neomuttrc(5)

NAME

neomuttrc - Configuration file for the NeoMutt Mail User Agent (MUA)

DESCRIPTION

A NeoMutt configuration file consists of a series of “commands”. Each line of the file may contain one or more commands. When multiple commands are used, they must be separated by a semicolon (“;”).

The hash mark, or pound sign (“#”), is used as a “comment” character. You can use it to annotate your initialization file. All text after the comment character to the end of the line is ignored.

Single quotes (“'”) and double quotes (“"”) can be used to quote strings which contain spaces or other special characters. The difference between the two types of quotes is similar to that of many popular shell programs, namely that a single quote is used to specify a literal string (one that is not interpreted for shell variables or quoting with a backslash [see next paragraph]), while double quotes indicate a string which should be evaluated. For example, backticks are evaluated inside of double quotes, but not single quotes.

“\” quotes the next character, just as in shells such as Bash and Zsh. For example, if you want to put quotes (“"”) inside of a string, you can use “\” to force the next character to be a literal instead of interpreted character.

“\\” means to insert a literal “\” into the line. “\n” and “\r” have their usual C meanings of line feed (LF) and carriage return (CR), respectively.

A “\” at the end of a line can be used to split commands over multiple lines, provided that the split points don't appear in the middle of command names.

It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an initialization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in backticks (`command`).

Unix environment variables can be accessed like the way it is done in shells like sh and Bash: Prepend the name of the variable by a dollar (“$”) sign.

COMMANDS

account-hook regex command

alias [ -group name ... ] key address [, address ... ]
unalias [ -group name ... ] { * | key ... }

alternates [ -group name ... ] regex [ regex ... ]
unalternates [ -group name ... ] { * | regex ... }

alternative_order mime-type[/mime-subtype] [ mime-type[/mime-subtype] ... ]
unalternative_order { * | mime-type[/mime-subtype] ... }

attachments { + | - }disposition mime-type [ mime-type ... ]
unattachments { + | - }disposition mime-type [ mime-type ... ]
attachments ?
unattachments *

auto_view mime-type[/mime-subtype] [ mime-type[/mime-subtype] ... ]
unauto_view { * | mime-type[/mime-subtype] ... }

bind map[,map ... ] key function
unbind { * | map | [,map...]} [ key ]

charset-hook alias charset
iconv-hook charset local-charset

color object [ attribute ... ] foreground background
color { header | body } [ attribute ... ] foreground background regex
color status foreground background [regex [ num ]]
color index-object [ attribute ... ] foreground background pattern
color compose-object foreground background
color compose-object [ attribute ... ] foreground background
uncolor { index-object | header | body } { * | pattern ... }

crypt-hook regex keyid

exec function [ function ... ]

fcc-save-hook pattern mailbox
fcc-hook pattern mailbox
save-hook pattern mailbox

folder-hook [-noregex] regex command

group [ -group name ... ] { -rx regex ... | -addr address ... }
ungroup [ -group name ... ] { * | -rx regex ... | -addr address ... }

hdr_order header [ header ... ]
unhdr_order { * | header ... }

ifdef symbol "config-command [ args ... ]"
ifndef symbol "config-command [ args ... ]"
finish

ignore string [ string ... ]
unignore { * | string ... }

lists [ -group name ... ] regex [ regex ... ]
unlists [ -group name ... ] { * | regex ... }
subscribe [ -group name ... ] regex [ regex ... ]
unsubscribe [ -group name ... ] { * | regex ... }

macro menu[,menu ... ] key sequence [ description ]
unmacro { * | menu | [,menu...]} [ key ]

mailboxes [[-label label] | -nolabel]
           [[-notify | -nonotify]
           [-poll | -nopoll]
           mailbox] [ ... ]
named-mailboxes label mailbox [label mailbox ... ]
unmailboxes { * | mailbox ... }

mailto_allow { * | header-field ... }
unmailto_allow { * | header-field ... }

mbox-hook [-noregex] regex mailbox

message-hook pattern command

mime_lookup mime-type[/mime-subtype] [ mime-type[/mime-subtype] ... ]
unmime_lookup { * | mime-type[/mime-subtype] ... }

mono object attribute
mono { header | body } attribute regex
mono index-object attribute pattern
unmono { index-object | header | body } { * | pattern ... }

my_hdr string
unmy_hdr { * | field ... }

open-hook regex "shell-command"
close-hook regex "shell-command"
append-hook regex "shell-command"

push string

reply-hook pattern command
send-hook pattern command
send2-hook pattern command

score pattern value
unscore { * | pattern ... }

set { [ no | inv | & | ? ]variable } [ ... ]
set { variable=value | variable+=increment | variable-=decrement } [ ... ]
unset variable  [ variable ... ]
reset variable  [ variable ... ]
toggle variable [ variable ... ]
set variable ?

setenv { ?variable | variable value }
unsetenv variable

sidebar_pin mailbox [ mailbox ...]
sidebar_unpin { * | mailbox ... }

source filename

spam regex format
nospam { * | regex }

subjectrx regex replacement
unsubjectrx { * | regex }

subscribe-to imap-folder-uri
unsubscribe-from imap-folder-uri

timeout-hook command
startup-hook command
shutdown-hook command

unhook { * | hook-type }

PATTERNS

Absolute Dates

Relative Dates

CONFIGURATION VARIABLES

abort_backspace

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, hitting backspace against an empty prompt aborts the prompt.

abort_key

Type: string
Default: "007"

Specifies the key that can be used to abort prompts. The format is the same as used in "bind" commands. The default is equivalent to "Ctrl-G". Note that the specified key should not be used in other bindings, as the abort operation has higher precedence and the binding will not have the desired effect.

Example:

set abort_key = "<Esc>"

Please note that when using <Esc> as the abort key, you may also want to set the environment variable ESCDELAY to a low value or even 0 which will reduce the time that ncurses waits to distinguish singular <Esc> key presses from the start of a terminal escape sequence. The default time is 1000 milliseconds and thus quite noticeable.

abort_noattach

Type: quadoption
Default: no

If set to yes, when composing messages containing the regular expression specified by $abort_noattach_regex and no attachments are given, composition will be aborted. If set to no, composing messages as such will never be aborted.

Example:

set abort_noattach_regex = "\\<attach(|ed|ments?)\\>"

abort_noattach_regex

Type: regular expression
Default: "\<(attach|attached|attachments?)\>"

Specifies a regular expression to match against the body of the message, to determine if an attachment was mentioned but mistakenly forgotten. If it matches, $abort_noattach will be consulted to determine if message sending will be aborted.

