muttrc - Configuration file for the Mutt Mail User Agent

A mutt configuration file consists of a series of commands. 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 characters. 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 quoting 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 to force the next character to be a literal instead of interpreted 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 backquotes (`command`).

UNIX environments can be accessed like the way it is done in shells like sh and bash: Prepend the name of the environment by a dollar () sign.

alias key address [, address [ ... ]]
unalias [ *  | key ]

alias defines an alias key for the given addresses. unalias removes the alias corresponding to the given key or all aliases when * is used as an argument.

alternates regexp [ , regexp [ ... ]]
unalternates [ *  | regexp [ , regexp [ ... ]] ]

alternates is used to inform mutt about alternate addresses where you receive mail; you can use regular expressions to specify alternate addresses. This affects mutt's idea about messages from you, and messages addressed to you. unalternates removes a regular expression from the list of known alternates.

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 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.

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 application/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. Useful 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 useful to properly display messages which are tagged with a character 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 configuration 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 multipe 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/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 exceptions from the above mentioned list of ignored headers.

lists regexp [ regexp ... ]
unlists regexp [ regexp ... ]
subscribe 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 subscribe 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.

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 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, pressing space will cycle through folders with new mail. The unmailboxes 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 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.

send2-hook [!]pattern command

Whenever a message matching pattern is changed (either by editing 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 applications 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 executed. 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, regardless of their order in the configuration file.

crypt-hook pattern key-id

The crypt-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. 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 command string is the printf(3) like format string, and it should accept two parameters: %f, which is replaced with the (compressed) 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 varibles.

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 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 system 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.

In various places with mutt, including some of the abovementioned hook commands, you can specify patterns to match messages.

Constructing Patterns

Simple Patterns

Matching dates

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 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, composition 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 %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.

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 characters.

askbcc

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipients 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: us-ascii

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. This variable is valid only if $strict_mime is unset.

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-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=inline, A=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

%>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: \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 concatenate 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()-like sequences see the section on $index_format.

autoedit

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set along with $edit_headers, Mutt will skip the initial send-menu 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.

Also see $fast_reply.

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 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 message. 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 headers when bouncing messages. Postfix users may wish to unset this variable.

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 persons using Braille displays to follow these menus. The option is disabled by default because many visual terminals don't permit making the cursor invisible.

charset

Type: string
Default: 

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 checking 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

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 message, if any, when the current thread is uncollapsed.

compose_format

Type: string
Default: -- Mutt: Compose  [Approx. msg size: %l   Atts: %a]%>-

Controls the format of the status line displayed in the Compose menu. This string is similar to $status_format, but has its own set of printf()-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.

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.

connect_timeout

Type: number
Default: 30

Causes Mutt to timeout a network connection (for IMAP or POP) after this many seconds if the connection is not able to be established. A negative value causes Mutt to wait indefinitely for the connection 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_use_gpgme

Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable controls the use the GPGME enabled crypto backends. If it is set and Mutt was build with gpgme support, the gpgme code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the classic code. Note, that you need to use this option in .muttrc as it won't have any effect when used interactively.

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_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.

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.

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, message-hooks, save-hooks, and fcc-hooks will be interpreted 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 $display_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: 

Note: you should not enable this unless you are using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater.

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 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

duplicate_threads

Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls whether mutt, when sorting by 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 diagram.

edit_headers

Type: boolean
Default: no

This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing messages along with the body of your message.

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 in the beginning of a line. Useful to avoid the tampering certain mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages.

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: boolean
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)

file_charset

Type: string
Default: 

This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding schemes for text file attatchments. If unset, $charset value will be used instead. For example, the following configuration would work for Japanese text handling:

set file_charset=iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8

Note: iso-2022-* must be put at the head of the value as shown above if included.

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' 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_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

%|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 subscribe or lists commands.

This field has two purposes. First, preventing you from receiving duplicate copies of replies to messages which you send to mailing lists, and 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 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_edit

Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This quadoption controls whether or not the user is automatically 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 send-hooks) and $reverse_name. This variable is ignored if $use_from is unset.

Defaults to the contents of the environment variable 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. 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 behavior: 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
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 message.

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 displayed 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 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 variable 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 closest 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 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-Followup-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_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 parameter is case-insensitive. If this parameter is 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 available 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. See also the mailboxes command.

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 particular it helps in using the '=' shortcut for your folder variable.

imap_headers

Type: string
Default: 

Mutt requests these header fields in addition to the default headers (DATE FROM SUBJECT TO CC MESSAGE-ID REFERENCES CONTENT-TYPE CONTENT-DESCRIPTION IN-REPLY-TO REPLY-TO LINES 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.

