Provided by: neomutt_20171215+dfsg.1-1_amd64 
NAME
neomuttrc - Configuration file for the Mutt Mail User Agent
DESCRIPTION
A neomutt 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 which should be evaluated. For example, backticks are evaluated inside of double
quotes, but not single quotes.
\ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh. For example, if want to put quotes
(“"”) inside of a string, you can use “\” to force the next character to be a literal instead of
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 backticks (`command`).
UNIX environment variables can be accessed like the way it is done in shells like sh and bash: Prepend
the name of the variable by a dollar (“$”) sign.
COMMANDS
alias [-group name [...]] key address [, address [ ... ]]
unalias [ * | key ]
alias defines an alias key for the given addresses. Each address will be resolved into either an
email address (user@example.com) or a named email address (User Name <user@example.com>). The
address may be specified in either format, or in the format “user@example.com (User Name)”.
unalias removes the alias corresponding to the given key or all aliases when “*” is used as an
argument. The optional -group argument to alias causes the aliased address(es) to be added to the
named group.
group [-group name] [-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]
ungroup [-group name ] [ * | [[-rx EXPR [ ... ]] [-addr address [ ... ]]]
group is used to directly add either addresses or regular expressions to the specified group or
groups. The different categories of arguments to the group command can be in any order. The flags
-rx and -addr specify what the following strings (that cannot begin with a hyphen) should be
interpreted as: either a regular expression or an email address, respectively. ungroup is used to
remove addresses or regular expressions from the specified group or groups. The syntax is similar
to the group command, however the special character * can be used to empty a group of all of its
contents.
These address groups can also be created implicitly by the alias, lists, subscribe and alternates
commands by specifying the optional -group option.
Once defined, these address groups can be used in patterns to search for and limit the display to
messages matching a group.
alternates [-group name] regex [ regex [ ... ]]
unalternates [ * | regex [ regex [ ... ]] ]
alternates is used to inform neomutt about alternate addresses where you receive mail; you can use
regular expressions to specify alternate addresses. This affects neomutt's idea about messages
from you, and messages addressed to you. unalternates removes a regular expression from the list
of known alternates. The -group flag causes all of the subsequent regular expressions to be added
to the named group.
alternative_order type[/subtype] [ ... ]
unalternative_order [ * | type/subtype] [...]
alternative_order command permits you to define an order of preference which is used by neomutt 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 neomutt 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 neomutt 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. Note that the function
name is to be specified without angle brackets.
account-hook [!]regex 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 neomutt.
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 neomutt 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.
timeout-hook command
Run a command periodically when Mutt checks for new mail. This hook is called every $timeout
seconds.
startup-hook command
Before neomutt opens the first mailbox when first starting, mutt will run the startup hook for the
given command.
shutdown-hook command
Before neomutt is about to exit, and before the mailbox is closed, mutt will run the shutdown hook
for the given command.
folder-hook [!]regex command
When neomutt enters a folder which matches regex (or, when regex is preceded by an exclamation
mark, does not match regex), the given command is executed.
When several folder-hooks match a given mail folder, they are executed in the order given in the
configuration file.
macro map key sequence [ description ]
This command binds the given sequence of keys to the given key in the given map or maps. For
valid maps, see bind. To specify multiple maps, put only a comma between the maps.
color object foreground background [ regex ]
color index foreground background [ pattern ]
uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ]
If your terminal supports color, these commands can be used to assign foreground/background
combinations to certain objects. Valid objects are: attachment, body, bold, error, header,
hdrdefault, index, indicator, markers, message, normal, prompt, quoted, quotedN, search,
signature, status, tilde, tree, underline. If the sidebar is enabled the following objects are
also valid: sidebar_divider, sidebar_flagged, sidebar_highlight, sidebar_indicator, sidebar_new,
sidebar_spoolfile. 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 [ regex ]
mono index attribute [ pattern ]
For terminals which don't support color, you can still assign attributes to objects. Valid
attributes include: none, bold, underline, reverse, and standout.
[un]ignore pattern [ pattern ... ]
The ignore command permits you to specify header fields which you usually don't wish to see. Any
header field whose tag begins with an “ignored” pattern will be ignored.
The unignore command permits you to define exceptions from the above mentioned list of ignored
headers.
lists [-group name] regex [ regex ... ]
unlists regex [ regex ... ]
subscribe [-group name] regex [ regex ... ]
unsubscribe regex [ regex ... ]
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. The -group flag adds all
of the subsequent regular expressions to the named group.
mbox-hook [!]regex mailbox
When neomutt changes to a mail folder which matches regex, 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 neomutt 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 $sendmail
variable when a message's from header is changed.
send2-hook execution is not triggered by use of enter-command from the compose menu.
reply-hook [!]pattern command
When replying to a message matching pattern, command is executed. When multiple reply-hooks
match, they are executed in the order in which they occur in the configuration file, but all
reply-hooks are matched and executed before send-hooks, regardless of their order in the
configuration file.
crypt-hook regex key-id
The crypt-hook command provides a method by which you can specify the ID of the public key to be
used when encrypting messages to a certain recipient. The meaning of "key ID" is to be taken
broadly: This can be a different e-mail address, a numerical key ID, or even just an arbitrary
search string. You may use multiple crypt-hooks with the same regex; multiple matching crypt-
hooks result in the use of multiple key-ids for a recipient.
open-hook regex "command"
close-hook regex "command"
append-hook regex "command"
These commands provide a way to handle compressed folders. The given regex specifies which folders
are taken as compressed (e.g. "\\.gz$"). 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 variables.
Mutt knows four basic types of variables: boolean, number, string and quadoption. Boolean
variables can be set (true), unset (false), or toggled. Number variables can be assigned a
positive integer value.
String variables consist of any number of printable characters. Strings must be enclosed in
quotes if they contain spaces or tabs. You may also use the “C” escape sequences \n and \t for
newline and tab, respectively.
Quadoption variables are used to control whether or not to be prompted for certain actions, or to
specify a default action. A value of yes will cause the action to be carried out 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 variable all, all variables will reset to their compile time defaults.
source filename
The given file will be evaluated as a configuration file.
spam pattern format
nospam pattern
These commands define spam-detection patterns from external spam filters, so that neomutt 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.
mailto_allow header-field [ ... ]
unmailto_allow [ * | header-field ... ]
These commands allow the user to modify the list of allowed header fields in a mailto: URL that
Mutt will include in the the generated message. By default the list contains subject and body, as
specified by RFC2368; and cc, in-reply-to, and references to aid with mailto links from mailing
lists.
PATTERNS
In various places with neomutt, including some of the above mentioned hook commands, you can specify
patterns to match messages.
Constructing Patterns
A simple pattern consists of an operator of the form “~character”, possibly followed by a parameter
against which neomutt is supposed to match the object specified by this operator. For some characters,
the ~ may be replaced by another character to alter the behavior of the match. These are described in
the list of operators, below.
With some of these operators, the object to be matched consists of several e-mail addresses. In these
cases, the object is matched if at least one of these e-mail addresses matches. You can prepend a hat
(“^”) character to such a pattern to indicate that all addresses must match in order to match the object.
You can construct complex patterns by combining simple patterns with logical operators. Logical AND is
specified by simply concatenating two simple patterns, for instance “~C neomutt-dev ~s bug”. Logical OR
is specified by inserting a vertical bar (“|”) between two patterns, for instance “~C neomutt-dev | ~s
bug”. Additionally, you can negate a pattern by prepending a bang (“!”) character. For logical
grouping, use braces (“()”). Example: “!(~t neomutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins”.
Simple Patterns
Mutt understands the following simple patterns:
~A all messages
~b EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message body.
=b STRING messages which contain STRING in the message body. If IMAP is enabled, searches for STRING on
the server, rather than downloading each message and searching it locally.
~B EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole message.
~c EXPR messages carbon-copied to EXPR
%c GROUP messages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP
~C EXPR messages either to: or cc: EXPR
%C GROUP messages either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP
~d MIN-MAX messages with “date-sent” in a Date range
~D deleted messages
~e EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “Sender” field
%e GROUP messages which contain a member of GROUP in the “Sender” field
~E expired messages
~f EXPR messages originating from EXPR
%f GROUP messages originating from any member of GROUP
~F flagged messages
~g PGP signed messages
~G PGP encrypted messages
~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message header
~H EXPR messages with spam tags matching EXPR
~i EXPR messages which match EXPR in the “Message-ID” field
~k messages containing PGP key material
~l messages addressed to a known mailing list (defined by either subscribe or list)
~L EXPR messages either originated or received by EXPR
%L GROUP messages either originated or received by any member of GROUP
~m MIN-MAX message in the range MIN to MAX
~n MIN-MAX messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX
~N new messages
~O old messages
~p messages addressed to you (as defined by alternates)
~P messages from you (as defined by alternates)
~Q messages which have been replied to
~r MIN-MAX messages with “date-received” in a Date range
~R read messages
~s EXPR messages having EXPR in the “Subject” field.
~S superseded messages
~t EXPR messages addressed to EXPR
~T tagged messages
~u messages addressed to a subscribed mailing list (defined by subscribe commands)
~U unread messages
~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
~V cryptographically verified messages
~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “References” or “In-Reply-To” field
~X MIN-MAX messages with MIN - MAX attachments
~y EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the “X-Label” field
~z MIN-MAX messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX
~= duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
~$ unreferenced message (requires threaded view)
~(PATTERN) messages in threads containing messages matching a certain pattern, e.g. all threads
containing messages from you: ~(~P)
~<(PATTERN) messages whose immediate parent matches PATTERN, e.g. replies to your messages: ~<(~P)
~>(PATTERN) messages having an immediate child matching PATTERN, e.g. messages you replied to: ~>(~P)
In the above, EXPR is a regular expression.
With the ~d, ~m, ~n, ~r, ~X, and ~z operators, you can also specify ranges in the forms <MAX, >MIN, MIN-,
and -MAX.
With the ~z operator, the suffixes “K” and “M” are allowed to specify kilobyte and megabyte respectively.
Matching dates
The ~d and ~r operators are used to match date ranges, which are interpreted to be given in your local
time zone.
A date is of the form DD[/MM[/[cc]YY]], that is, a two-digit date, optionally followed by a two-digit
month, optionally followed by a year specifications. Omitted fields default to the current month and
year.
Mutt understands either two or four digit year specifications. When given a two-digit year, neomutt will
interpret values less than 70 as lying in the 21st century (i.e., “38” means 2038 and not 1938, and “00”
is interpreted as 2000), and values greater than or equal to 70 as lying in the 20th century.
Note that this behavior is Y2K compliant, but that neomutt does have a Y2.07K problem.
If a date range consists of a single date, the operator in question will match that precise date. If the
date range consists of a dash (“-”), followed by a date, this range will match any date before and up to
the date given. Similarly, a date followed by a dash matches the date given and any later point of time.
Two dates, separated by a dash, match any date which lies in the given range of time.
You can also modify any absolute date by giving an error range. An error range consists of one of the
characters +, -, *, followed by a positive number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d,
specifying a unit of years, months, weeks, or days. + increases the maximum date matched by the given
interval of time, - decreases the minimum date matched by the given interval of time, and * increases the
maximum date and decreases the minimum date matched by the given interval of time. It is possible to
give multiple error margins, which cumulate. Example: 1/1/2001-1w+2w*3d
You can also specify offsets relative to the current date. An offset is specified as one of the
characters <, >, =, followed by a positive number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d.
> matches dates which are older than the specified amount of time, an offset which begins with the
character < matches dates which are more recent than the specified amount of time, and an offset which
begins with the character = matches points of time which are precisely the given amount of time ago.
CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
abort_noattach
Type: quadoption
Default: no
If set to yes, when composing messages containing the regular expression specified by
attach_keyword and no attachments ** are given, composition will be aborted. If set to no,
composing ** messages as such will never be aborted.
Example:
set attach_keyword = "\\<attach(|ed|ments?)\\>"
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: "~/.neomuttrc"
The default file in which to save aliases created by the <create-alias> function. Entries added to
this file are encoded in the character set specified by $config_charset if it is set or the
current character set otherwise.
Note: NeoMutt will not automatically source this file; you must explicitly use the “source”
command for it to be executed in case this option points to a dedicated alias file.
The default for this option is the currently used neomuttrc file, or “~/.neomuttrc” if no user
neomuttrc was found.
alias_format
Type: string
Default: "%4n %2f %t %-10a %r"
Specifies the format of the data displayed for the “alias” menu. The following printf(3)-style
sequences are available:
%a Alias name
%f Flags - currently, a “d” for an alias marked for deletion
%n Index number
%r Address which alias expands to
%t Character which indicates if the alias is tagged for inclusion
allow_8bit
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either Quoted- Printable or Base64
encoding when sending mail.
allow_ansi
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in rich text messages) are to be
interpreted. Messages containing these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will
be colored accordingly. Note that this may override your color choices, and even present a
security problem, since a message could include a line like
[-- PGP output follows ...
and give it the same color as your attachment color (see also $crypt_timestamp).
arrow_cursor
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, an arrow (“->”) will be used to indicate the current entry in menus instead of
highlighting the whole line. On slow network or modem links this will make response faster
because there is less that has to be redrawn on the screen when moving to the next or previous
entries in the menu.
ascii_chars
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will use plain ASCII characters when displaying thread and attachment trees,
instead of the default ACS characters.
askbcc
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipients before editing an outgoing
message.
askcc
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients before editing the body of an
outgoing message.
ask_follow_up
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will prompt you for follow-up groups before editing the body of an outgoing
message.
ask_x_comment_to
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will prompt you for x-comment-to field before editing the body of an outgoing
message.
assumed_charset
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding schemes for messages without
character encoding indication. Header field values and message body content without character
encoding indication would be assumed that they are written in one of this list. By default, all
the header fields and message body without any charset indication are assumed to be in “us-ascii”.
For example, Japanese users might prefer this:
set assumed_charset="iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"
However, only the first content is valid for the message body.
attach_charset
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding schemes for text file attachments.
NeoMutt uses this setting to guess which encoding files being attached are encoded in to convert
them to a proper character set given in $send_charset.
If unset, the value of $charset will be used instead. For example, the following configuration
would work for Japanese text handling:
set attach_charset="iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"
Note: for Japanese users, “iso-2022-*” must be put at the head of the value as shown above if
included.
attach_format
Type: string
Default: "%u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s] "
This variable describes the format of the “attachment” menu. The following printf(3)-style
sequences are understood:
%C Charset
%c Requires charset conversion (“n” or “c”)
%D Deleted flag
%d Description (if none, falls back to %F)
%e MIME content-transfer-encoding
%f Filename
%F Filename in content-disposition header (if none, falls back to %f)
%I Disposition (“I” for inline, “A” for attachment)
%m Major MIME type
%M MIME subtype
%n Attachment number
%Q “Q”, if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting
%s Size
%T Graphic tree characters
%t Tagged flag
%u Unlink (=to delete) flag
%X Number of qualifying MIME parts in this part and its children (please see the “attachments”
section for possible speed effects)
%>X Right justify the rest of the string and pad with character “X”
%|X Pad to the end of the line with character “X”
%*X Soft-fill with character “X” as pad
For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format documentation.
attach_keyword
Type: regular expression
Default: "\<(attach|attached|attachments?)\>"
If abort_noattach is not set to no, then the body of the message will be scanned for this regular
expression, and if found, you will be prompted if there are no attachments.
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, NeoMutt will concatenate the attachments and will operate on them as a single
attachment. The $attach_sep separator is added after each attachment. When set, NeoMutt will
operate on the attachments one by one.
attribution
Type: string
Default: "On %d, %n wrote:"
This is the string that will precede a message which has been included in a reply. For a full
listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.
attribution_locale
Type: string
Default: ""
The locale used by strftime(3) to format dates in the attribution string. Legal values are the
strings your system accepts for the locale environment variable $LC_TIME.
This variable is to allow the attribution date format to be customized by recipient or folder
using hooks. By default, NeoMutt will use your locale environment, so there is no need to set
this except to override that default.
auto_tag
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, functions in the index menu which affect a message will be applied to all tagged
messages (if there are any). When unset, you must first use the <tag-prefix> function (bound to
“;” by default) to make the next function apply to all tagged messages.
autoedit
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set along with $edit_headers, NeoMutt will skip the initial send-menu (prompting for subject
and recipients) and allow you to immediately begin editing the body of your message. The
send-menu may still be accessed once you have finished editing the body of your message.
Note: when this option is set, you cannot use send-hooks that depend on the recipients when
composing a new (non-reply) message, as the initial list of recipients is empty.
Also see $fast_reply.
beep
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is set, NeoMutt will beep when an error occurs.
beep_new
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt will include Delivered-To headers when bouncing messages.
Postfix users may wish to unset this variable.
Note: On Debian systems, this option is unset by default in /etc/Muttrc.
braille_friendly
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, NeoMutt 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 unset by default because many visual
terminals don't permit making the cursor invisible.
catchup_newsgroup
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
If this variable is set, NeoMutt will mark all articles in newsgroup as read when you quit the
newsgroup (catchup newsgroup).
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 is also automatically accepted.
Example:
set certificate_file=~/.neomutt/certificates
change_folder_next
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, the <change-folder> function mailbox suggestion will start at the next
folder in your “mailboxes” list, instead of starting at the first folder in the list.
charset
Type: string
Default: ""
Character set your terminal uses to display and enter textual data. It is also the fallback for
$send_charset.
Upon startup NeoMutt tries to derive this value from environment variables such as $LC_CTYPE or
$LANG.
Note: It should only be set in case NeoMutt isn't able to determine the character set used
correctly.
check_mbox_size
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, NeoMutt will use file size attribute instead of access time when
checking for new mail in mbox and mmdf folders.
This variable is unset by default and should only be enabled when new mail detection for these
folder types is unreliable or doesn't work.
Note that enabling this variable should happen before any “mailboxes” directives occur in
configuration files regarding mbox or mmdf folders because NeoMutt needs to determine the initial
new mail status of such a mailbox by performing a fast mailbox scan when it is defined.
Afterwards the new mail status is tracked by file size changes.
check_new
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.
When set, NeoMutt 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 this variable is unset, no check
for new mail is performed while the mailbox is open.
collapse_unread
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, NeoMutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any unread messages.
collapse_flagged
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, NeoMutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any flagged messages.
compose_format
Type: string
Default: "-- NeoMutt: 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(3)-like sequences:
%a Total number of attachments
%h Local hostname
%l Approximate size (in bytes) of the current message
%v NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt will recode commands in rc files from this encoding to the current character
set as specified by $charset and aliases written to $alias_file from the current character set.
Please note that if setting $charset it must be done before setting $config_charset.
Recoding should be avoided as it may render unconvertable characters as question marks which can
lead to undesired side effects (for example in regular expressions).
confirmappend
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will prompt for confirmation when appending messages to an existing mailbox.
confirmcreate
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt 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 NeoMutt to timeout a network connection (for IMAP, POP or SMTP) after this many seconds if
the connection is not able to be established. A negative value causes NeoMutt to wait
indefinitely for the connection attempt to succeed.
content_type
Type: string
Default: "text/plain"
Sets the default Content-Type for the body of newly composed messages.
copy
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not copies of your outgoing messages will be saved for later
references. Also see $record, $save_name, $force_name and “fcc-hook”.
crypt_autoencrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt 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 instead. (Crypto only)
crypt_autopgp
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not NeoMutt may automatically enable PGP encryption/signing for
messages. See also $crypt_autoencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign, $crypt_replysign and
$smime_is_default.
crypt_autosign
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt 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 instead of the pgp
menu. (Crypto only)
crypt_autosmime
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not NeoMutt may automatically enable S/MIME encryption/signing
for messages. See also $crypt_autoencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign, $crypt_replysign
and $smime_is_default.
crypt_confirmhook
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, then you will be prompted for confirmation of keys when using the crypt-hook command. If
unset, no such confirmation prompt will be presented. This is generally considered unsafe,
especially where typos are concerned.
crypt_opportunistic_encrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt to automatically enable and disable encryption, based on
whether all message recipient keys can be located by NeoMutt.
When this option is enabled, NeoMutt will enable/disable encryption each time the TO, CC, and BCC
lists are edited. If $edit_headers is set, NeoMutt will also do so each time the message is
edited.
While this is set, encryption can't be manually enabled/disabled. The pgp or smime menus provide
a selection to temporarily disable this option for the current message.
If $crypt_autoencrypt or $crypt_replyencrypt enable encryption for a message, this option will be
disabled for that message. It can be manually re-enabled in the pgp or smime menus. (Crypto
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
NeoMutt is not able to find out whether an encrypted message is also signed. (Crypto only)
crypt_timestamp
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, NeoMutt will include a time stamp in the lines surrounding PGP or S/MIME output, so
spoofing such lines is more difficult. If you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on
these, you may unset this setting. (Crypto only)
crypt_use_gpgme
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls the use of the GPGME-enabled crypto backends. If it is set and NeoMutt was
built with gpgme support, the gpgme code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the classic
code. Note that you need to set this option in .neomuttrc; it won't have any effect when used
interactively.
Note that the GPGME backend does not support creating old-style inline (traditional) PGP encrypted
or signed messages (see $pgp_autoinline).
crypt_use_pka
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls whether NeoMutt uses PKA (see http://www.g10code.de/docs/pka-intro.de.pdf) during
signature verification (only supported by the GPGME backend).
crypt_verify_sig
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If “yes”, always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures. If “ask-*”, ask whether or not to
verify the signature. If “no”, never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures. (Crypto only)
date_format
Type: string
Default: "!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z"
This variable controls the format of the date printed by the “%d” sequence in $index_format. This
is passed to the strftime(3) function to process the date, see the man page for the proper syntax.
Unless the first character in the string is a bang (“!”), the month and week day names are
expanded according to the locale. 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).
debug_level
Type: number
Default: 0
The debug level. Note: to debug the early startup process (before the configuration is loaded),
“-d” neomutt argument must be used. debug_level/debug_file are ignored until it's read from the
configuration file.
debug_file
Type: path
Default: "~/.neomuttdebug"
The location prefix of the debug file, 0 is append to the debug file Old debug files are renamed
with the prefix 1, 2, 3 and 4. See “debug_level” for more detail.
default_hook
Type: string
Default: "~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)"
This variable controls how “message-hook”, “reply-hook”, “send-hook”, “send2-hook”, “save-hook”,
and “fcc-hook” will be interpreted if they are specified with only a simple regex, 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, NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt'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.
When preparing the message, NeoMutt inserts some escape sequences into the text. They are of the
form: <esc>]9;XXX<bel> where "XXX" is a random 64-bit number.
If these escape sequences interfere with your filter, they can be removed using a tool like
ansifilter or sed 's/^\x1b]9;[0-9]\+\x7//'
If they are removed, then PGP and MIME headers will no longer be coloured. This can be fixed by
adding this to your config: color body magenta default '^\[-- .* --\]$'.
dsn_notify
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable sets the request for when notification is returned. The string consists of a comma
separated list (no spaces!) of one or more of the following: never, to never request notification,
failure, to request notification on transmission failure, delay, to be notified of message delays,
success, to be notified of successful transmission.
