---
name: "git-mailsplit"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "git"
version: "2.56.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/git-mailsplit"
---

# git-mailsplit(1)

Simple UNIX mbox splitter program

## NAME

git-mailsplit - Simple UNIX mbox splitter program

## SYNOPSIS

```
git mailsplit [-b] [-f<nn>] [-d<prec>] [--keep-cr] [--mboxrd]
                -o<directory> [--] [(<mbox>|<Maildir>)...]
```

## DESCRIPTION

Splits a mbox file or a Maildir into a list of files: "0001" "0002" .. in the specified directory so you can process them further from there.

**Important**\

Maildir splitting relies upon filenames being sorted to output patches in the correct order.

## OPTIONS

\<mbox\>

Mbox file to split. If not given, the mbox is read from the standard input.

\<Maildir\>

Root of the Maildir to split. This directory should contain the cur, tmp and new subdirectories.

\-o\<directory\>

Directory in which to place the individual messages.

- \-b

  If any file doesn’t begin with a From line, assume it is a single mail message instead of signaling an error.

\-d\<prec\>

Instead of the default 4 digits with leading zeros, different precision can be specified for the generated filenames.

\-f\<nn\>

Skip the first \<nn\> numbers, for example if -f3 is specified, start the numbering with 0004.

- \--keep-cr

  Do not remove **\\r** from lines ending with **\\r\\n**.

- \--mboxrd

  Input is of the "mboxrd" format and "^\>+From " line escaping is reversed.

## GIT

Part of the [**git**(1)](/git/1.md) suite