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_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 disconnected 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 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.

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 connection 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_servernoise

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will display warning messages from the IMAP server as error messages. Since these messages are often harmless, 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 replying 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 fanatical netizens.

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 function printf to format output (see the man page for more detail). 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

entire From: line (address + real name)

%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

(_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

%X

number of attachments

%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; 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 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 variable LC_TIME.

mail_check

Type: number
Default: 5

This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look for new mail.

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_mtime

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, the sort-by-date option in the browser will sort maildirs smartly, not using the mtime of the maildir itself but that of the newest message in the new subdirectory, making the sorting by reverse date much more useful. People with maildirs over NFS may wish to leave this option unset.

header_cache

Type: path
Default: 

The header_cache variable points to the header cache database. If header_cache points to a directory it will contain a header cache database per folder. If header_cache points to a file that file will be a single global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching will be used.

maildir_header_cache_verify

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Check for Maildir unaware programs other than mutt having modified maildir files when the header cache is in use. This incurs one stat(2) per message every time the folder is opened.

header_cache_pagesize

Type: string
Default: 16384

Change the header cache database page size. Too large or too small values can waste space, memory, or CPU time. The default should be more or less the best you can get. For details, google for mutt header cache (first hit).

maildir_trash

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, messages marked as deleted will be saved with the maildir (T)rashed 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 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 (see the alternates command) from the list of recipients when replying to a message.

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 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 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.

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.

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 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 recvattach menu, attachments which cannot be decoded in a reasonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if this option is set.

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.

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 or not Mutt will move 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

This is the string displayed in the attachment menu for attachments of type message/rfc822. For a full listing of defined printf()-like sequences see the section on $index_format.

narrow_tree

Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable, when set, makes the thread tree narrower, allowing 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 and $write_inc.

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 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 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

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 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.

crypt_autosign

Type: boolean
Default: no

Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cryptographically 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. (Crypto only)

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 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. 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. (Crypto 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' capabilities. Unset this if you want to play interesting key selection games. (PGP only)

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 problem 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)

pgp_use_gpg_agent

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, mutt will use a possibly-running gpg-agent process. (PGP only)

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)

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 application that was used to sign/encrypt the original message. (Note that this variable can be overridden by unsetting $crypt_autosmime.) (S/MIME only)

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_decrypt_use_default_key

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set (default) this tells mutt to use the default key for decryption. Otherwise, if manage multiple certificate-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)

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 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_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 subprocess failed. (PGP only)

pgp_long_ids

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs. Unset uses the normal 32 bit Key IDs. (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 mailing lists, where the outer layer (multipart/encrypted) can be easily removed, while the inner multipart/signed part is retained. (PGP only)

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 configured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline (traditional) would not work. See also: $pgp_mime_auto.

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 create 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 configured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline (traditional) would not work. See also: $pgp_mime_auto.

Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is strongly deprecated. (PGP only)

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 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_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_sort_keys

Type: sort order
Default: address

Specifies how the entries in the `pgp keys' menu are sorted. The following 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_mime_auto

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

This option controls whether Mutt will prompt you for automatically 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_auto_decode

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, mutt will automatically attempt to decrypt traditional PGP messages whenever the user performs an operation which ordinarily would result in the contents of the message being operated on. For example, if the user displays a pgp-traditional message which has not been manually checked with the check-traditional-pgp function, mutt will automatically check the message for traditional pgp.

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 %? 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 verifying 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*.rc and gpg.rc files in the samples/ subdirectory which has been installed on your system alongside the documentation. (PGP only)

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 only)

pgp_verify_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to verify PGP signatures. (PGP only)

pgp_decrypt_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message. (PGP only)

pgp_clearsign_command

Type: string
Default: 

This format is used to create a old-style clearsigned PGP message. Note that the use of this format is strongly deprecated. (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. (PGP only)

pgp_encrypt_sign_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part. (PGP only)

pgp_encrypt_only_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it. (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. (PGP only)

pgp_export_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to export a public key from the user's key ring. (PGP only)

pgp_verify_key_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to verify key information from the key selection menu. (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. (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. (PGP only)

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)

smime_timeout

Type: number
Default: 300

The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will expire if not used. (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_keys

Type: path
Default: 

Since there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt has to handle storage ad 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 one points to the location of the private keys. (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)

smime_certificates

Type: path
Default: 