Example:
set dsn_notify="failure,delay"
Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable this unless you are either using
Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the -N
option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is auto-detected so that it depends on the server
whether DSN will be used or not.
dsn_return
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable controls how much of your message is returned in DSN messages. It may be set to
either hdrs to return just the message header, or full to return the full message.
Example:
set dsn_return=hdrs
Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable this unless you are either using
Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the -R
option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is auto-detected so that it depends on the server
whether DSN will be used or not.
duplicate_threads
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether NeoMutt, when $sort is set to threads, threads messages with the
same Message-Id together. If it is set, it will indicate that it thinks they are duplicates of
each other with an equals sign in the thread tree.
edit_headers
Type: boolean
Default: no
This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing messages along with the body of your
message.
Although the compose menu may have localized header labels, the labels passed to your editor will
be standard RFC2822 headers, (e.g. To:, Cc:, Subject:). Headers added in your editor must also be
RFC2822 headers, or one of the pseudo headers listed in “edit-header”. NeoMutt will not
understand localized header labels, just as it would not when parsing an actual email.
Note that changes made to the References: and Date: headers are ignored for interoperability
reasons.
editor
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable specifies which editor is used by NeoMutt. 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.
The $editor string may contain a %s escape, which will be replaced by the name of the file to be
edited. If the %s escape does not appear in $editor, a space and the name to be edited are
appended.
The resulting string is then executed by running
sh -c 'string'
where string is the expansion of $editor described above.
empty_subject
Type: string
Default: "Re: your mail"
This variable specifies the subject to be used when replying to an email with an empty subject.
It defaults to "Re: your mail".
encode_from
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will quoted-printable encode messages when they contain the string “From ” (note
the trailing space) in the beginning of a line. This is useful to avoid the tampering certain
mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages (in order to prevent tools from
misinterpreting the line as a mbox message separator).
envelope_from_address
Type: e-mail address
Default: ""
Manually sets the envelope sender for outgoing messages. This value is ignored if
$use_envelope_from is unset.
escape
Type: string
Default: "~"
Escape character to use for functions in the built-in editor.
fast_reply
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the initial prompt for recipients and subject are skipped when replying to messages, and
the initial prompt for subject is skipped when forwarding messages.
Note: this variable has no effect when the $autoedit variable is set.
fcc_attach
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not attachments on outgoing messages are saved along with the
main body of your message.
fcc_clear
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and unsigned, even when the actual
message is encrypted and/or signed. (PGP only)
flag_safe
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, flagged messages cannot be deleted.
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 when handling the “mailboxes” command.
folder_format
Type: string
Default: "%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f"
This variable allows you to customize the file browser display to your personal taste. This
string is similar to $index_format, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%C Current file number
%d Date/time folder was last modified
%D Date/time folder was last modified using $date_format.
%f Filename (“/” is appended to directory names, “@” to symbolic links and “*” to executable
files)
%F File permissions
%g Group name (or numeric gid, if missing)
%l Number of hard links
%m Number of messages in the mailbox *
%n Number of unread messages in the mailbox *
%N “N” if mailbox 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”
%*X Soft-fill with character “X” as pad
For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format documentation.
* = can be optionally printed if nonzero
%m, %n, and %N only work for monitored mailboxes. %m requires $mail_check_stats to be set. %n
requires $mail_check_stats to be set (except for IMAP mailboxes).
followup_to
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether or not the “Mail-Followup-To:” header field is generated when sending mail. When
set, NeoMutt 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.
followup_to_poster
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
If this variable is set and the keyword "poster" is present in Followup-To header, follow-up to
newsgroup function is not permitted. The message will be mailed to the submitter of the message
via mail.
force_name
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable is similar to $save_name, except that NeoMutt 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_attribution_intro
Type: string
Default: "----- Forwarded message from %f -----"
This is the string that will precede a message which has been forwarded in the main body of a
message (when $mime_forward is unset). For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see
the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.
forward_attribution_trailer
Type: string
Default: "----- End forwarded message -----"
This is the string that will follow a message which has been forwarded in the main body of a
message (when $mime_forward is unset). For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see
the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.
forward_decode
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain when forwarding a message. The
message header is also RFC2047 decoded. This variable is only used, if $mime_forward is unset,
otherwise $mime_forward_decode is used instead.
forward_decrypt
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls the handling of encrypted messages when forwarding a message. When set, the outer layer
of encryption is stripped off. This variable is only used if $mime_forward is set and
$mime_forward_decode is unset. (PGP only)
forward_edit
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This quadoption controls whether or not the user is 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.
forward_references
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, forwarded messages set the “In-Reply-To:” and “References:” headers in the same way as
normal replies would. Hence the forwarded message becomes part of the original thread instead of
starting a new one.
from
Type: e-mail address
Default: ""
When set, this variable contains a default from address. It can be overridden using “my_hdr”
(including from a “send-hook”) and $reverse_name. This variable is ignored if $use_from is unset.
This setting defaults to the contents of the environment variable $EMAIL.
from_chars
Type: string
Default: ""
Controls the character used to prefix the %F and %L fields in the index.
Character
Description
1 Mail is written by you and has a To address, or has a known mailing list in the To address.
2 Mail is written by you and has a Cc address, or has a known mailing list in the Cc address.
3 Mail is written by you and has a Bcc address.
4 All remaining cases.
If this is empty or unset (default), the traditional long "To ", "Cc " and "Bcc " prefixes are
used. If set but too short to include a character for a particular case, a single space will be
prepended to the field. To prevent any prefix at all from being added in a particular case, use
the special value CR (aka ^M) for the corresponding character.
This slightly odd interface is necessitated by NeoMutt's handling of string variables; one cannot
tell a variable that is unset from one that is set to the empty string.
gecos_mask
Type: regular expression
Default: "^[^,]*"
A regular expression used by NeoMutt to parse the GECOS field of a password entry when expanding
the alias. The default value will return the string up to the first “,” encountered. If the
GECOS field contains a string like “lastname, firstname” then you should set it to “.*”.
This can be useful if you see the following behavior: you address an e-mail to user ID “stevef”
whose full name is “Steve Franklin”. If NeoMutt 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
NeoMutt will expand “Franklin” to “Franklin, Steve”.
group_index_format
Type: string
Default: "%4C %M%N %5s %-45.45f %d"
This variable allows you to customize the newsgroup browser display to your personal taste. This
string is similar to “index_format”, but has its own set of printf()-like sequences:
%C Current newsgroup number
%d Description of newsgroup (becomes from server)
%f Newsgroup name
%M - if newsgroup not allowed for direct post (moderated for example)
%N N if newsgroup is new, u if unsubscribed, blank otherwise
%n Number of new articles in newsgroup
%s Number of unread articles in newsgroup
%>X Right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"
%|X Pad to the end of the line with character "X"
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 NeoMutt to include the header of the message you are replying to
into the edit buffer. The $weed setting applies.
header_cache
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable points to the header cache database. If pointing to a directory NeoMutt will
contain a header cache database file per folder, if pointing to a file that file will be a single
global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching will be used.
Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP MH or Maildir folders, see
“caching” for details.
header_cache_backend
Type: -none-
Default: 0
This variable specifies the header cache backend.
header_cache_compress
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When NeoMutt is compiled with qdbm, tokyocabinet or kyotocabinet as header cache backend, this
option determines whether the database will be compressed. Compression results in database files
roughly being one fifth of the usual diskspace, but the decompression can result in a slower
opening of cached folder(s) which in general is still much faster than opening non header cached
folders.
header_color_partial
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, color header regexes behave like color body regexes: color is applied to the exact text
matched by the regex. When unset, color is applied to the entire header.
One use of this option might be to apply color to just the header labels.
See “color” for more details.
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
NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt will not show the presence of messages that are hidden by limiting, in the
thread tree.
hide_missing
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will not show the presence of missing messages in the thread tree.
hide_thread_subject
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt 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 per
category. The buffer is cleared each time the variable is set.
history_file
Type: path
Default: "~/.mutthistory"
The file in which NeoMutt will save its history.
Also see $save_history.
history_remove_dups
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, all of the string history will be scanned for duplicates when a new entry is added.
Duplicate entries in the $history_file will also be removed when it is periodically compacted.
honor_disposition
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will not display attachments with a disposition of “attachment” inline even if
it could render the part to plain text. These MIME parts can only be viewed from the attachment
menu.
If unset, NeoMutt will render all MIME parts it can properly transform to plain text.
honor_followup_to
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header is honored when group-replying to
a message.
hostname
Type: string
Default: ""
Specifies the fully-qualified hostname of the system NeoMutt is running on containing the host's
name and the DNS domain it belongs to. It is used as the domain part (after “@”) for local email
addresses as well as Message-Id headers.
Its value is determined at startup as follows: the node's hostname is first determined by the
uname(3) function. The domain is then looked up using the gethostname(2) and getaddrinfo(3)
functions. If those calls are unable to determine the domain, the full value returned by uname is
used. Optionally, NeoMutt can be compiled with a fixed domain name in which case a detected one
is not used.
Also see $use_domain and $hidden_host.
Note: On Debian systems, the default for this variable is obtained from /etc/mailname when Mutt
starts.
idn_decode
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will show you international domain names decoded. Note: You can use IDNs for
addresses even if this is unset. This variable only affects decoding. (IDN only)
idn_encode
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will encode international domain names using IDN. Unset this if your SMTP
server can handle newer (RFC6531) UTF-8 encoded domains. (IDN only)
ignore_linear_white_space
Type: boolean
Default: no
This option replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word and text to a single space to prevent
the display of MIME-encoded “Subject:” field from being divided into multiple lines.
ignore_list_reply_to
Type: boolean
Default: no
Affects the behavior of the <reply> function when replying to messages from mailing lists (as
defined by the “subscribe” or “lists” commands). When set, if the “Reply-To:” field is set to the
same value as the “To:” field, NeoMutt 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.
show_multipart_alternative
Type: string
Default: ""
When set to info, the multipart/alternative information is shown. When set to inline, all of the
alternatives are displayed. When not set, the default behavior is to show only the chosen
alternative.
imap_authenticators
Type: string
Default: ""
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods NeoMutt may attempt to use to log in to
an IMAP server, in the order NeoMutt should try them. Authentication methods are either “login”
or the right side of an IMAP “AUTH=xxx” capability string, e.g. “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or
“cram-md5”. This option is case-insensitive. If it's unset (the default) NeoMutt will try all
available methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.
Example:
set imap_authenticators="gssapi:cram-md5:login"
Note: NeoMutt will only fall back to other authentication methods if the previous methods are
unavailable. If a method is available but authentication fails, NeoMutt will not connect to the
IMAP server.
imap_check_subscribed
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will fetch the set of subscribed folders from your server on connection, and add
them to the set of mailboxes it polls for new mail just as if you had issued individual
“mailboxes” commands.
imap_delim_chars
Type: string
Default: "/."
This contains the list of characters which you would like to treat as folder separators for
displaying IMAP paths. In particular it helps in using the “=” shortcut for your folder variable.
imap_headers
Type: string
Default: ""
NeoMutt 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:”, “List-Post:”, “X-Label:”) from IMAP servers before
displaying the index menu. You may want to add more headers for spam detection.
Note: This is a space separated list, items should be uppercase and not contain the colon, e.g.
“X-BOGOSITY X-SPAM-STATUS” for the “X-Bogosity:” and “X-Spam-Status:” header fields.
imap_idle
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension to check for new mail in the current
mailbox. Some servers (dovecot was the inspiration for this option) react badly to NeoMutt's
implementation. If your connection seems to freeze up periodically, try unsetting this.
imap_keepalive
Type: number
Default: 300
This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds that NeoMutt will wait before
polling open IMAP connections, to prevent the server from closing them before NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt will prompt you for your password
when you invoke the <imap-fetch-mail> function or try to open an IMAP folder.
Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a fairly secure machine, because the
superuser can read your neomuttrc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
imap_passive
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for new mail. NeoMutt 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 NeoMutt invocation, or if opening the connection is slow.
imap_peek
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read whenever you fetch a message
from the server. This is generally a good thing, but can make closing an IMAP folder somewhat
slower. This option exists to appease speed freaks.
imap_pipeline_depth
Type: number
Default: 15
Controls the number of IMAP commands that may be queued up before they are sent to the server. A
deeper pipeline reduces the amount of time NeoMutt must wait for the server, and can make IMAP
servers feel much more responsive. But not all servers correctly handle pipelined commands, so if
you have problems you might want to try setting this variable to 0.
Note: Changes to this variable have no effect on open connections.
imap_poll_timeout
Type: number
Default: 15
This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds that NeoMutt will wait for a
response when polling IMAP connections for new mail, before timing out and closing the connection.
Set to 0 to disable timing out.
imap_servernoise
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt 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”, NeoMutt 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,
NeoMutt 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 NeoMutt 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.
The value of this option is ignored if $text_flowed is set, because the quoting mechanism is
strictly defined for format=flowed.
This option is a format string, please see the description of $index_format for supported
printf(3)-style sequences.
index_format
Type: string
Default: "%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&%4c?) %s"
This variable allows you to customize the message index display to your personal taste.
“Format strings” are similar to the strings used in the C function printf(3) to format output (see
the man page for more details). For an explanation of the %? construct, see the status_format
description. The following sequences are defined in NeoMutt:
%a Address of the author
%A Reply-to address (if present; otherwise: address of author)
%b Filename of the original message folder (think mailbox)
%B The list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder name (%b).
%c Number of characters (bytes) in the message
%C Current message number
%d Date and time of the message in the format specified by $date_format converted to sender's
time zone
%D Date and time of the message in the format specified by $date_format converted to the local
time zone
%e Current message number in thread
%E Number of messages in current thread
%f Sender (address + real name), either From: or Return-Path:
%F Author name, or recipient name if the message is from you
%g Newsgroup name (if compiled with NNTP support)
%g Message labels (e.g. notmuch tags)
%H Spam attribute(s) of this message
%I Initials of author
%i Message-id of the current message
%K The list to which the letter was sent (if any; otherwise: empty)
%l Number of lines in the message (does not work with maildir, Mh, and possibly IMAP folders)
%L If an address in the “To:” or “Cc:” header field matches an address Defined by the users
“subscribe” command, this displays "To <list-name>", otherwise the same as %F
%m Total number of message in the mailbox
%M Number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed
%N Message score
%n Author's real name (or address if missing)
%O Original save folder where NeoMutt would formerly have Stashed the message: list name or
recipient name If not sent to a list
%P Progress indicator for the built-in pager (how much of the file has been displayed)
%q Newsgroup name (if compiled with NNTP support)
%r Comma separated list of “To:” recipients
%R Comma separated list of “Cc:” recipients
%s Subject of the message
%S Single character status of the message (“N”/“O”/“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
%W Name of organization of author (“Organization:” field)
%x “X-Comment-To:” field (if present and compiled with NNTP support)
%X Number of attachments (please see the “attachments” section for possible speed effects)
%y “X-Label:” field, if present
%Y “X-Label:” field, if present, and (1) not at part of a thread tree, (2) at the top of a
thread, or (3) “X-Label:” is different from Preceding message's “X-Label:”
%Z A three character set of message status flags. The first character is new/read/replied
flags (“n”/“o”/“r”/“O”/“N”). The second is deleted or encryption flags
(“D”/“d”/“S”/“P”/“s”/“K”). The third is either tagged/flagged (“*”/“!”), or one of the
characters Listed in $to_chars.
%zs Message status flags
%zc Message crypto flags
%zt Message tag flags
%{fmt} the date and time of the message is converted to sender's time zone, and “fmt” is expanded
by the library function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
%[fmt] the date and time of the message is converted to the local time zone, and “fmt” is expanded
by the library function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
%(fmt) the local date and time when the message was received. “fmt” is expanded by the library
function strftime(3); a leading bang disables locales
%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with character “X”
%|X pad to the end of the line with character “X”
%*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
Date format expressions can be constructed based on relative dates. Using the date formatting
operators along with nested conditionals, the date format can be modified based on how old a
message is. See the section on “Conditional Dates” for an explanation and examples “Soft-fill”
deserves some explanation: Normal right-justification will print everything to the left of the
“%>”, displaying padding and whatever lies to the right only if there's room. By contrast,
soft-fill gives priority to the right-hand side, guaranteeing space to display it and showing
padding only if there's still room. If necessary, soft-fill will eat text leftwards to make room
for rightward text.
Note that these expandos are supported in “save-hook”, “fcc-hook” and “fcc-save-hook”, too.
inews
Type: path
Default: ""
If set, specifies the program and arguments used to deliver news posted by NeoMutt. Otherwise,
NeoMutt posts article using current connection to news server. The following printf-style
sequence is understood:
%a account url
%p port
%P port if specified
%s news server name
%S url schema
%u username
Example:
set inews="/usr/local/bin/inews -hS"
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.
mail_check
Type: number
Default: 5
This variable configures how often (in seconds) NeoMutt should look for new mail. Also see the
$timeout variable.
mail_check_recent
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will only notify you about new mail that has been received since the last time
you opened the mailbox. When unset, NeoMutt will notify you if any new mail exists in the
mailbox, regardless of whether you have visited it recently.
When $mark_old is set, NeoMutt does not consider the mailbox to contain new mail if only old
messages exist.
mail_check_stats
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will periodically calculate message statistics of a mailbox while polling for
new mail. It will check for unread, flagged, and total message counts. Because this operation is
more performance intensive, it defaults to unset, and has a separate option,
$mail_check_stats_interval, to control how often to update these counts.
mail_check_stats_interval
Type: number
Default: 60
When $mail_check_stats is set, this variable configures how often (in seconds) NeoMutt will update
message counts.
mailcap_path
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable specifies which files to consult when attempting to display MIME bodies not directly
supported by NeoMutt.
mailcap_sanitize
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, NeoMutt will restrict possible characters in mailcap % expandos to a well-defined set of
safe characters. This is the safe setting, but we are not sure it doesn't break some more
advanced MIME stuff.
DON'T CHANGE THIS SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE WHAT YOU ARE DOING!
maildir_header_cache_verify
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Check for Maildir unaware programs other than NeoMutt having modified maildir files when the
header cache is in use. This incurs one stat(2) per message every time the folder is opened
(which can be very slow for NFS folders).
maildir_trash
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, messages marked as deleted will be saved with the maildir trashed flag instead of
unlinked. Note: this only applies to maildir-style mailboxes. Setting it will have no effect on
other mailbox types.
maildir_check_cur
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will poll both the new and cur directories of a maildir folder for new messages.
This might be useful if other programs interacting with the folder (e.g. dovecot) are moving new
messages to the cur directory. Note that setting this option may slow down polling for new
messages in large folders, since NeoMutt has to scan all cur messages.
mark_macro_prefix
Type: string
Default: "'"
Prefix for macros created using mark-message. A new macro automatically generated with
<mark-message>a will be composed from this prefix and the letter a.
mark_old
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether or not NeoMutt marks new unread messages as old if you exit a mailbox without
reading them. With this option set, the next time you start NeoMutt, 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.
Also see the $move variable.
mbox_type
Type: folder magic
Default: mbox
The default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be any of “mbox”, “MMDF”, “MH” and
“Maildir”. This is overridden by the -m command-line option.
menu_context
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable controls the number of lines of context that are given when scrolling through menus.
(Similar to $pager_context.)
menu_move_off
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, the bottom entry of menus will never scroll up past the bottom of the screen, unless
there are less entries than lines. When set, the bottom entry may move off the bottom.
menu_scroll
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, menus will be scrolled up or down one line when you attempt to move across a screen
boundary. If unset, the screen is cleared and the next or previous page of the menu is displayed
(useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
message_cache_clean
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will clean out obsolete entries from the message cache when the mailbox is
synchronized. You probably only want to set it every once in a while, since it can be a little
slow (especially for large folders).
message_cachedir
Type: path
Default: ""
Set this to a directory and NeoMutt will cache copies of messages from your IMAP and POP servers
here. You are free to remove entries at any time.
When setting this variable to a directory, NeoMutt needs to fetch every remote message only once
and can perform regular expression searches as fast as for local folders.
Also see the $message_cache_clean variable.
message_format
Type: string
Default: "%s"
This is the string displayed in the “attachment” menu for attachments of type message/rfc822. For
a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.
meta_key
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, forces NeoMutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit (bit 8) set as if the user had
pressed the Esc key and whatever key remains after having the high bit removed. For example, if
the key pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf8, then this is treated as if the user had pressed Esc
then “x”. This is because the result of removing the high bit from 0xf8 is 0x78, which is the
ASCII character “x”.
metoo
Type: boolean
Default: no
If unset, NeoMutt will remove your address (see the “alternates” command) from the list of
recipients when replying to a message.
mh_purge
Type: boolean
Default: no
When unset, NeoMutt will mimic mh's behavior and rename deleted messages to ,<old file name> in mh
folders instead of really deleting them. This leaves the message on disk but makes programs
reading the folder ignore it. If the variable is set, the message files will simply be deleted.
This option is similar to $maildir_trash for Maildir folders.
mh_seq_flagged
Type: string
Default: "flagged"
The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.
mh_seq_replied
Type: string
Default: "replied"
The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.
mh_seq_unseen
Type: string
Default: "unseen"
The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.
mime_forward
Type: quadoption
Default: no
When set, the message you are forwarding will be attached as a separate message/rfc822 MIME part
instead of included in the main body of the message. This is useful for forwarding MIME messages
so the receiver can properly view the message as it was delivered to you. If you like to switch
between MIME and not MIME from mail to mail, set this variable to “ask-no” or “ask-yes”.
Also see $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode.
mime_forward_decode
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain when forwarding a message while
$mime_forward is set. Otherwise $forward_decode is used instead.
mime_forward_rest
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from the attachment menu, attachments which
cannot be decoded in a reasonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if this
option is set.
mime_subject
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If unset, 8-bit “subject:” line in article header will not be encoded according to RFC2047 to
base64. This is useful when message is Usenet article, because MIME for news is nonstandard
feature.
mime_type_query_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This specifies a command to run, to determine the mime type of a new attachment when composing a
message. Unless $mime_type_query_first is set, this will only be run if the attachment's
extension is not found in the mime.types file.
The string may contain a “%s”, which will be substituted with the attachment filename. NeoMutt
will add quotes around the string substituted for “%s” automatically according to shell quoting
rules, so you should avoid adding your own. If no “%s” is found in the string, NeoMutt will
append the attachment filename to the end of the string.
The command should output a single line containing the attachment's mime type.
Suggested values are “xdg-mime query filetype” or “file -bi”.
mime_type_query_first
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the $mime_type_query_command will be run before the mime.types lookup.
mix_entry_format
Type: string
Default: "%4n %c %-16s %a"
This variable describes the format of a remailer line on the mixmaster chain selection screen.
The following printf(3)-like sequences are supported:
%a The remailer's e-mail address
%c Remailer capabilities
%n The running number on the menu
%s The remailer's short name
mixmaster
Type: path
Default: "mixmaster"
This variable contains the path to the Mixmaster binary on your system. It is used with various
sets of parameters to gather the list of known remailers, and to finally send a message through
the mixmaster chain.