Like other regular expressions in NeoMutt, the search is case sensitive if the pattern contains at least one upper case letter, and case insensitive otherwise.

abort_nosubject

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

If set to yes, when composing messages and no subject is given at the subject prompt, composition will be aborted. If set to no, composing messages with no subject given at the subject prompt will never be aborted.

abort_unmodified

Type: quadoption
Default: yes

If set to yes, composition will automatically abort after editing the message body if no changes are made to the file (this check only happens after the first edit of the file). When set to no, composition will never be aborted.

account_command

Type: command
Default: ""

If set, this command is used to retrieve account credentials. The command is invoked passing a number of --key value arguments with the specifics of the account to lookup. The command writes to standard output a number of key: value lines. Currently supported arguments are --hostname, --username, and --type, where type can be any of imap, imaps, pop, pops, smtp, smtps, nntp, and nntps. Currently supported output lines are login, username, and password.

alias_file

Type: path
Default: "~/.neomuttrc"

The default file in which to save aliases created by the <create-alias> function. Entries added to this file are encoded in the character set specified by $config_charset if it is set or the current character set otherwise.

Note: NeoMutt will not automatically source this file; you must explicitly use the "source" command for it to be executed in case this option points to a dedicated alias file.

The default for this option is the currently used neomuttrc file, or "~/.neomuttrc" if no user neomuttrc was found.

alias_format

Type: string
Default: "%3i %f%t %-15a %-56A | %C%> %Y"

Specifies the format of the data displayed for the "alias" menu. The following printf(3)-style sequences are available:

%a

Alias name

%A

Full Address (Name and Email)

%C

Comment

%E

Email Address

%f

Flags - currently, a "d" for an alias marked for deletion

%i

Index number

%N

Real name

%t

Alias is tagged (selected)

%Y

User-defined tags (labels)

%>X

right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"

%|X

pad to the end of the line with character "X"

%*X

soft-fill with character "X" as pad

For an explanation of "soft-fill", see the $index_format documentation.

The following sequences are deprecated; they will be removed in the future.

%c

Use %C instead

%n

Use %i instead

%r

Use %A instead

alias_sort

Type: sort order
Default: alias

Specifies how the entries in the "alias" and "query" menus are sorted.

Value

Sort by

alias

Alias short name

email

Email Address

name

Real Name

unsorted

The order the Aliases were configured

Deprecated Value

Use this instead

address

email

Prefixing the value with reverse- sorts the entries in reverse order, e.g. set alias_sort = "reverse-alias"

Note: This also affects the entries of the address query menu, thus potentially overruling the order of entries as generated by $query_command.

allow_8bit

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either Quoted- Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.

allow_ansi

Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in rich text messages) are to be interpreted. Messages containing these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will be colored accordingly. Note that this may override your color choices, and even present a security problem, since a message could include a line like

[-- PGP output follows ...

and give it the same color as your attachment color (see also $crypt_timestamp).

arrow_cursor

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, an arrow ("->") will be used to indicate the current entry in menus instead of highlighting the whole line. On slow network or modem links this will make response faster because there is less that has to be redrawn on the screen when moving to the next or previous entries in the menu.

arrow_string

Type: string
Default: "->"

Specifies the string of arrow_cursor when arrow_cursor enabled.

ascii_chars

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, NeoMutt will use plain ASCII characters when displaying thread and attachment trees, instead of the default ACS characters.

ask_bcc

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, NeoMutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipients before editing an outgoing message.

ask_cc

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, NeoMutt will prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients before editing the body of an outgoing message.

ask_followup_to

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, NeoMutt will prompt you for follow-up groups before editing the body of an outgoing message.

ask_x_comment_to

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, NeoMutt will prompt you for x-comment-to field before editing the body of an outgoing message.

assumed_charset

Type: string list
Default: ""

This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding schemes for messages without character encoding indication. Header field values and message body content without character encoding indication would be assumed that they are written in one of this list. By default, all the header fields and message body without any charset indication are assumed to be in "us-ascii".

For example, Japanese users might prefer this:

set assumed_charset="iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"

However, only the first content is valid for the message body.

attach_charset

Type: string list
Default: ""

This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding schemes for text file attachments. NeoMutt uses this setting to guess which encoding files being attached are encoded in to convert them to a proper character set given in $send_charset.

If unset, the value of $charset will be used instead. For example, the following configuration would work for Japanese text handling:

set attach_charset="iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"

Note: for Japanese users, "iso-2022-*" must be put at the head of the value as shown above if included.

attach_format

Type: string
Default: "%u%D%I %t%4n %T%d %> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%<C?, %C>, %s] "

This variable describes the format of the "attachment" menu. The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:

%C

Charset

%c

Requires charset conversion ("n" or "c")

%D

Deleted flag

%d

Description (if none, falls back to %F)

%e

MIME content-transfer-encoding

%f

Filename

%F

Filename in content-disposition header (if none, falls back to %f)

%I

Disposition ("I" for inline, "A" for attachment)

%m

Major MIME type

%M

MIME subtype

%n

Attachment number

%Q

"Q", if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting

%s

Size (see formatstrings-size)

%T

Graphic tree characters

%t

Tagged flag

%u

Unlink (=to delete) flag

%X

Number of qualifying MIME parts in this part and its children (please see the "attachments" section for possible speed effects)

%>X

Right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"

%|X

Pad to the end of the line with character "X"

%*X

Soft-fill with character "X" as pad

For an explanation of "soft-fill", see the $index_format documentation.

attach_save_dir

Type: path
Default: "./"

The directory where attachments are saved.

attach_save_without_prompting

Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable, when set to true, will cause attachments to be saved to the 'attach_save_dir' location without prompting the user for the filename.

attach_sep

Type: string
Default: "\n"

The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving, printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.

attach_split

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If this variable is unset, when operating (saving, printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments, NeoMutt will concatenate the attachments and will operate on them as a single attachment. The $attach_sep separator is added after each attachment. When set, NeoMutt will operate on the attachments one by one.

attribution_intro

Type: string
Default: "On %d, %n wrote:"

This is the string that will precede a replied-to message which is quoted in the main body of the reply (this is the case when $include is set).

For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.

attribution_locale

Type: string
Default: ""

The locale used by strftime(3) to format dates in the attribution strings. Valid values are the strings your system accepts for the locale environment variable $LC_TIME.

