---
name: "biff"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "biff"
version: "1:0.17.pre20000412-5.1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/biff"
---

# biff(1)

be notified if mail arrives and who it is from

## NAME

**biff** – be notified if mail arrives and who it is from

## SYNOPSIS

**biff** \[**ny**\]

## DESCRIPTION

**Biff** informs the system whether you want to be notified when mail arrives during the current terminal session.

Options supported by **biff**:

- **n**

  Disables notification.

- **y**

  Enables notification.

When mail notification is enabled, the header and first few lines of the message will be printed on your screen whenever mail arrives. A “biff y” command is often included in the file *.login* or *.profile* to be executed at each login.

**Biff** operates asynchronously via the [comsat(8)](/comsat/8.md) service. If that service is not enabled, **biff** will not do anything. In that case, or for synchronous notification, use the *MAIL* variable of [sh(1)](/sh/1.md) or the *mail* variable of [csh(1)](/csh/1.md).

## SEE ALSO

[csh(1)](/csh/1.md), [mail(1)](/mail/1.md), [sh(1)](/sh/1.md), [comsat(8)](/comsat/8.md)

## HISTORY

The **biff** command appeared in  4.0BSD.

## BUGS

[su(1)](/su/1.md), and biff don't seem to get on too well. This is probably due to the tty  still being owned by the person using su. This can result in  “Permission denied” messages when attempting to change the biff status of your session.

Please report bugs to netbug@ftp.uk.linux.org including diffs/patches, compiler error logs or as complete a bug report as is possible.