Note: On Debian systems, this option is set by default to “mixmaster-filter” in /etc/Muttrc.
move
Type: quadoption
Default: no
Controls whether or not NeoMutt will move read messages from your spool mailbox to your $mbox
mailbox, or as a result of a “mbox-hook” command.
narrow_tree
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable, when set, makes the thread tree narrower, 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, $write_inc and $net_inc.
new_mail_command
Type: path
Default: "NULL"
If set, NeoMutt will call this command after a new message is received. See the $status_format
documentation for the values that can be formatted into this command.
news_cache_dir
Type: path
Default: "~/.neomutt"
This variable pointing to directory where NeoMutt will save cached news articles and headers in.
If unset, articles and headers will not be saved at all and will be reloaded from the server each
time.
news_server
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable specifies domain name or address of NNTP server. It defaults to the news server
specified in the environment variable $NNTPSERVER or contained in the file /etc/nntpserver. You
can also specify username and an alternative port for each news server, ie:
[[s]news://][username[:password]@]server[:port]
newsgroups_charset
Type: string
Default: "utf-8"
Character set of newsgroups descriptions.
newsrc
Type: path
Default: "~/.newsrc"
The file, containing info about subscribed newsgroups - names and indexes of read articles. The
following printf-style sequence is understood:
%a Account url
%p Port
%P Port if specified
%s News server name
%S Url schema
%u Username
nntp_authenticators
Type: string
Default: ""
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods NeoMutt may attempt to use to log in to a
news server, in the order NeoMutt should try them. Authentication methods are either “user” or
any SASL mechanism, e.g. “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is case-insensitive.
If it's unset (the default) NeoMutt will try all available methods, in order from most-secure to
least-secure.
Example:
set nntp_authenticators="digest-md5:user"
Note: NeoMutt will only fall back to other authentication methods if the previous methods are
unavailable. If a method is available but authentication fails, NeoMutt will not connect to the
IMAP server.
nntp_context
Type: number
Default: 1000
This variable defines number of articles which will be in index when newsgroup entered. If active
newsgroup have more articles than this number, oldest articles will be ignored. Also controls how
many articles headers will be saved in cache when you quit newsgroup.
nntp_listgroup
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not existence of each article is checked when newsgroup is
entered.
nntp_load_description
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable controls whether or not descriptions for each newsgroup must be loaded when
newsgroup is added to list (first time list loading or new newsgroup adding).
nntp_user
Type: string
Default: ""
Your login name on the NNTP server. If unset and NNTP server requires authentication, NeoMutt
will prompt you for your account name when you connect to news server.
nntp_pass
Type: string
Default: ""
Your password for NNTP account.
nntp_poll
Type: number
Default: 60
The time in seconds until any operations on newsgroup except post new article will cause recheck
for new news. If set to 0, NeoMutt will recheck newsgroup on each operation in index (stepping,
read article, etc.).
nm_open_timeout
Type: number
Default: 5
This variable specifies the timeout for database open in seconds.
nm_default_uri
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable specifies the default Notmuch database in format notmuch://<absolute path>.
nm_exclude_tags
Type: string
Default: ""
The messages tagged with these tags are excluded and not loaded from notmuch DB to NeoMutt unless
specified explicitly.
nm_unread_tag
Type: string
Default: "unread"
This variable specifies notmuch tag which is used for unread messages. The variable is used to
count unread messages in DB only. All other NeoMutt commands use standard (e.g. maildir) flags.
nm_db_limit
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable specifies the default limit used in notmuch queries.
nm_query_type
Type: string
Default: "messages"
This variable specifies the default query type (threads or messages) used in notmuch queries.
nm_record
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable specifies if the NeoMutt record should indexed by notmuch.
nm_record_tags
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable specifies the default tags applied to messages stored to the NeoMutt record. When
set to 0 this variable disable the window feature.
nm_query_window_duration
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable sets the time base of a windowed notmuch query. Accepted values are 'minute',
'hour', 'day', 'week', 'month', 'year'
nm_query_window_timebase
Type: string
Default: "week"
This variable sets the time duration of a windowed notmuch query. Accepted values all non
negative integers. A value of 0 disables the feature.
nm_query_window_current_search
Type: string
Default: ""
This variable sets the time duration of a windowed notmuch query. Accepted values all non
negative integers. A value of 0 disables the feature.
nm_query_window_current_position
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable contains the currently setup notmuch search for window based vfolder.
pager
Type: path
Default: "builtin"
This variable specifies which pager you would like to use to view messages. The value “builtin”
means to use the built-in 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 NeoMutt functions directly from the pager, and screen resizes cause lines longer
than the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.
hidden_tags
Type: string
Default: "unread,draft,flagged,passed,replied,attachment,signed,encrypted"
This variable specifies private notmuch/imap tags which should not be printed on screen.
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, NeoMutt will display the line after the last one
on the screen at the top of the next page (0 lines of context).
This variable also specifies the amount of context given for search results. If positive, this
many lines will be given before a match, if 0, the match will be top-aligned.
pager_format
Type: string
Default: "-%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n %s%* -- (%P)"
This variable controls the format of the one-line message “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 setting of 6 will
only show 5 lines of the actual index. A value of 0 results in no index being shown. If the
number of messages in the current folder is less than $pager_index_lines, then the index will only
use as many lines as it needs.
pager_stop
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the internal-pager will not move to the next message when you are at the end of a
message and invoke the <next-page> function.
pgp_auto_decode
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt will automatically check the message
for traditional pgp.
pgp_autoinline
Type: boolean
Default: no
This option controls whether NeoMutt 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. The GPGME backend does not support this option.
Note that NeoMutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages which consist of more than a
single MIME part. NeoMutt can be configured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
(traditional) would not work.
Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
pgp_check_exit
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, NeoMutt 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_clearsign_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This format is used to create an old-style “clearsigned” PGP message. Note that the use of this
format is strongly deprecated.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_decode_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This format strings specifies a command which is used to decode application/pgp attachments.
The PGP command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%p Expands to PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is needed, to an empty string otherwise. Note:
This may be used with a %? construct.
%f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
%s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature part
of a multipart/signed attachment when verifying it.
%a The value of $pgp_sign_as.
%r One or more key IDs (or fingerprints if available).
For examples on how to configure these formats for the various versions of PGP which are floating
around, see the pgp and gpg sample configuration files in the samples/ subdirectory which has been
installed on your system alongside the documentation. (PGP only)
pgp_decrypt_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_decryption_okay
Type: regular expression
Default: ""
If you assign text to this variable, then an encrypted PGP message is only considered successfully
decrypted if the output from $pgp_decrypt_command contains the text. This is used to protect
against a spoofed encrypted message, with multipart/encrypted headers but containing a block that
is not actually encrypted. (e.g. simply signed and ascii armored text). (PGP only)
pgp_encrypt_only_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_encrypt_sign_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_entry_format
Type: string
Default: "%4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u"
This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu to your personal taste. This
string is similar to $index_format, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%a Algorithm
%c Capabilities
%f Flags
%k Key id
%l Key length
%n Number
%p Protocol
%t Trust/validity of the key-uid association
%u User id
%[<s>] Date of the key where <s> is an strftime(3) expression
(PGP only)
pgp_export_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to export a public key from the user's key ring.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_getkeys_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is invoked whenever NeoMutt needs to fetch the public key associated with an email
address. Of the sequences supported by $pgp_decode_command, %r is the only printf(3)-like
sequence used with this format. Note that in this case, %r expands to the email address, not the
public key ID (the key ID is unknown, which is why NeoMutt is invoking this command). (PGP only)
pgp_good_sign
Type: regular expression
Default: ""
If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP signature is only considered verified if the
output from $pgp_verify_command contains the text. Use this variable if the exit code from the
command is 0 even for bad signatures. (PGP only)
pgp_ignore_subkeys
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt 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)
pgp_import_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to import a key from a message into the user's public key ring.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_list_pubring_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to list the public key ring's contents. The output format must be analogous
to the one used by
gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes with NeoMutt.
Note: gpg's fixed-list-mode option should not be used. It produces a different date format which
may result in NeoMutt showing incorrect key generation dates.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_list_secring_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to list the secret key ring's contents. The output format must be analogous
to the one used by:
gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes with NeoMutt.
Note: gpg's fixed-list-mode option should not be used. It produces a different date format which
may result in NeoMutt showing incorrect key generation dates.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_long_ids
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs, if unset use the normal 32 bit key IDs. NOTE: Internally, NeoMutt
has transitioned to using fingerprints (or long key IDs as a fallback). This option now only
controls the display of key IDs in the key selection menu and a few other places. (PGP only)
pgp_mime_auto
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
This option controls whether NeoMutt 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_replyinline
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt 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 NeoMutt internals for previously
checked/flagged messages.
Note that NeoMutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages which consist of more than a
single MIME part. NeoMutt can be configured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
(traditional) would not work.
Also see the $pgp_mime_auto variable.
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is strongly deprecated. (PGP only)
pgp_retainable_sigs
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, signed and encrypted messages will consist of nested multipart/signed and
multipart/encrypted body parts.
This is useful for applications like encrypted and signed mailing lists, where the outer layer
(multipart/encrypted) can be easily removed, while the inner multipart/signed part is retained.
(PGP only)
pgp_self_encrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, PGP encrypted messages will also be encrypted using the key in $pgp_self_encrypt_as.
(PGP only)
pgp_self_encrypt_as
Type: string
Default: ""
This is an additional key used to encrypt messages when $pgp_self_encrypt is set. It is also used
to specify the key for $postpone_encrypt. It should be in keyid or fingerprint form (e.g.
0x00112233). (PGP only)
pgp_show_unusable
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, NeoMutt 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_sign_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for a multipart/signed PGP/MIME body
part.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_sort_keys
Type: sort order
Default: address
Specifies how the entries in the pgp menu are sorted. The 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_strict_enc
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, NeoMutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed messages as quoted-printable. Please
note that unsetting this variable may lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only
change this if you know what you are doing. (PGP only)
pgp_timeout
Type: number
Default: 300
The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will expire if not used. (PGP only)
pgp_use_gpg_agent
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will use a possibly-running gpg-agent(1) process. Note that as of version 2.1,
GnuPG no longer exports GPG_AGENT_INFO, so NeoMutt no longer verifies if the agent is running.
(PGP only)
pgp_verify_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to verify PGP signatures.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pgp_verify_key_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to verify key information from the key selection menu.
This is a format string, see the $pgp_decode_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (PGP only)
pipe_decode
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the <pipe-message> command. When unset, NeoMutt will pipe the messages
without any preprocessing. When set, NeoMutt will weed headers and will attempt to decode the
messages first.
pipe_sep
Type: string
Default: "\n"
The separator to add between messages when piping a list of tagged messages to an external Unix
command.
pipe_split
Type: boolean
Default: no
Used in connection with the <pipe-message> function following <tag-prefix>. If this variable is
unset, when piping a list of tagged messages NeoMutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe
them all concatenated. When set, NeoMutt will pipe the messages one by one. In both cases the
messages are piped in the current sorted order, and the $pipe_sep separator is added after each
message.
pop_auth_try_all
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, NeoMutt will try all available authentication methods. When unset, NeoMutt will only fall
back to other authentication methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is
available but authentication fails, NeoMutt will not connect to the POP server.
pop_authenticators
Type: string
Default: ""
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods NeoMutt may attempt to use to log in to
an POP server, in the order NeoMutt should try them. Authentication methods are either “user”,
“apop” or any SASL mechanism, e.g. “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is
case-insensitive. If this option is unset (the default) NeoMutt will try all available methods, in
order from most-secure to least-secure.