This variable is to allow the attribution date format to be customized by recipient or folder using hooks. By default, NeoMutt will use your locale environment, so there is no need to set this except to override that default.

Affected variables are: $attribution_intro, $attribution_trailer, $forward_attribution_intro, $forward_attribution_trailer, $indent_string.

attribution_trailer

Type: string
Default: ""

Similar to the $attribution_intro variable, this is the string that will come after a replied-to message which is quoted in the main body of the reply (this is the case when $include is set).

For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.

auto_edit

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set along with $edit_headers, NeoMutt will skip the initial send-menu (prompting for subject and recipients) and allow you to immediately begin editing the body of your message. The send-menu may still be accessed once you have finished editing the body of your message.

Note: when this option is set, you can't use send-hooks that depend on the recipients when composing a new (non-reply) message, as the initial list of recipients is empty.

Also see $fast_reply.

auto_subscribe

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt assumes the presence of a List-Post header means the recipient is subscribed to the list. Unless the mailing list is in the "unsubscribe" or "unlist" lists, it will be added to the "subscribe" list. Parsing and checking these things slows header reading down, so this option is disabled by default.

auto_tag

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, functions in the index menu which affect a message will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any). When unset, you must first use the <tag-prefix> function (bound to ";" by default) to make the next function apply to all tagged messages.

autocrypt

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, enables autocrypt, which provides passive encryption protection with keys exchanged via headers. See "autocryptdoc" for more details. (Autocrypt only)

autocrypt_acct_format

Type: string
Default: "%4n %-30a %20p %10s"

This variable describes the format of the "autocrypt account" menu. The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood

%a

email address

%k

gpg keyid

%n

current entry number

%p

prefer-encrypt flag

%s

status flag (active/inactive)

%>X

right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"

%|X

pad to the end of the line with character "X"

%*X

soft-fill with character "X" as pad

(Autocrypt only)

autocrypt_dir

Type: path
Default: "~/.mutt/autocrypt"

This variable sets where autocrypt files are stored, including the GPG keyring and SQLite database. See "autocryptdoc" for more details. (Autocrypt only)

autocrypt_reply

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, replying to an autocrypt email automatically enables autocrypt in the reply. You may want to unset this if you're using the same key for autocrypt as normal web-of-trust, so that autocrypt isn't forced on for all encrypted replies. (Autocrypt only)

beep

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When this variable is set, NeoMutt will beep when an error occurs.

beep_new

Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, NeoMutt will beep whenever it prints a message notifying you of new mail. This is independent of the setting of the $beep variable.

bounce

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether you will be asked to confirm bouncing messages. If set to yes you don't get asked if you want to bounce a message. Setting this variable to no is not generally useful, and thus not recommended, because you are unable to bounce messages.

bounce_delivered

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When this variable is set, NeoMutt will include Delivered-To headers when bouncing messages. Postfix users may wish to unset this variable.

braille_friendly

Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, NeoMutt will place the cursor at the beginning of the current line in menus, even when the $arrow_cursor variable is unset, making it easier for blind persons using Braille displays to follow these menus. The option is unset by default because many visual terminals don't permit making the cursor invisible.

browser_abbreviate_mailboxes

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When this variable is set, NeoMutt will abbreviate mailbox names in the browser mailbox list, using '~' and '=' shortcuts.

The default "alpha" setting of $browser_sort uses locale-based sorting (using strcoll(3)), which ignores some punctuation. This can lead to some situations where the order doesn't make intuitive sense. In those cases, it may be desirable to unset this variable.

browser_sort

Type: sort order
Default: alpha

Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser.

Value

Sort by

alpha

Name

count

Total message count

date

Date

desc

Description

size

Count of new messages

new

Size

unsorted

Unsorted

Deprecated Value

Use this instead

unread

new

Prefixing the value with reverse- sorts the entries in reverse order, e.g. set browser_sort = "reverse-date"

browser_sort_dirs_first

Type: boolean
Default: no

If this variable is set, the browser will group directories before files.

catchup_newsgroup

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

If this variable is set, NeoMutt will mark all articles in newsgroup as read when you quit the newsgroup (catchup newsgroup).

certificate_file

Type: path
Default: "~/.mutt_certificates"

This variable specifies the file where the certificates you trust are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you are asked if you accept it or not. If you accept it, the certificate can also be saved in this file and further connections are automatically accepted.

You can also manually add CA certificates in this file. Any server certificate that is signed with one of these CA certificates is also automatically accepted.

Example:

set certificate_file=~/.neomutt/certificates

(OpenSSL and GnuTLS only)

change_folder_next

Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, the <change-folder> function mailbox suggestion will start at the next folder in your "mailboxes" list, instead of starting at the first folder in the list.

charset

Type: string
Default: ""

Character set your terminal uses to display and enter textual data. It is also the fallback for $send_charset.

Upon startup NeoMutt tries to derive this value from environment variables such as $LC_CTYPE or $LANG.

Note: It should only be set in case NeoMutt isn't able to determine the character set used correctly.

check_mbox_size

Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, NeoMutt will use file size attribute instead of access time when checking for new mail in mbox and mmdf folders.

This variable is unset by default and should only be enabled when new mail detection for these folder types is unreliable or doesn't work.

Note that enabling this variable should happen before any "mailboxes" directives occur in configuration files regarding mbox or mmdf folders because NeoMutt needs to determine the initial new mail status of such a mailbox by performing a fast mailbox scan when it is defined. Afterwards the new mail status is tracked by file size changes.

check_new

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.

When set, NeoMutt will check for new mail delivered while the mailbox is open. Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can take quite some time since it involves scanning the directory and checking each file to see if it has already been looked at. If this variable is unset, no check for new mail is performed while the mailbox is open.

collapse_all

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will collapse all threads when entering a folder.

collapse_flagged

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, NeoMutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any flagged messages.

collapse_unread

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, NeoMutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any unread messages.

color_directcolor

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will use and allow 24-bit colours (aka truecolor aka directcolor). For colours to work properly support from the terminal is required as well as a properly set TERM environment variable advertising the terminals directcolor capability, e.g. "TERM=xterm-direct".