Since 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 one 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-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 verifying 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_verify_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type multipart/signed. (S/MIME only)

smime_verify_opaque_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type application/x-pkcs7-mime. (S/MIME only)

smime_sign_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type multipart/signed, which can be read by all mail clients. (S/MIME only)

smime_sign_opaque_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type application/x-pkcs7-signature, which can only be handled by mail clients supporting the S/MIME extension. (S/MIME only)

smime_encrypt_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages. (S/MIME only)

smime_pk7out_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME signatures, in order to extract the public X509 certificate(s). (S/MIME only)

smime_get_cert_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to extract X509 certificates from a PKCS7 structure. (S/MIME only)

smime_get_signer_cert_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to extract only the signers X509 certificate from a S/MIME signature, so that the certificate's owner may get compared to the email's 'From'-field. (S/MIME only)

smime_import_cert_command

Type: string
Default: 

This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys. (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 mailbox). (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)

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 capability, since it would otherwise have to abort the connection anyway. This option supersedes $ssl_starttls.

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.

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 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_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.

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_ca_certificates_file

Type: path
Default: 

This variable specifies a file containing trusted CA certificates. Any server certificate that is signed with one of these CA certificates are also automatically accepted.

Example: set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt

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 messages are piped in the current sorted order, and the $pipe_sep separator is added after each message.

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: \n

The separator to add between messages when piping a list of tagged messages to an external Unix command.

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 parameter is case-insensitive. If this parameter 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_auth_try_all

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, Mutt will try all available 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_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]

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_reconnect

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect to 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.

pop_pass

Type: string
Default: 

Specifies the password for your POP account. If unset, Mutt will prompt you for your password when you open POP mailbox. 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.

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 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 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 status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:

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 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 (like me).

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 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 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 executed once for each message which is to be printed. If this option is unset, the command specified by $print_command is executed 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.

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: ^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+

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 characters 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 variable 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

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. 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([\[0-9\]+])*|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.

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 (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 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.

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, possibly including eventual real names. When it is unset, mutt will override any such real names with the setting of the realname variable.

rfc2047_parameters

Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, Mutt will decode 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 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 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 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_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 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 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.

send_charset

Type: string
Default: us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8

A 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 character set (such as iso-8859-2, koi8-r or iso-2022-jp) either instead of or after iso-8859-1.

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 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 -- 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 forwarded 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 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

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 positives of $quote_regexp, most notably smileys in the beginning of a line

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 suppresses the pause.

sort

Type: sort order
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
   spam
   subject
   threads
   to

You may optionally use the reverse- prefix to specify reverse sorting order (example: set sort=reverse-date-sent).

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 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 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: ,

spam_separator 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 successive match will append to the previous, using spam_separator as a separator.

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 automatically set this variable to the value of the environment 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 toggle-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)---

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 *

%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 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-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

* = 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 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 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 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 hostname in lowercase, you would use: %_h

If you prefix the sequence character with a colon (:) character, 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.

strict_mime

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, non MIME-compliant messages that doesn't have any charset indication in Content-Type field can be displayed (non MIME-compliant messages are often generated by old mailers or buggy mailers like MS Outlook Express). See also $assumed_charset.

This option also replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word and *text to a single space to prevent the display of MIME-encoded Subject field from being devided into multiple lines.

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 messages with the subject hi which will get grouped together. See also $sort_re for a less drastic way of controlling this behaviour.

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.

text_flowed

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will generate text/plain; format=flowed attachments. 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 features, you'll need support in your editor.

Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.

thread_received

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent to thread messages by subject.

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 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 (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 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. The sixth character is used to indicate when a mail was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to (default: L).

tunnel

Type: string
Default: 

Setting this variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to a command instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set up preauthenticated connections to your IMAP/POP3 server. Example:

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.

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 use $envelope_from_address as the envelope sender if that is set, otherwise it will attempt to derive it 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 $sendmail yourself, or if the sendmail on your machine doesn't support that command line switch.

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.

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 messages, 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 shell- escape, pipe-message, pipe-entry, print-message, and print-entry commands.

It is also used when viewing attachments with auto_view, 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 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_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.

wrapmargin

Type: number
Default: 0

Controls the size of the margin remaining at the right side of the terminal when mutt's pager does smart wrapping.

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 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 unset this.

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 formatting 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're in an appropriate terminal). The default must be off to force in the validity checking.

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 formatting to the one used by $status_format.

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/

Michael Elkins, and others. Use <mutt-dev@mutt.org> to contact the developers.