---
name: "biff"
section: "1"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
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** \[**n** \| **y**\]

## DESCRIPTION

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

The options are as follows:

- **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. For synchronous notification use the MAIL variable of [sh(1)](/sh/1.md) or the mail variable of [csh(1)](/csh/1.md).

## EXIT STATUS

The **biff** utility exits with one of the following values:

- 0

  Notification was enabled at the time of invocation.

- 1

  Notification was disabled at the time of invocation.

- \>1

  An error occurred.

## 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. "Biff" was Heidi Stettner's dog. He died in August 1993, at 15.