NeoMutt tries to detect whether the terminal supports 24-bit colours and enables this variable if it does. If this fails for some reason, you can force 24-bit colours by setting this variable manually. You may also try to force a certain TERM environment variable by starting NeoMutt from a terminal as follows (this results in wrong colours if the terminal does not implement directcolors):

TERM=xterm-direct neomutt

Note: This variable must be set before using any `color` commands.

compose_confirm_detach_first

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will prompt for confirmation when trying to use <detach-file> on the first entry in the compose menu. This is to help prevent irreversible loss of the typed message by accidentally hitting 'D' in the menu.

Note: NeoMutt only prompts for the first entry. It doesn't keep track of which message is the typed message if the entries are reordered, or if the first entry was already deleted.

compose_format

Type: string
Default: "-- NeoMutt: Compose  [Approx. msg size: %l   Atts: %a]%>-"

Controls the format of the status line displayed in the "compose" menu. This string is similar to $status_format, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:

%a

Total number of attachments

%h

Local hostname

%l

Approximate size (in bytes) of the current message (see formatstrings-size)

%v

NeoMutt version string

%>X

right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"

%|X

pad to the end of the line with character "X"

%*X

soft-fill with character "X" as pad

See the text describing the $status_format option for more information on how to set $compose_format.

compose_preview_min_rows

Type: number
Default: 5

This variable specifies the minimum number of rows that have to be available for the message preview window to shown.

compose_preview_above_attachments

Type: boolean
Default: no

Show the message preview above the attachments list. By default it is shown below it.

compose_show_preview

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will display a preview of message in the compose view.

compose_show_user_headers

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will display user-defined headers (set via my_hdr or from editing with edit-headers).

config_charset

Type: string
Default: ""

When defined, NeoMutt will recode commands in rc files from this encoding to the current character set as specified by $charset and aliases written to $alias_file from the current character set.

Please note that if setting $charset it must be done before setting $config_charset.

Recoding should be avoided as it may render unconvertible characters as question marks which can lead to undesired side effects (for example in regular expressions).

confirm_append

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will prompt for confirmation when appending messages to an existing mailbox.

confirm_create

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages to a mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.

confirm_empty_to

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will prompt for confirmation when sending an e-mail with an empty To recipients list.

content_type

Type: string
Default: "text/plain"

Sets the default Content-Type for the body of newly composed messages.

copy

Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not copies of your outgoing messages will be saved for later references. Also see $record, $save_name, $force_name and "fcc-hook".

copy_decode_weed

Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether NeoMutt will weed headers when invoking the <decode-copy> or <decode-save> functions.

count_alternatives

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will recurse inside multipart/alternatives while performing attachment searching and counting(see attachments).

Traditionally, multipart/alternative parts have simply represented different encodings of the main content of the email. Unfortunately, some mail clients have started to place email attachments inside one of alternatives. Setting this will allow NeoMutt to find and count matching attachments hidden there, and include them in the index via %X or through ~X pattern matching.

crypt_auto_encrypt

Type: boolean
Default: no

Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt to always attempt to PGP encrypt outgoing messages. This is probably only useful in connection to the "send-hook" command. It can be overridden by use of the pgp menu, when encryption is not required or signing is requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL is used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be overridden by use of the smime menu instead. (Crypto only)

crypt_auto_pgp

Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not NeoMutt may automatically enable PGP encryption/signing for messages. See also $crypt_auto_encrypt, $crypt_reply_encrypt, $crypt_auto_sign, $crypt_reply_sign and $smime_is_default.

crypt_auto_sign

Type: boolean
Default: no

Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt to always attempt to cryptographically sign outgoing messages. This can be overridden by use of the pgp menu, when signing is not required or encryption is requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL is used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be overridden by use of the smime menu instead of the pgp menu. (Crypto only)

crypt_auto_smime

Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not NeoMutt may automatically enable S/MIME encryption/signing for messages. See also $crypt_auto_encrypt, $crypt_reply_encrypt, $crypt_auto_sign, $crypt_reply_sign and $smime_is_default.

crypt_chars

Type: character string
Default: "SPsK "

Controls the characters used in cryptography flags.

Character

Default Description

1

S The mail is signed, and the signature is successfully verified.

2

P The mail is PGP encrypted.

3

s The mail is signed.

4

K The mail contains a PGP public key.

5

<space> The mail has no crypto info.

crypt_confirm_hook

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, then you will be prompted for confirmation of keys when using the crypt-hook command. If unset, no such confirmation prompt will be presented. This is generally considered unsafe, especially where typos are concerned.

crypt_opportunistic_encrypt

Type: boolean
Default: no

Setting this variable will cause NeoMutt to automatically enable and disable encryption, based on whether all message recipient keys can be located by NeoMutt.

When this option is enabled, NeoMutt will enable/disable encryption each time the TO, CC, and BCC lists are edited. If $edit_headers is set, NeoMutt will also do so each time the message is edited.

While this is set, encryption can't be manually enabled/disabled. The pgp or smime menus provide a selection to temporarily disable this option for the current message.

If $crypt_auto_encrypt or $crypt_reply_encrypt enable encryption for a message, this option will be disabled for that message. It can be manually re-enabled in the pgp or smime menus. (Crypto only)

crypt_opportunistic_encrypt_strong_keys

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, this modifies the behavior of $crypt_opportunistic_encrypt to only search for "strong keys", that is, keys with full validity according to the web-of-trust algorithm. A key with marginal or no validity will not enable opportunistic encryption.

For S/MIME, the behavior depends on the backend. Classic S/MIME will filter for certificates with the 't'(trusted) flag in the .index file. The GPGME backend will use the same filters as with OpenPGP, and depends on GPGME's logic for assigning the GPGME_VALIDITY_FULL and GPGME_VALIDITY_ULTIMATE validity flag.

crypt_protected_headers_read

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will display protected headers ("Memory Hole") in the pager, When set, NeoMutt will display protected headers in the pager, and will update the index and header cache with revised headers.

Protected headers are stored inside the encrypted or signed part of an email, to prevent disclosure or tampering. For more information see https://github.com/autocrypt/protected-headers Currently NeoMutt only supports the Subject header.

Encrypted messages using protected headers often substitute the exposed Subject header with a dummy value (see $crypt_protected_headers_subject). NeoMutt will update its concept of the correct subject after the message is opened, i.e. via the <display-message> function. If you reply to a message before opening it, NeoMutt will end up using the dummy Subject header, so be sure to open such a message first. (Crypto only)

crypt_protected_headers_save

Type: boolean
Default: no

When $crypt_protected_headers_read is set, and a message with a protected Subject is opened, NeoMutt will save the updated Subject into the header cache by default. This allows searching/limiting based on the protected Subject header if the mailbox is re-opened, without having to re-open the message each time. However, for mbox/mh mailbox types, or if header caching is not set up, you would need to re-open the message each time the mailbox was reopened before you could see or search/limit on the protected subject again.