Example:
set pop_authenticators="digest-md5:apop:user"
pop_checkinterval
Type: number
Default: 60
This variable configures how often (in seconds) NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt will delete successfully downloaded messages from the POP server when using the
<fetch-mail> function. When unset, NeoMutt 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, i.e.:
[pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]
where “[...]” denotes an optional part.
pop_last
Type: boolean
Default: no
If this variable is set, NeoMutt will try to use the “LAST” POP command for retrieving only unread
messages from the POP server when using the <fetch-mail> function.
pop_pass
Type: string
Default: ""
Specifies the password for your POP account. If unset, NeoMutt will prompt you for your password
when you open a POP mailbox.
Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a fairly secure machine, because the
superuser can read your neomuttrc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
pop_reconnect
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not NeoMutt will try to reconnect to the POP server if the connection is lost.
pop_user
Type: string
Default: ""
Your login name on the POP server.
This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
post_indent_string
Type: string
Default: ""
Similar to the $attribution variable, NeoMutt will append this string after the inclusion of a
message which is being replied to.
post_moderated
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
If set to yes, NeoMutt will post article to newsgroup that have not permissions to posting (e.g.
moderated). Note: if news server does not support posting to that newsgroup or totally read-only,
that posting will not have an effect.
postpone
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
Controls whether or not messages are saved in the $postponed mailbox when you elect not to send
immediately.
Also see the $recall variable.
postponed
Type: path
Default: "~/postponed"
NeoMutt allows you to indefinitely “postpone sending a message” which you are editing. When you
choose to postpone a message, NeoMutt saves it in the mailbox specified by this variable.
Also see the $postpone variable.
postpone_encrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, postponed messages that are marked for encryption will be self-encrypted. NeoMutt will
first try to encrypt using the value specified in $pgp_self_encrypt_as or $smime_self_encrypt_as.
If those are not set, it will try the deprecated $postpone_encrypt_as. (Crypto only)
postpone_encrypt_as
Type: string
Default: ""
This is a deprecated fall-back variable for $postpone_encrypt. Please use $pgp_self_encrypt_as or
$smime_self_encrypt_as. (Crypto only)
preconnect
Type: string
Default: ""
If set, a shell command to be executed if NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt gives up opening the server. Example:
set preconnect="ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net \
sleep 20 < /dev/null > /dev/null"
Mailbox “foo” on “mailhost.net” can now be reached as “{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 NeoMutt really prints messages. This is set to “ask-no” by default,
because some people accidentally hit “p” often.
print_command
Type: path
Default: "lpr"
This specifies the command pipe that should be used to print messages.
print_decode
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Used in connection with the <print-message> command. If this option is set, the message is
decoded before it is passed to the external command specified by $print_command. If this option
is unset, no processing will be applied to the message when 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 NeoMutt to prompt you for a
command when the pager exits rather than returning to the index menu. If unset, NeoMutt will
return to the index menu when the external pager exits.
query_command
Type: path
Default: ""
This specifies the command NeoMutt will use to make external address queries. The string may
contain a “%s”, which will be substituted with the query string the user types. NeoMutt will add
quotes around the string substituted for “%s” automatically according to shell quoting rules, so
you should avoid adding your own. If no “%s” is found in the string, NeoMutt will append the
user's query to the end of the string. See “query” for more information.
query_format
Type: string
Default: "%4c %t %-25.25a %-25.25n %?e?(%e)?"
This variable describes the format of the “query” menu. The following printf(3)-style sequences
are understood:
%a Destination address
%c Current entry number
%e Extra information *
%n Destination name
%t “*” if current entry is tagged, a space otherwise
%>X Right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
%|X Pad to the end of the line with “X”
%*X Soft-fill with character “X” as pad
For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format documentation.
* = can be optionally printed if nonzero, see the $status_format documentation.
quit
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
This variable controls whether “quit” and “exit” actually quit from NeoMutt. If this option is
set, they do quit, if it is unset, they have no effect, and if it is set to ask-yes or ask-no, you
are prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.
quote_regexp
Type: regular expression
Default: "^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+"
A regular expression used in the internal pager to determine quoted sections of text in the body
of a message. Quoted text may be filtered out using the <toggle-quoted> command, or colored
according to the “color quoted” family of directives.
Higher levels of quoting may be colored differently (“color quoted1”, “color quoted2”, etc.). The
quoting level is determined by removing the last character from the matched text and recursively
reapplying the regular expression until it fails to produce a match.
Match detection may be overridden by the $smileys regular expression.
read_inc
Type: number
Default: 10
If set to a value greater than 0, NeoMutt will display which message it is currently on when
reading a mailbox or when performing search actions such as search and limit. The message is
printed after this many messages have been read or searched (e.g., if set to 25, NeoMutt will
print a message when it is at message 25, and then again when it gets to message 50). This
variable is meant to indicate progress when reading or searching large mailboxes which may take
some time. When set to 0, only a single message will appear before the reading the mailbox.
Also see the $write_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and the “tuning” section of the manual
for performance considerations.
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 NeoMutt recalls postponed messages when composing a new message.
Setting this variable to yes is not generally useful, and thus not recommended. Note that the
<recall-message> function can be used to manually recall postponed messages.
Also see $postponed variable.
record
Type: path
Default: "~/sent"
This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should be appended. (This is meant as
the primary method for saving a copy of your messages, but another way to do this is using the
“my_hdr” command to create a “Bcc:” field with your email address in it.)
The value of $record is overridden by the $force_name and $save_name variables, and the “fcc-hook”
command.
reflow_space_quotes
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This option controls how quotes from format=flowed messages are displayed in the pager and when
replying (with $text_flowed unset). When set, this option adds spaces after each level of quote
marks, turning ">>>foo" into "> > > foo".
Note: If $reflow_text is unset, this option has no effect. Also, this option does not affect
replies when $text_flowed is set.
reflow_text
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will reformat paragraphs in text/plain parts marked format=flowed. If unset,
NeoMutt will display paragraphs unaltered from how they appear in the message body. See RFC3676
for details on the format=flowed format.
Also see $reflow_wrap, and $wrap.
reflow_wrap
Type: number
Default: 78
This variable controls the maximum paragraph width when reformatting text/plain parts when
$reflow_text is set. When the value is 0, paragraphs will be wrapped at the terminal's right
margin. A positive value sets the paragraph width relative to the left margin. A negative value
set the paragraph width relative to the right margin.
Also see $wrap.
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, NeoMutt will assume that you want to reply
to the recipients of that message rather than to yourself.
Also see the “alternates” command.
reply_to
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes
If set, when replying to a message, NeoMutt 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.
reply_with_xorig
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable provides a toggle. When active, the From: header will be extracted from the current
mail's `X-Original-To:' header. This setting does not have precedence over “reverse_realname”.
Assuming `fast_reply' is disabled, this option will prompt the user with a prefilled From: header.
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.
resume_draft_files
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, draft files (specified by -H on the command line) are processed similarly to when resuming
a postponed message. Recipients are not prompted for; send-hooks are not evaluated; no alias
expansion takes place; user-defined headers and signatures are not added to the message.
resume_edited_draft_files
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, draft files previously edited (via -E -H on the command line) will have
$resume_draft_files automatically set when they are used as a draft file again.
The first time a draft file is saved, NeoMutt will add a header, X-Mutt-Resume-Draft to the saved
file. The next time the draft file is read in, if NeoMutt sees the header, it will set
$resume_draft_files.
This option is designed to prevent multiple signatures, user-defined headers, and other processing
effects from being made multiple times to the draft file.
reverse_alias
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls whether or not NeoMutt will display the “personal” name from your aliases
in the index menu if it finds an alias that matches the message's sender. For example, if you
have the following alias:
alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
and then you receive mail which contains the following header:
From: abd30425@somewhere.net
It would be displayed in the index menu as “Joe User” instead of “abd30425@somewhere.net.” This
is useful when the person's e-mail address is not human friendly.
reverse_name
Type: boolean
Default: no
It may sometimes arrive that you receive mail to a certain machine, move the messages to another
machine, and reply to some the messages from there. If this variable is set, the default From:
line of the reply messages is built using the address where you received the messages you are
replying to if that address matches your “alternates”. If the variable is unset, or the address
that would be used doesn't match your “alternates”, the From: line will use your address on the
current machine.
Also see the “alternates” command.
reverse_realname
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable fine-tunes the behavior of the $reverse_name feature. When it is set, NeoMutt will
use the address from incoming messages as-is, possibly including eventual real names. When it is
unset, NeoMutt will override any such real names with the setting of the $realname variable.
rfc2047_parameters
Type: boolean
Default: no
When this variable is set, NeoMutt will decode RFC2047-encoded MIME parameters. You want to set
this variable when NeoMutt suggests you to save attachments to files named like:
=?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
When this variable is set interactively, the change won't be active until you change folders.
Note that this use of RFC2047's encoding is explicitly prohibited by the standard, but
nevertheless encountered in the wild.
Also note that setting this parameter will not have the effect that NeoMutt generates this kind of
encoding. Instead, NeoMutt will unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC2231.
save_address
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt does not delete MH and Maildir
directories.
save_history
Type: number
Default: 0
This variable controls the size of the history (per category) saved in the $history_file file.
save_name
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable controls how copies of outgoing messages are saved. When set, a check is made to
see if a mailbox specified by the recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a
mailbox in the $folder directory with the username part of the recipient address). If the mailbox
exists, the outgoing message will be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to the
$record mailbox.
Also see the $force_name variable.
score
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When this variable is unset, scoring is turned off. This can be useful to selectively disable
scoring for certain folders when the $score_threshold_delete variable and related are used.
score_threshold_delete
Type: number
Default: -1
Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than the value of this variable are
automatically marked for deletion by NeoMutt. Since NeoMutt 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 NeoMutt. Since NeoMutt scores are always greater than or equal to
zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a message read.
search_context
Type: number
Default: 0
For the pager, this variable specifies the number of lines shown before search results. By
default, search results will be top-aligned.
send_charset
Type: string
Default: "us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8"
A colon-delimited list of character sets for outgoing messages. NeoMutt 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”.
In case the text cannot be converted into one of these exactly, NeoMutt uses $charset as a
fallback.
sendmail
Type: path
Default: "/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi"
Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by NeoMutt. NeoMutt expects that
the specified program interprets additional arguments as recipient addresses. NeoMutt appends all
recipients after adding a -- delimiter (if not already present). Additional flags, such as for
$use_8bitmime, $use_envelope_from, $dsn_notify, or $dsn_return will be added before the delimiter.
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.
NeoMutt 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.
save_unsubscribed
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, info about unsubscribed newsgroups will be saved into “newsrc” file and into cache.
show_new_news
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, news server will be asked for new newsgroups on entering the browser. Otherwise, it will
be done only once for a news server. Also controls whether or not number of new articles of
subscribed newsgroups will be then checked.
show_only_unread
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, only subscribed newsgroups that contain unread articles will be displayed in browser.
sidebar_delim_chars
Type: string
Default: "/."
This contains the list of characters which you would like to treat as folder separators for
displaying paths in the sidebar.
Local mail is often arranged in directories: `dir1/dir2/mailbox'.
set sidebar_delim_chars='/'
IMAP mailboxes are often named: `folder1.folder2.mailbox'.
set sidebar_delim_chars='.'
See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_folder_indent, $sidebar_indent_string.
sidebar_divider_char
Type: string
Default: ""
This specifies the characters to be drawn between the sidebar (when visible) and the other NeoMutt
panels. ASCII and Unicode line-drawing characters are supported.
sidebar_folder_indent
Type: boolean
Default: no
Set this to indent mailboxes in the sidebar.
