---
name: "mu-view"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "maildir-utils"
version: "1.12.9-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/mu-view"
---

# mu-view(1)

display an e-mail message file

## NAME

mu-view - display an e-mail message file

## SYNOPSIS

**mu** \[*COMMON OPTIONS*\] **view** \[*OPTIONS*\] \[*FILE*...\]

## DESCRIPTION

**mu view** is the **mu** command for displaying e-mail message files. It works on message files and does *not* require the message to be indexed in the database.

The command shows some common headers (From:, To:, Cc:, Bcc:, Subject: and Date:), the list of attachments and either the plain-text or html body of the message (if any), or its s-expression representation.

If no message file is provided, the command reads the message from standard-input.

## VIEW OPTIONS

### -o, --format *format*

Use the given output format, one of:

- —

  **plain**: use the plain-text body; this is the default,

- —

  **html**: use the HTML body,

- —

  **sexp**: show the S-expression representation of the message.

### --summary-len *number*

Instead of displaying the full message, output a summary based upon the first *number* lines of the message.

### --terminate

Terminate messages with \\f (*form-feed*) characters when displaying them. This is useful when you want to further process them.

### --decrypt

Attempt to decrypt encrypted message bodies. This is only possible if **mu** was built with crypto-support.

### --auto-retrieve

Attempt to retrieve crypto-keys automatically from the network, when needed.

## COMMON OPTIONS

### -d, --debug

Makes **mu** generate extra debug information, useful for debugging the program itself. Debug information goes to the standard logging location; see [**mu**(1)](/mu/1.md).

### -q, --quiet

Causes **mu** not to output informational messages and progress information to standard output, but only to the log file. Error messages will still be sent to standard error. Note that **mu index** is much faster with **--quiet**, so it is recommended you use this option when using **mu** from scripts etc.

### --log-stderr

Causes **mu** to not output log messages to standard error, in addition to sending them to the standard logging location.

### --nocolor

Do not use ANSI colors. The environment variable **NO\_COLOR** can be used as an alternative to **--nocolor**.

### -V, --version

Prints **mu** version and copyright information.

### -h, --help

Lists the various command line options.

## REPORTING BUGS

Please report bugs at *https://github.com/djcb/mu/issues*.

## AUTHOR

Dirk-Jan C. Binnema \<djcb@djcbsoftware.nl\>

## COPYRIGHT

This manpage is part of **mu** 1.12.9.

Copyright © 2008-2025 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later *https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html*. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

## SEE ALSO

[**mu**(1)](/mu/1.md)