When this variable is set, NeoMutt additionally saves the protected Subject back in the clear-text message headers. This provides better usability, but with the tradeoff of reduced security. The protected Subject header, which may have previously been encrypted, is now stored in clear-text in the message headers. Copying the message elsewhere, via NeoMutt or external tools, could expose this previously encrypted data. Please make sure you understand the consequences of this before you enable this variable. (Crypto only)

crypt_protected_headers_subject

Type: string
Default: "..."

When $crypt_protected_headers_write is set, and the message is marked for encryption, this will be substituted into the Subject field in the message headers.

To prevent a subject from being substituted, unset this variable, or set it to the empty string. (Crypto only)

crypt_protected_headers_weed

Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether NeoMutt will weed protected header fields. (Crypto only)

crypt_protected_headers_write

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will generate protected headers for signed and encrypted emails.

Protected headers are stored inside the encrypted or signed part of an email, to prevent disclosure or tampering. For more information see https://github.com/autocrypt/protected-headers

Currently NeoMutt only supports the Subject header. (Crypto only)

crypt_reply_encrypt

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL encrypt replies to messages which are encrypted. (Crypto only)

crypt_reply_sign

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages which are signed.

Note: this does not work on messages that are encrypted and signed! (Crypto only)

crypt_reply_sign_encrypted

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages which are encrypted. This makes sense in combination with $crypt_reply_encrypt, because it allows you to sign all messages which are automatically encrypted. This works around the problem noted in $crypt_reply_sign, that NeoMutt is not able to find out whether an encrypted message is also signed. (Crypto only)

crypt_encryption_info

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, NeoMutt will include an informative block before an encrypted part, with details about the encryption. (Crypto only)

crypt_timestamp

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, NeoMutt will include a time stamp in the lines surrounding PGP or S/MIME output, so spoofing such lines is more difficult. If you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on these, you may unset this setting. (Crypto only)

crypt_use_gpgme

Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls the use of the GPGME-enabled crypto backends. If it is set and NeoMutt was built with GPGME support, the gpgme code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the classic code. Note that you need to set this option in .neomuttrc; it won't have any effect when used interactively.

Note that the GPGME backend does not support creating old-style inline (traditional) PGP encrypted or signed messages (see $pgp_auto_inline).

crypt_use_pka

Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether NeoMutt uses PKA (see http://www.g10code.de/docs/pka-intro.de.pdf) during signature verification (only supported by the GPGME backend).

crypt_verify_sig

Type: quadoption
Default: yes

If "yes", always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures. If "ask-*", ask whether or not to verify the signature. If "no", never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures. (Crypto only)

date_format

Type: string
Default: "!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z"

Instead of using $date_format it is encouraged to use "%[fmt]" directly in the corresponding format strings, where "fmt" is the value of $date_format. This allows for a more fine grained control of the different menu needs.

This variable controls the format of the date printed by the "%d" sequence in $index_format. This is passed to the strftime(3) function to process the date, see the man page for the proper syntax.

Unless the first character in the string is a bang ("!"), the month and week day names are expanded according to the locale. If the first character in the string is a bang, the bang is discarded, and the month and week day names in the rest of the string are expanded in the C locale (that is in US English).

Format strings using this variable are:

UI: $folder_format, $index_format, $mailbox_folder_format, $message_format.IP Composing: $attribution_intro, $forward_attribution_intro, $forward_attribution_trailer, $forward_format, $indent_string.

debug_file

Type: path
Default: "~/.neomuttdebug"

Debug logging is controlled by the variables $debug_file and $debug_level. $debug_file specifies the root of the filename. NeoMutt will add "0" to the end. Each time NeoMutt is run with logging enabled, the log files are rotated. A maximum of five log files are kept, numbered 0 (most recent) to 4 (oldest).

This option can be enabled on the command line, "neomutt -l mylog"

See also: $debug_level

debug_level

Type: number
Default: 0

Debug logging is controlled by the variables $debug_file and $debug_level.

The debug level controls how much information is saved to the log file. If you have a problem with NeoMutt, then enabling logging may help find the cause. Levels 1-3 will usually provide enough information for writing a bug report. Levels 4,5 will be extremely verbose.

Warning: Logging at high levels may save private information to the file.

This option can be enabled on the command line, "neomutt -d 2"

See also: $debug_file

default_hook

Type: string
Default: "~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)"

This variable controls how some hooks are interpreted if their pattern is a plain string or a regex. i.e. they don't contain a pattern, like ~f

The hooks are: fcc-hook, fcc-save-hook, index-format-hook, message-hook, reply-hook, save-hook, send-hook and send2-hook.

The hooks are expanded when they are declared, so a hook will be interpreted according to the value of this variable at the time the hook is declared.

The default value matches if the message is either from a user matching the regular expression given, or if it is from you (if the from address matches "alternates") and is to or cc'ed to a user matching the given regular expression.

delete

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing or synchronizing a mailbox. If set to yes, messages marked for deleting will automatically be purged without prompting. If set to no, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.

delete_untag

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If this option is set, NeoMutt will untag messages when marking them for deletion. This applies when you either explicitly delete a message, or when you save it to another folder.

devel_security

Type: boolean
Default: no

If this option is set, NeoMutt will enable the Security development features. See: https://github.com/neomutt/neomutt/discussions/4251

digest_collapse

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If this option is set, NeoMutt's received-attachments menu will not show the subparts of individual messages in a multipart/digest. To see these subparts, press "v" on that menu.

display_filter

Type: command
Default: ""

When set, specifies a command used to filter messages. When a message is viewed it is passed as standard input to $display_filter, and the filtered message is read from the standard output.

When preparing the message, NeoMutt inserts some escape sequences into the text. They are of the form: <esc>]9;XXX<bel> where "XXX" is a random 64-bit number.

If these escape sequences interfere with your filter, they can be removed using a tool like ansifilter or sed 's/^\x1b]9;[0-9]\+\x7//'

If they are removed, then PGP and MIME headers will no longer be coloured. This can be fixed by adding this to your config: color body magenta default '^\[-- .* --\]$'.

dsn_notify

Type: string
Default: ""

This variable sets the request for when notification is returned. The string consists of a comma separated list (no spaces!) of one or more of the following: never, to never request notification, failure, to request notification on transmission failure, delay, to be notified of message delays, success, to be notified of successful transmission.

