.
Valid values are:
date or date‐sent
date‐received
from
mailbox‐order (unsorted)
score
size
subject
threads
to
You may optionally use the reverse‐ prefix to spec‐
ify reverse sorting order (example: set
sort=reverse‐date‐sent).
sort_alias
Type: sort oder
Default: alias
Specifies how the entries in the ‘alias’ menu are
sorted. The following are legal values:
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
address (sort alphabetically by email address)
alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)
sort_aux
Type: sort oder
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 addition 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 oder
Default: subject
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 spec‐
ify reverse sorting order (example: set
sort_browser=reverse‐date).
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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 mes‐
sages 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.
spoolfile
Type: path
Default: ""
If your spool mailbox is in a non‐default place
where Mutt cannot find it, you can specify its
location with this variable. Mutt will automati‐
cally set this variable to the value of the envi‐
ronment variable MAIL if it is not set.
status_chars
Type: string
Default: "‐*%A"
Controls the characters used by the "%r" indicator
in "status_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 tog‐
gle‐write operation, bound by default to "%"). The
fourth is used to indicate that the current folder
has been opened in attach‐ message mode (Certain
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)‐‐‐"
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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()‐like sequences:
%b number of mailboxes with new mail *
%d number of deleted messages *
%h local hostname
%f the full pathname of the current mailbox
%F number of flagged messages *
%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 current 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‐mes‐
sage
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"
* = can be optionally printed if nonzero
Some of the above sequences can be used to option‐
ally 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 following 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 status_char is nonzero.
optional_string may contain other sequence as well
as normal text, but you may not nest optional
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
strings.
Here is an example illustrating how to optionally
print the number of new messages in a mailbox:
%?n?%n new messages.?
Additionally you can switch between two strings,
the first one, if a value is zero, the second one,
if the value is nonzero, by using the following
construct:
%?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>?
You can additionally force the result of any
printf‐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
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.
strict_threads
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, threading will only make use of the "In‐
Reply‐To" and "References" fields when "sorting" 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 sev‐
eral unrelated messages with the subject "hi" which
will get grouped together.
suspend
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, mutt won’t stop when the user presses
the terminal’s susp key, usually "control‐Z". This
is useful if you run mutt inside an xterm using a
command like xterm ‐e mutt.
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
thorough_search
Type: boolean
Default: no
Affects the ~b and ~h search operations described
in section "patterns" above. If set, the headers
and attachments of messages to be searched are
decoded before searching. If unset, messages are
searched as they appear in the folder.
tilde
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the internal‐pager will pad blank lines
to the bottom of the screen with a tilde (~).
timeout
Type: number
Default: 600
This variable controls the number of seconds Mutt
will wait for a key to be pressed in the main menu
before timing out and checking for new mail. A
value of zero or less will cause Mutt not to ever
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.
to_chars
Type: string
Default: " +TCF"
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
(default: space). The second is used when you are
the only recipient of the message (default: +).
The third is when your address appears in the TO
header field, but you are not the only recipient of
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
the message (default: T). 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.
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 quali‐
fied.
use_from
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, Mutt will generate the ‘From:’ header
field when sending messages. If unset, no ‘From:’
header field will be generated unless the user
explicitly sets one using the "my_hdr" command.
user_agent
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will add a "User‐Agent" header to
outgoing messages, indicating which version of mutt
was used for composing them.
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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 shell‐ escape, pipe‐message, pipe‐entry,
print‐message, and print‐entry commands.
It is also used when viewing attachments with
"autoview", provided 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 exter‐
nal command returned a non‐zero status.
weed
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, mutt will weed headers when when display‐
ing, forwarding, printing, or replying to messages.
wrap_search
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether searches wrap around the end of
the mailbox.
When set, searches will wrap around the first (or
last) message. When unset, searches will not wrap.
write_inc
Type: number
Default: 10
When writing a mailbox, a message will be printed
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muttrc(5) User Manuals muttrc(5)
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" variable.
write_bcc
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether mutt writes out the Bcc header
when preparing messages to be sent. Exim users may
wish to use this.
SEE ALSOmutt(1), mailcap(5), printf(3), strftime(3), regex(7)
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 February 2000 60