See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_indent_string, $sidebar_delim_chars.
sidebar_format
Type: string
Default: "%B%* %n"
This variable allows you to customize the sidebar display. This string is similar to
$index_format, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%B Name of the mailbox
%S * Size of mailbox (total number of messages)
%N * Number of unread messages in the mailbox
%n N if mailbox has new mail, blank otherwise
%F * Number of Flagged messages in the mailbox
%! “!” : one flagged message; “!!” : two flagged messages; “n!” : n flagged messages (for n >
2). Otherwise prints nothing.
%d * @ Number of deleted messages
%L * @ Number of messages after limiting
%t * @ Number of tagged messages
%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
%|X pad to the end of the line with “X”
%*X soft-fill with character “X” as pad
* = Can be optionally printed if nonzero @ = Only applicable to the current folder
In order to use %S, %N, %F, and %!, $mail_check_stats must be set. When thus set, a suggested
value for this option is "%B%?F? [%F]?%* %?N?%N/?%S".
sidebar_indent_string
Type: string
Default: " "
This specifies the string that is used to indent mailboxes in the sidebar. It defaults to two
spaces.
See also: $sidebar_short_path, $sidebar_folder_indent, $sidebar_delim_chars.
sidebar_new_mail_only
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the sidebar will only display mailboxes containing new, or flagged, mail.
See also: sidebar_whitelist.
sidebar_next_new_wrap
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the <sidebar-next-new> command will not stop and the end of the list of mailboxes, but
wrap around to the beginning. The <sidebar-prev-new> command is similarly affected, wrapping
around to the end of the list.
sidebar_on_right
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the sidebar will appear on the right-hand side of the screen.
sidebar_short_path
Type: boolean
Default: no
By default the sidebar will show the mailbox's path, relative to the $folder variable. Setting
sidebar_shortpath=yes will shorten the names relative to the previous name. Here's an example:
shortpath=no
shortpath=yes shortpath=yes, folderindent=yes, indentstr=".."
fruit fruit fruit
fruit.apple
apple ..apple
fruit.banana
banana ..banana
fruit.cherry
cherry ..cherry
See also: $sidebar_delim_chars, $sidebar_folder_indent, $sidebar_indent_string,
$sidebar_component_depth.
sidebar_sort_method
Type: sort order
Default: order
Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser. By default, the entries are sorted
alphabetically. Valid values:
‐ alpha (alphabetically)
‐ count (all message count)
‐ flagged (flagged message count)
‐ name (alphabetically)
‐ new (unread message count)
‐ path (alphabetically)
‐ unread (unread message count)
‐ unsorted
You may optionally use the “reverse-” prefix to specify reverse sorting order (example: “set
sort_browser=reverse-date”).
sidebar_component_depth
Type: number
Default: 0
By default the sidebar will show the mailbox's path, relative to the $folder variable. This
specifies the number of parent directories to hide from display in the sidebar. For example: If a
maildir is normally displayed in the sidebar as dir1/dir2/dir3/maildir, setting
sidebar_component_depth=2 will display it as dir3/maildir, having truncated the 2 highest
directories.
See also: $sidebar_short_path
sidebar_visible
Type: boolean
Default: no
This specifies whether or not to show sidebar. The sidebar shows a list of all your mailboxes.
See also: $sidebar_format, $sidebar_width
sidebar_width
Type: number
Default: 30
This controls the width of the sidebar. It is measured in screen columns. For example:
sidebar_width=20 could display 20 ASCII characters, or 10 Chinese characters.
sig_dashes
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set, a line containing “-- ” (note the trailing space) will be inserted before your $signature.
It is strongly recommended that you not unset this variable unless your signature contains just
your name. The reason for this is because many software packages use “-- \n” to detect your
signature. For example, NeoMutt has the ability to highlight the signature in a different color
in the built-in 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 standard output.
simple_search
Type: string
Default: "~f %s | ~s %s"
Specifies how NeoMutt should expand a simple search into a real search pattern. A simple search
is one that does not contain any of the “~” pattern operators. See “patterns” for more
information on search patterns.
For example, if you simply type “joe” at a search or limit prompt, NeoMutt will automatically
expand it to the value specified by this variable by replacing “%s” with the supplied string. For
the default value, “joe” would be expanded to: “~f joe | ~s joe”.
skip_quoted_offset
Type: number
Default: 0
Lines of quoted text that are displayed before the unquoted text after “skip to quoted” command
(S)
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.
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 and not consider a line quoted text if it also matches $smileys. This mostly happens at
the beginning of a line.
smime_ask_cert_label
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This flag controls whether you want to be asked to enter a label for a certificate about to be
added to the database or not. It is set by default. (S/MIME only)
smime_ca_location
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable contains the name of either a directory, or a file which contains trusted
certificates for use with OpenSSL. (S/MIME only)
smime_certificates
Type: path
Default: ""
Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, NeoMutt has to handle storage and
retrieval of keys by itself. This is very basic right now, and keys and certificates are stored in
two different directories, both named as the hash-value retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an index
file which contains mailbox-address keyid pairs, and which can be manually edited. This option
points to the location of the certificates. (S/MIME only)
smime_decrypt_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This format string specifies a command which is used to decrypt application/x-pkcs7-mime
attachments.
The OpenSSL command formats have their own set of printf(3)-like sequences similar to PGP's:
%f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
%s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature part
of a multipart/signed attachment when verifying it.
%k The key-pair specified with $smime_default_key
%i Intermediate certificates
%c One or more certificate IDs.
%a The algorithm used for encryption.
%d The message digest algorithm specified with $smime_sign_digest_alg.
%C CA location: Depending on whether $smime_ca_location
points to a directory or file, this expands to
“-CApath $smime_ca_location” or “-CAfile $smime_ca_location”.
For examples on how to configure these formats, see the smime.rc in the samples/ subdirectory
which has been installed on your system alongside the documentation. (S/MIME only)
smime_decrypt_use_default_key
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set (default) this tells NeoMutt to use the default key for decryption. Otherwise, if managing
multiple certificate-key-pairs, NeoMutt will try to use the mailbox-address to determine the key
to use. It will ask you to supply a key, if it can't find one. (S/MIME only)
smime_default_key
Type: string
Default: ""
This is the default key-pair to use for signing. This must be set to the keyid (the hash-value
that OpenSSL generates) to work properly (S/MIME only)
smime_encrypt_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
Encrypt the message to $smime_default_key too. (S/MIME only)
smime_encrypt_with
Type: string
Default: "aes256"
This sets the algorithm that should be used for encryption. Valid choices are “aes128”, “aes192”,
“aes256”, “des”, “des3”, “rc2-40”, “rc2-64”, “rc2-128”. (S/MIME only)
smime_get_cert_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to extract X509 certificates from a PKCS7 structure.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_get_cert_email_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to extract the mail address(es) used for storing X509 certificates, and for
verification purposes (to check whether the certificate was issued for the sender's mailbox).
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_get_signer_cert_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to extract only the signers X509 certificate from a S/MIME signature, so that
the certificate's owner may get compared to the email's “From:” field.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_import_cert_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_is_default
Type: boolean
Default: no
The default behavior of NeoMutt 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
NeoMutt 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_keys
Type: path
Default: ""
Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, NeoMutt has to handle storage and
retrieval of keys/certs by itself. This is very basic right now, and stores keys and certificates
in two different directories, both named as the hash-value retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an
index file which contains mailbox-address keyid pair, and which can be manually edited. This
option points to the location of the private keys. (S/MIME only)
smime_pk7out_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME signatures, in order to extract the
public X509 certificate(s).
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_self_encrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, S/MIME encrypted messages will also be encrypted using the certificate in
$smime_self_encrypt_as. (S/MIME only)
smime_self_encrypt_as
Type: string
Default: ""
This is an additional certificate used to encrypt messages when $smime_self_encrypt is set. It is
also used to specify the certificate for $postpone_encrypt. It should be the hash-value that
OpenSSL generates. (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.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_sign_digest_alg
Type: string
Default: "sha256"
This sets the algorithm that should be used for the signature message digest. Valid choices are
“md5”, “sha1”, “sha224”, “sha256”, “sha384”, “sha512”. (S/MIME only)
smime_timeout
Type: number
Default: 300
The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will expire if not used. (S/MIME only)
smime_verify_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type multipart/signed.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
smime_verify_opaque_command
Type: string
Default: ""
This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type application/x-pkcs7-mime.
This is a format string, see the $smime_decrypt_command command for possible printf(3)-like
sequences. (S/MIME only)
Note: On Debian systems, this defaults to the first existing file in the following list:
~/.smime/ca-certificates.crt ~/.smime/ca-bundle.crt /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt.
smtp_authenticators
Type: string
Default: ""
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods NeoMutt may attempt to use to log in to
an SMTP server, in the order NeoMutt should try them. Authentication methods are any SASL
mechanism, e.g. “plain”, “digest-md5”, “gssapi” or “cram-md5”. This option is case-insensitive.
If it is “unset” (the default) NeoMutt will try all available methods, in order from most-secure
to least-secure. Support for the “plain” mechanism is bundled; other mechanisms are provided by an
external SASL library (look for +USE_SASL in the output of neomutt -v).
Example:
set smtp_authenticators="digest-md5:cram-md5"
smtp_pass
Type: string
Default: ""
Specifies the password for your SMTP account. If unset, NeoMutt will prompt you for your password
when you first send mail via SMTP. See $smtp_url to configure NeoMutt to send mail via SMTP.
Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a fairly secure machine, because the
superuser can read your neomuttrc even if you are the only one who can read the file.
smtp_url
Type: string
Default: ""
Defines the SMTP smarthost where sent messages should relayed for delivery. This should take the
form of an SMTP URL, e.g.:
smtp[s]://[user[:pass]@]host[:port]
where “[...]” denotes an optional part. Setting this variable overrides the value of the
$sendmail variable.
sort
Type: sort order
Default: date
Specifies how to sort messages in the “index” menu. Valid 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 .neomuttrc)
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, NeoMutt 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)
‐ count (all message count)
‐ date
‐ desc (description)
‐ new (new message count)
‐ 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 mailboxes in sidebar. By default, entries are
unsorted. Valid values:
‐ count (all message count)
‐ desc (virtual mailbox description)
‐ new (new message count)
‐ path
‐ unsorted
spam_separator
Type: string
Default: ","
This variable controls what happens when multiple spam headers are matched: if unset, each
successive header will overwrite any previous matches value for the spam label. If set, each
successive match will append to the previous, using this variable's value as a separator.
spoolfile
Type: path
Default: ""
If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where NeoMutt cannot find it, you can specify its
location with this variable. NeoMutt will initially set this variable to the value of the
environment variable $MAIL or $MAILDIR if either is defined.
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 is also automatically accepted. (GnuTLS only)
Example:
set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
Note: On Debian systems, this option is set by default to “threads” in /etc/Muttrc.
ssl_client_cert
Type: path
Default: ""
The file containing a client certificate and its associated private key.
ssl_force_tls
Type: boolean
Default: no
If this variable is set, NeoMutt 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_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. (GnuTLS only)
ssl_starttls
Type: quadoption
Default: yes
If set (the default), NeoMutt will attempt to use STARTTLS on servers advertising the capability.
When unset, NeoMutt will not attempt to use STARTTLS regardless of the server's capabilities.
ssl_use_sslv3
Type: boolean
Default: no
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use SSLv3 in the SSL authentication process. Note
that SSLv2 and SSLv3 are now considered fundamentally insecure and are no longer recommended.
ssl_use_tlsv1
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1.0 in the SSL authentication process.
ssl_use_tlsv1_1
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1.1 in the SSL authentication process.
ssl_use_tlsv1_2
Type: boolean
Default: yes
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1.2 in the SSL authentication process.
ssl_verify_dates
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set (the default), NeoMutt will not automatically accept a server certificate that is either
not yet valid or already expired. You should only unset this for particular known hosts, using the
<account-hook> function.
ssl_verify_host
Type: boolean
Default: yes
If set (the default), NeoMutt will not automatically accept a server certificate whose host name
does not match the host used in your folder URL. You should only unset this for particular known
hosts, using the <account-hook> function.
ssl_ciphers
Type: string
Default: ""
Contains a colon-separated list of ciphers to use when using SSL. For OpenSSL, see ciphers(1) for
the syntax of the string.