Example:

set dsn_notify="failure,delay"

Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the -N option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is auto-detected so that it depends on the server whether DSN will be used or not.

dsn_return

Type: string
Default: ""

This variable controls how much of your message is returned in DSN messages. It may be set to either hdrs to return just the message header, or full to return the full message.

Example:

set dsn_return=hdrs

Note: when using $sendmail for delivery, you should not enable this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a MTA providing a sendmail(1)-compatible interface supporting the -R option for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is auto-detected so that it depends on the server whether DSN will be used or not.

duplicate_threads

Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls whether NeoMutt, when $sort is set to threads, threads messages with the same Message-Id together. If it is set, it will indicate that it thinks they are duplicates of each other with an equals sign in the thread tree.

edit_headers

Type: boolean
Default: no

This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing messages along with the body of your message.

Although the compose menu may have localized header labels, the labels passed to your editor will be standard RFC2822 headers, (e.g. To:, Cc:, Subject:). Headers added in your editor must also be RFC2822 headers, or one of the pseudo headers listed in "edit-header". NeoMutt will not understand localized header labels, just as it would not when parsing an actual email.

Note that changes made to the References: and Date: headers are ignored for interoperability reasons.

editor

Type: command
Default: ""

This variable specifies which editor is used by NeoMutt. It defaults to the value of the $VISUAL, or $EDITOR, environment variable, or to the string "vi" if neither of those are set.

The $editor string may contain a %s escape, which will be replaced by the name of the file to be edited. If the %s escape does not appear in $editor, a space and the name to be edited are appended.

The resulting string is then executed by running

sh -c 'string'

where string is the expansion of $editor described above.

empty_subject

Type: string
Default: "Re: your mail"

This variable specifies the subject to be used when replying to an email with an empty subject. It defaults to "Re: your mail".

encode_from

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will quoted-printable encode messages when they contain the string "From " (note the trailing space) in the beginning of a line. This is useful to avoid the tampering certain mail delivery and transport agents tend to do with messages (in order to prevent tools from misinterpreting the line as a mbox message separator).

envelope_from_address

Type: e-mail address
Default: ""

Manually sets the envelope sender for outgoing messages. This value is ignored if $use_envelope_from is unset.

external_search_command

Type: command
Default: ""

If set, contains the name of the external program used by "~I" patterns. This will usually be a wrapper script around mairix, mu, or similar indexers other than notmuch (for which there is optional special support).

Here is an example how it works. Let's assume $external_search_command is set to "mairix_filter", and mairix_filter is a script which runs the old but well loved mairix indexer with the arguments given to mairix_filter, in the "raw" mode of mairix, producing on the standard output a list of Message-IDs, one per line.

If possible, it also filters down the results coming from mairix such that only messages in the current folder remain. It can do this because it gets a hidden first argument which is the path to the folder. (This can be the type of clean and simple script called a one-liner.)

Now if NeoMutt gets a limit or tag command followed by the pattern "~I '-t s:bleeping='", mairix_filter runs mairix with the arguments from inside the quotes (the quotes are needed because of the space after "-t"), mairix finds all messages with "bleeping" in the Subject plus all messages sharing threads with these and outputs their file names, and mairix_filter translates the file names into Message-IDs. Finally, NeoMutt reads the Message-IDs and targets the matching messages with the command given to it.

You, the user, still have to rewrite the mairix_filter script to match the behavior of your indexer, but this should help users of indexers other than notmuch to integrate them cleanly with NeoMutt.

fast_reply

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, the initial prompt for recipients (to, cc, bcc) and subject are skipped when the relevant information is already provided. These cases include replying to messages and passing the relevant command line arguments. The initial prompt for recipients is also skipped when composing a new message to the current message sender, while the initial prompt for subject is also skipped when forwarding messages.

Note: this variable has no effect when the $auto_edit variable is set.

See also: $auto_edit, $edit_headers, $ask_cc, $ask_bcc

fcc_attach

Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not attachments on outgoing messages are saved along with the main body of your message.

Note: $fcc_before_send forces the default (set) behavior of this option.

fcc_before_send

Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, FCCs will occur before sending the message. Before sending, the message cannot be manipulated, so it will be stored the exact same as sent: $fcc_attach and $fcc_clear will be ignored (using their default values).

When unset, the default, FCCs will occur after sending. Variables $fcc_attach and $fcc_clear will be respected, allowing it to be stored without attachments or encryption/signing if desired.

fcc_clear

Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and unsigned, even when the actual message is encrypted and/or signed.

Note: $fcc_before_send forces the default (unset) behavior of this option. (PGP only)

See also $pgp_self_encrypt, $smime_self_encrypt

flag_chars

Type: character string
Default: "*!DdrONon- "

Controls the characters used in several flags.

Character

Default Description

1

* The mail is tagged.

2

! The mail is flagged as important.

3

D The mail is marked for deletion.

4

d The mail has attachments marked for deletion.

5

r The mail has been replied to.

6

O The mail is Old (Unread but seen).

7

N The mail is New (Unread but not seen).

8

o The mail thread is Old (Unread but seen).

9

n The mail thread is New (Unread but not seen).

10

- The mail is read - %S expando.

11

<space> The mail is read - %Z expando.

flag_safe

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, flagged messages can't be deleted.

folder

Type: mailbox
Default: "~/Mail"

Specifies the default location of your mailboxes. A "+" or "=" at the beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value of this variable. Note that if you change this variable (from the default) value you need to make sure that the assignment occurs before you use "+" or "=" for any other variables since expansion takes place when handling the "mailboxes" command.

folder_format

Type: string
Default: "%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %i"

This variable allows you to customize the file browser display to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_format, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:

%a

Alert: 1 if user is notified of new mail

%C

Current file number

%d

Date/time folder was last modified

%D

Date/time folder was last modified using $date_format. It is encouraged to use "%[fmt]" instead, where "fmt" is the value of $date_format.

