---
name: "doveadm-save"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "dovecot"
version: "2.4.5-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/doveadm-save"
---

# doveadm-save(1)

Save email to a user's mailbox

## NAME

**doveadm-save** - Save email to a user's mailbox

## SYNOPSIS

**doveadm** \[*GLOBAL OPTIONS*\] **save** \[**-S** *socket\_path*\] **-A** \[*-m* *mailbox*\] \[*-U* *uid*\] \[*-g* *guid*\] \[*-r* *received-date*\] \[*mail-file*\]

**doveadm** \[*GLOBAL OPTIONS*\] **save** \[**-S** *socket\_path*\] **-F** *file* \[*-m* *mailbox*\] \[*-U* *uid*\] \[*-g* *guid*\] \[*-r* *received-date*\] \[*mail-file*\]

**doveadm** \[*GLOBAL OPTIONS*\] **save** \[**-S** *socket\_path*\] **--no-userdb-lookup** \[*-m* *mailbox*\] \[*-U* *uid*\] \[*-g* *guid*\] \[*-r* *received-date*\] \[*mail-file*\]

**doveadm** \[*GLOBAL OPTIONS*\] **save** \[**-S** *socket\_path*\] **-u** *user* \[*-m* *mailbox*\] \[*-U* *uid*\] \[*-g* *guid*\] \[*-r* *received-date*\] \[*mail-file*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**doveadm save** can be used to save messages. This can be useful for scripts and for debugging. Sieve is not invoked for saved messages, but quota is enforced.

## GLOBAL OPTIONS

Global [doveadm(1)](/doveadm/1.md) *options*:

- **-D**

  Enables *verbosity* and debug messages.

- **-O**

  Do not read any config file, just use defaults. The **dovecot\_storage\_version** setting defaults to the latest version, but can be overridden with **-o**.

- **-k**

  Preserve entire environment for doveadm, not just **import\_environment** setting.

- **-v**

  Enables verbosity, including progress counter.

- **-i** *instance-name*

  If using multiple Dovecot instances, choose the config file based on this instance name.

  See **instance\_name** setting for more information.

- **-c** *config-file*

  Read configuration from the given *config-file*. By default it first reads config socket, and then falls back to */etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf*. You can also point this to config socket of some instance running compatible version.

- **-o** *setting***=***value*

  Overrides the configuration *setting* from */etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf* and from the userdb with the given *value*. In order to override multiple settings, the **-o** option may be specified multiple times.

## OPTIONS

- **-A**

  If the **-A** option is present, the *command* will be performed for all users. Using this option in combination with system users from **userdb { driver = passwd }** is not recommended, because it contains also users with a lower UID than the one configured with the **first\_valid\_uid** setting.

  When the SQL userdb module is used, make sure that the **userdb\_sql\_iterate\_query** setting setting matches your database layout.

  When using the LDAP userdb module, make sure that the **userdb\_fields** setting and **userdb\_ldap\_iterate\_fields** setting settings match your LDAP schema. Otherwise [doveadm(1)](/doveadm/1.md) will be unable to iterate over all users.

- **-F** *file*

  Execute the *command* for all the users in the *file*. This is similar to the **-A** option, but instead of getting the list of users from the userdb, they are read from the given *file*. The *file* contains one username per line.

- **--no-userdb-lookup**

  Do not perform userdb lookup. Use the **USER** environment variable to specify the username.

- **-S** *socket\_path*

  The option's argument is either an absolute path to a local UNIX domain socket, or a hostname and port (*hostname*:*port*), in order to connect a remote host via a TCP socket.

  This allows an administrator to execute [doveadm(1)](/doveadm/1.md) mail commands through the given socket.

- **-u** *user/mask*

  Run the *command* only for the given *user*. It's also possible to use '**\***' and '**?**' wildcards (e.g. -u \*@example.org).

- **-m** *mailbox*

  Store mail to specified mailbox instead of INBOX.

- **-U** *uid*

  Save the mail using the given UID, if possible.

- **-g** *guid*

  Save the mail using the given GUID.

- **-r** *received-date*

  Save the mail using the given received-date timestamp. This is in the "human timestamp" format as described by [doveadm-search-query(7)](/doveadm-search-query/7.md).

## ARGUMENTS

*mail-file*

The message data to save.

- •

  If *mail-file* is **-**, the message is read from stdin (default).

- •

  Otherwise, *mail-file* resolves as a file path.

## EXAMPLE

```
echo "hello, world" | doveadm save -u testuser@testdomain
```

## REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs, including *doveconf -n* output, to the Dovecot Mailing List *⟨dovecot@dovecot.org⟩*. Information about reporting bugs is available at: *⟨https://dovecot.org/bugreport.html⟩*

## SEE ALSO

[doveadm(1)](/doveadm/1.md)