For GnuTLS, this option will be used in place of "NORMAL" at the start of the priority string.
See gnutls_priority_init(3) for the syntax and more details. (Note: GnuTLS version 2.1.7 or higher
is required.)
status_chars
Type: string
Default: "-*%A"
Controls the characters used by the “%r” indicator in $status_format.
Character
Default Description
1 - Mailbox is unchanged
2 * Mailbox has been changed and needs to be resynchronized
3 % Mailbox is read-only, or will not be written when exiting. (You can toggle whether to
write changes to a mailbox with the <toggle-write> operation, bound by default to “%”)
4 A Folder 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-NeoMutt: %f [Msgs:%?M?%M/?%m%?n? New:%n?%?o? Old:%o?%?d? Del:%d?%?F? Flag:%F?%?t? Tag:%t?%?p? Post:%p?%?b? Inc:%b?%?l? %l?]---(%s/%S)-%>-(%P)---"
Controls the format of the status line displayed in the “index” menu. This string is similar to
$index_format, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:
%b Number of mailboxes with new mail *
%d Number of deleted messages *
%f The full pathname of the current mailbox
%F Number of flagged messages *
%h Local hostname
%l Size (in bytes) of the current mailbox *
%L Size (in bytes) of the messages shown (i.e., which match the current limit) *
%m The number of messages in the mailbox *
%M The number of messages shown (i.e., which match the 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 $status_chars
%R Number of read messages *
%s Current sorting mode ($sort)
%S Current aux sorting method ($sort_aux)
%t Number of tagged messages *
%u Number of unread messages *
%v NeoMutt version string
%V Currently active limit pattern, if any *
%>X Right justify the rest of the string and pad with “X”
%|X Pad to the end of the line with “X”
%*X Soft-fill with character “X” as pad
For an explanation of “soft-fill”, see the $index_format documentation.
* = 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.?
You can also switch between two strings using the following construct:
%?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>?
If the value of sequence_char is non-zero, if_string will be expanded, otherwise else_string will
be expanded.
You can force the result of any printf(3)-like sequence to be lowercase by prefixing the sequence
character with an underscore (“_”) sign. For example, if you want to display the local hostname
in lowercase, you would use: “%_h”.
If you prefix the sequence character with a colon (“:”) character, NeoMutt will replace any dots
in the expansion by underscores. This might be helpful with IMAP folders that don't like dots in
folder names.
status_on_top
Type: boolean
Default: no
Setting this variable causes the “status bar” to be displayed on the first line of the screen
rather than near the bottom. If $help is set, too it'll be placed at the bottom.
strict_threads
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, threading will only make use of the “In-Reply-To” and “References:” fields when you $sort
by message threads. By default, messages with the same subject are grouped together in “pseudo
threads.”. This may not always be desirable, such as in a personal mailbox where you might have
several unrelated messages with the subjects like “hi” which will get grouped together. See also
$sort_re for a less drastic way of controlling this behavior.
suspend
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When unset, NeoMutt won't stop when the user presses the terminal's susp key, usually “^Z”. This
is useful if you run NeoMutt inside an xterm using a command like “xterm -e neomutt”.
text_flowed
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will generate “format=flowed” bodies with a content type of “text/plain;
format=flowed”. This format is easier to handle for some mailing software, and generally just
looks like ordinary text. To actually make use of this format's features, you'll need support in
your editor.
Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.
thorough_search
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Affects the ~b and ~h search operations described in section “patterns”. If set, the headers and
body/attachments of messages to be searched are decoded before searching. If unset, messages are
searched as they appear in the folder.
Users searching attachments or for non-ASCII characters should set this value because decoding
also includes MIME parsing/decoding and possible character set conversions. Otherwise NeoMutt will
attempt to match against the raw message received (for example quoted-printable encoded or with
encoded headers) which may lead to incorrect search results.
thread_received
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt uses the date received rather than the date sent to thread messages by subject.
tilde
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the bottom of the screen with a tilde (“~”).
time_inc
Type: number
Default: 0
Along with $read_inc, $write_inc, and $net_inc, this variable controls the frequency with which
progress updates are displayed. It suppresses updates less than $time_inc milliseconds apart. This
can improve throughput on systems with slow terminals, or when running NeoMutt on a remote system.
Also see the “tuning” section of the manual for performance considerations.
timeout
Type: number
Default: 600
When NeoMutt is waiting for user input either idling in menus or in an interactive prompt, NeoMutt
would block until input is present. Depending on the context, this would prevent certain
operations from working, like checking for new mail or keeping an IMAP connection alive.
This variable controls how many seconds NeoMutt will at most wait until it aborts waiting for
input, performs these operations and continues to wait for input.
A value of zero or less will cause NeoMutt to never time out.
tmpdir
Type: path
Default: ""
This variable allows you to specify where NeoMutt will place its temporary files needed for
displaying and composing messages. If this variable is not set, the environment variable $TMPDIR
is used. If $TMPDIR is not set then “/tmp” is used.
to_chars
Type: string
Default: " +TCFL"
Controls the character used to indicate mail addressed to you.
Character
Default Description
1 <space> The mail is not addressed to your address.
2 + You are the only recipient of the message.
3 T Your address appears in the “To:” header field, but you are not the only recipient of the
message.
4 C Your address is specified in the “Cc:” header field, but you are not the only recipient.
5 F Indicates the mail that was sent by you.
6 L Indicates the mail was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to.
flag_chars
Type: string
Default: "*!DdrONon- "
Controls the characters used in several flags.
Character
Default Description
1 * The mail is tagged.
2 ! The mail is flagged as important.
3 D The mail is marked for deletion.
4 d The mail has attachments marked for deletion.
5 r The mail has been replied to.
6 O The mail is Old (Unread but seen).
7 N The mail is New (Unread but not seen).
8 o The mail thread is Old (Unread but seen).
9 n The mail thread is New (Unread but not seen).
10 - The mail is read - %S expando.
11 <space> The mail is read - %Z expando.
trash
Type: path
Default: ""
If set, this variable specifies the path of the trash folder where the mails marked for deletion
will be moved, instead of being irremediably purged.
NOTE: When you delete a message in the trash folder, it is really deleted, so that you have a way
to clean the trash.
ts_icon_format
Type: string
Default: "M%?n?AIL&ail?"
Controls the format of the icon title, as long as “$ts_enabled” is set. This string is identical
in formatting to the one used by “$status_format”.
ts_enabled
Type: boolean
Default: no
Controls whether NeoMutt tries to set the terminal status line and icon name. Most terminal
emulators emulate the status line in the window title.
ts_status_format
Type: string
Default: "NeoMutt with %?m?%m messages&no messages?%?n? [%n NEW]?"
Controls the format of the terminal status line (or window title), provided that “$ts_enabled” has
been set. This string is identical in formatting to the one used by “$status_format”.
tunnel
Type: string
Default: ""
Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt 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/SMTP server.
Example:
set tunnel="ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd"
Note: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the remote machine without having to
enter a password.
When set, NeoMutt uses the tunnel for all remote connections. Please see “account-hook” in the
manual for how to use different tunnel commands per connection.
uncollapse_jump
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will jump to the next unread message, if any, when the current thread is
uncollapsed.
uncollapse_new
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will automatically uncollapse any collapsed thread that receives a new message.
When unset, collapsed threads will remain collapsed. the presence of the new message will still
affect index sorting, though.
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, NeoMutt will invoke $sendmail with the -B8BITMIME flag when sending 8-bit messages to
enable ESMTP negotiation.
use_domain
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt 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, NeoMutt will set the envelope sender of the message. If $envelope_from_address is set,
it will be used as the sender address. If unset, NeoMutt will attempt to derive the sender from
the “From:” header.
Note that this information is passed to sendmail command using the -f command line switch.
Therefore setting this option is not useful if the $sendmail variable already contains -f or if
the executable pointed to by $sendmail doesn't support the -f switch.
use_from
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt 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_ipv6
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to contact. If this option is
unset, NeoMutt will restrict itself to IPv4 addresses. Normally, the default should work.
user_agent
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will add a “User-Agent:” header to outgoing messages, indicating which version
of NeoMutt was used for composing them.
visual
Type: path
Default: ""
Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the “~v” command is given in the built-in editor.
vfolder_format
Type: string
Default: "%2C %?n?%4n/& ?%4m %f"
This variable allows you to customize the file browser display for virtual folders to your
personal taste. This string uses many of the same expandos as $folder_format.
virtual_spoolfile
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will use the first defined virtual mailbox (see virtual-mailboxes) as a spool
file.
wait_key
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether NeoMutt will ask you to press a key after an external command has been invoked by
these functions: <shell-escape>, <pipe-message>, <pipe-entry>, <print-message>, and <print-entry>
commands.
It is also used when viewing attachments with “auto_view”, provided that the corresponding mailcap
entry has a needsterminal flag, and the external program is interactive.
When set, NeoMutt will always ask for a key. When unset, NeoMutt will wait for a key only if the
external command returned a non-zero status.
weed
Type: boolean
Default: yes
When set, NeoMutt will weed headers when displaying, forwarding, printing, or replying to
messages.
wrap
Type: number
Default: 0
When set to a positive value, NeoMutt will wrap text at $wrap characters. When set to a negative
value, NeoMutt will wrap text so that there are $wrap characters of empty space on the right side
of the terminal. Setting it to zero makes NeoMutt wrap at the terminal width.
Also see $reflow_wrap.
wrap_headers
Type: number
Default: 78
This option specifies the number of characters to use for wrapping an outgoing message's headers.
Allowed values are between 78 and 998 inclusive.
Note: This option usually shouldn't be changed. RFC5233 recommends a line length of 78 (the
default), so please only change this setting when you know what you're doing.
wrap_search
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether searches wrap around the end.
When set, searches will wrap around the first (or last) item. When unset, incremental searches
will not wrap.
wrapmargin
Type: number
Default: 0
(DEPRECATED) Equivalent to setting $wrap with a negative value.
write_bcc
Type: boolean
Default: yes
Controls whether NeoMutt writes out the “Bcc:” header when preparing messages to be sent. Exim
users may wish to unset this. If NeoMutt is set to deliver directly via SMTP (see $smtp_url), this
option does nothing: NeoMutt will never write out the “Bcc:” header in this case.
Note: On Debian systems, exim4 and postfix strip BCC headers by default. The above warning applies
to exim3 users, see /etc/Muttrc.
write_inc
Type: number
Default: 10
When writing a mailbox, a message will be printed every $write_inc messages to indicate progress.
If set to 0, only a single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.
Also see the $read_inc, $net_inc and $time_inc variables and the “tuning” section of the manual
for performance considerations.
x_comment_to
Type: boolean
Default: no
If set, NeoMutt will add “X-Comment-To:” field (that contains full name of original article
author) to article that followuped to newsgroup.
collapse_all
Type: boolean
Default: no
When set, NeoMutt will collapse all threads when entering a folder.
SEE ALSO
iconv(1), iconv(3), mailcap(5), maildir(5), mbox(5), mutt(1), printf(3), regex(7), strftime(3) The Neomutt Manual The Neomutt home page: http://www.neomutt.org/
AUTHOR
Michael Elkins, and others. Use <neomutt-devel@neomutt.org> to contact the developers.