%f

Filename ("/" is appended to directory names, "@" to symbolic links and "*" to executable files)

%F

File permissions

%g

Group name (or numeric gid, if missing)

%i

Description of the folder

%l

Number of hard links

%m

* Number of messages in the mailbox

%n

* Number of unread messages in the mailbox

%N

"N" if mailbox has new mail, " " (space) otherwise

%p

Poll: 1 if Mailbox is checked for new mail

%s

Size in bytes (see formatstrings-size)

%t

"*" if the file is tagged, blank otherwise

%u

Owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)

%[fmt]

Date/time folder was last modified using an strftime(3) expression

%>X

Right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"

%|X

Pad to the end of the line with character "X"

%*X

Soft-fill with character "X" as pad

For an explanation of "soft-fill", see the $index_format documentation.

* = can be optionally printed if nonzero

%m, %n, and %N only work for monitored mailboxes. %m requires $mail_check_stats to be set. %n requires $mail_check_stats to be set (except for IMAP mailboxes).

followup_to

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls whether or not the "Mail-Followup-To:" header field is generated when sending mail. When set, NeoMutt will generate this field when you are replying to a known mailing list, specified with the "subscribe" or "lists" commands.

This field has two purposes. First, preventing you from receiving duplicate copies of replies to messages which you send to mailing lists, and second, ensuring that you do get a reply separately for any messages sent to known lists to which you are not subscribed.

The header will contain only the list's address for subscribed lists, and both the list address and your own email address for unsubscribed lists. Without this header, a group reply to your message sent to a subscribed list will be sent to both the list and your address, resulting in two copies of the same email for you.

followup_to_poster

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

If this variable is set and the keyword "poster" is present in Followup-To header, follow-up to newsgroup function is not permitted. The message will be mailed to the submitter of the message via mail.

force_name

Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable is similar to $save_name, except that NeoMutt will store a copy of your outgoing message by the username of the address you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.

Also see the $record variable.

forward_attachments

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

When forwarding inline (i.e. $mime_forward unset or answered with "no" and $forward_decode set), attachments which cannot be decoded in a reasonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if this quadoption is set or answered with "yes".

forward_attribution_intro

Type: string
Default: "----- Forwarded message from %f -----"

This is the string that will precede a message which has been forwarded in the main body of a message (when $mime_forward is unset). For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.

forward_attribution_trailer

Type: string
Default: "----- End forwarded message -----"

This is the string that will follow a message which has been forwarded in the main body of a message (when $mime_forward is unset). For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format. See also $attribution_locale.

forward_decode

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain when forwarding a message. The message header is also RFC2047 decoded. This variable is only used, if $mime_forward is unset, otherwise $mime_forward_decode is used instead.

forward_decrypt

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls the handling of encrypted messages when forwarding a message. When set, the outer layer of encryption is stripped off. This variable is only used if $mime_forward is set and $mime_forward_decode is unset.

forward_edit

Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This quadoption controls whether or not the user is automatically placed in the editor when forwarding messages. For those who always want to forward with no modification, use a setting of "no".

forward_format

Type: string
Default: "[%a: %s]"

This variable controls the default subject when forwarding a message. It uses the same format sequences as the $index_format variable.

forward_quote

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, forwarded messages included in the main body of the message (when $mime_forward is unset) will be quoted using $indent_string.

forward_references

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, forwarded messages set the "In-Reply-To:" and "References:" headers in the same way as normal replies would. Hence the forwarded message becomes part of the original thread instead of starting a new one.

from

Type: e-mail address
Default: ""

When set, this variable contains a default "from" address. It can be overridden using "my_hdr" (including from a "send-hook") and $reverse_name. This variable is ignored if $use_from is unset.

If not specified, then it may be read from the environment variable $EMAIL.

from_chars

Type: character string
Default: ""

Controls the character used to prefix the %F and %L fields in the index.

Character

Description

1

Mail is written by you and has a To address, or has a known mailing list in the To address.

2

Mail is written by you and has a Cc address, or has a known mailing list in the Cc address.

3

Mail is written by you and has a Bcc address.

4

All remaining cases.

If this is empty or unset (default), the traditional long "To ", "Cc " and "Bcc " prefixes are used. If set but too short to include a character for a particular case, a single space will be prepended to the field. To prevent any prefix at all from being added in a particular case, use the special value CR (aka ^M) for the corresponding character.

This slightly odd interface is necessitated by NeoMutt's handling of string variables; one can't tell a variable that is unset from one that is set to the empty string.

gecos_mask

Type: regular expression
Default: "^[^,]*"

A regular expression used by NeoMutt to parse the GECOS field of a password entry when expanding the alias. The default value will return the string up to the first "," encountered. If the GECOS field contains a string like "lastname, firstname" then you should set it to ".*".

This can be useful if you see the following behavior: you address an e-mail to user ID "stevef" whose full name is "Steve Franklin". If NeoMutt expands "stevef" to '"Franklin" [email protected]' then you should set the $gecos_mask to a regular expression that will match the whole name so NeoMutt will expand "Franklin" to "Franklin, Steve".

greeting

Type: string
Default: ""

When set, this is the string that will precede every message as a greeting phrase to the recipients.

"Format strings" are similar to the strings used in the "C" function printf to format output (see the man page for more detail). The following sequences are defined in NeoMutt:

%n

Recipient's real name

%u

User (login) name of recipient

%v

First name of recipient

group_index_format

Type: string
Default: "%4C %M%N %5s  %-45.45f %d"

This variable allows you to customize the newsgroup browser display to your personal taste. This string is similar to "index_format", but has its own set of printf()-like sequences:

%a

Alert: 1 if user is notified of new mail

%C

Current newsgroup number

%d

Description of newsgroup (becomes from server)

%f

Newsgroup name

%M

- if newsgroup not allowed for direct post (moderated for example)

%N

N if newsgroup is new, u if unsubscribed, blank otherwise

%n

Number of new articles in newsgroup

%p

Poll: 1 if Mailbox is checked for new mail

%s

Number of unread articles in newsgroup

%>X

Right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"

%|X

Pad to the end of the line with character "X"

%*X

Soft-fill with character "X" as pad

hdrs

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, the header fields normally added by the "my_hdr" command are not created. This variable must be unset before composing a new message or replying in order to take effect. If set, the user defined header fields are added to every new message.

header

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, this variable causes NeoMutt to include the header of the message you are replying to into the edit buffer. The $weed setting applies.

header_cache

Type: path
Default: ""

This variable points to the header cache database. If the path points to an existing directory, NeoMutt will create a dedicated header cache database per folder. Otherwise, the path points to a regular file, which will be created as needed and used as a shared global header cache for all folders. By default it is unset so no header caching will be used.

Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP MH or Maildir folders, see "caching" in the NeoMutt Guide for details.

header_cache_backend

Type: string
Default: ""

This variable specifies the header cache backend. If no backend is specified, the first available backend will be used in the following order: tokyocabinet, kyotocabinet, qdbm, rocksdb, gdbm, bdb, tdb, lmdb.

header_cache_compress_level

Type: number
Default: 1

When NeoMutt is compiled with lz4, zstd or zlib, this option can be used to setup the compression level.

header_cache_compress_method

Type: string
Default: ""

When NeoMutt is compiled with lz4, zstd or zlib, the header cache backend can use these compression methods for compressing the cache files. This results in much smaller cache file sizes and may even improve speed.

header_color_partial

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, color header regexes behave like color body regexes: color is applied to the exact text matched by the regex. When unset, color is applied to the entire header.

One use of this option might be to apply color to just the header labels.

See "color" for more details.

help

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, help lines describing the bindings for the major functions provided by each menu are displayed on the first line of the screen.

Note: The binding will not be displayed correctly if the function is bound to a sequence rather than a single keystroke. Also, the help line may not be updated if a binding is changed while NeoMutt is running. Since this variable is primarily aimed at new users, neither of these should present a major problem.

hidden_host

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will skip the host name part of $hostname variable when adding the domain part to addresses.

hidden_tags

Type: string list
Default: "unread,draft,flagged,passed,replied,attachment,signed,encrypted"

This variable specifies a list of comma-separated private notmuch/imap tags which should not be printed on screen.

hide_limited

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will not show the presence of messages that are hidden by limiting, in the thread tree.

hide_missing

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will not show the presence of missing messages in the thread tree.

hide_thread_subject

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will not show the subject of messages in the thread tree that have the same subject as their parent or closest previously displayed sibling.

hide_top_limited

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will not show the presence of messages that are hidden by limiting, at the top of threads in the thread tree. Note that when $hide_limited is set, this option will have no effect.

hide_top_missing

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will not show the presence of missing messages at the top of threads in the thread tree. Note that when $hide_missing is set, this option will have no effect.

history

Type: number
Default: 10

This variable controls the size (in number of strings remembered) of the string history buffer per category. The buffer is cleared each time the variable is set.

Note that strings (e.g. commands) starting with a space are never recorded in the history. This is for example useful to prevent leaking sensitive information into the history file or for one off tests.

Also note that a string is not added to the history if it exactly matches its immediate predecessor, e.g. executing the same command twice in a row results in only one copy being added to the history. To prevent duplicates over all entries use $history_remove_dups.

history_file

Type: path
Default: "~/.mutthistory"

The file in which NeoMutt will save its history.

Also see $save_history.

history_format

Type: string
Default: "%s"

Controls the format of the entries of the history list. This string is similar to $index_format, but has its own set of printf(3)-like sequences:

%C

Line number

%s

History match

%>X

right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"

%|X

pad to the end of the line with character "X"

%*X

soft-fill with character "X" as pad

history_remove_dups

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, all of the string history will be scanned for duplicates when a new entry is added. Duplicate entries in the $history_file will also be removed when it is periodically compacted.

honor_disposition

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will not display attachments with a disposition of "attachment" inline even if it could render the part to plain text. These MIME parts can only be viewed from the attachment menu.

If unset, NeoMutt will render all MIME parts it can properly transform to plain text.

honor_followup_to

Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header is honored when group-replying to a message.

hostname

Type: string
Default: ""

Specifies the fully-qualified hostname of the system NeoMutt is running on containing the host's name and the DNS domain it belongs to. It is used as the domain part (after "@") for local email addresses.

If not specified in a config file, then NeoMutt will try to determine the hostname itself.

Optionally, NeoMutt can be compiled with a fixed domain name.

Also see $use_domain and $hidden_host.

idn_decode

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will show you international domain names decoded. Note: You can use IDNs for addresses even if this is unset. This variable only affects decoding. (IDN only)

idn_encode

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will encode international domain names using IDN. Unset this if your SMTP server can handle newer (RFC6531) UTF-8 encoded domains. (IDN only)

ignore_list_reply_to

Type: boolean
Default: no

Affects the behavior of the <reply> function when replying to messages from mailing lists (as defined by the "subscribe" or "lists" commands). When set, if the "Reply-To:" field is set to the same value as the "To:" field, NeoMutt assumes that the "Reply-To:" field was set by the mailing list to automate responses to the list, and will ignore this field. To direct a response to the mailing list when this option is set, use the <list-reply> function; <group-reply> will reply to both the sender and the list.

imap_authenticators

Type: string list
Default: ""

This is a colon-separated list of authentication methods NeoMutt may attempt to use to log in to an IMAP server, in the order NeoMutt should try them. Authentication methods are either "login" or the right side of an IMAP "AUTH=xxx" capability string, e.g. "digest-md5", "gssapi" or "cram-md5". This option is case-insensitive. If it's unset (the default) NeoMutt will try all available methods, in order from most-secure to least-secure.

Example:

set imap_authenticators="gssapi:cram-md5:login"

Note: NeoMutt will only fall back to other authentication methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is available but authentication fails, NeoMutt will not connect to the IMAP server.

imap_check_subscribed

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will fetch the set of subscribed folders from your server whenever a mailbox is selected, and add them to the set of mailboxes it polls for new mail just as if you had issued individual "mailboxes" commands.

imap_condstore

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will use the CONDSTORE extension (RFC7162) if advertised by the server. NeoMutt's current implementation is basic, used only for initial message fetching and flag updates.

For some IMAP servers, enabling this will slightly speed up downloading initial messages. Unfortunately, Gmail is not one those, and displays worse performance when enabled. Your mileage may vary.

imap_deflate

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will use the COMPRESS=DEFLATE extension (RFC4978) if advertised by the server.

In general a good compression efficiency can be achieved, which speeds up reading large mailboxes also on fairly good connections.

imap_delim_chars

Type: string
Default: "/."

This contains the list of characters that NeoMutt will use as folder separators for IMAP paths, when no separator is provided on the IMAP connection.

imap_fetch_chunk_size

Type: number (long)
Default: 0

When set to a value greater than 0, new headers will be downloaded in groups of this many headers per request. If you have a very large mailbox, this might prevent a timeout and disconnect when opening the mailbox, by sending a FETCH per set of this many headers, instead of a single FETCH for all new headers.

imap_headers

Type: string
Default: ""

NeoMutt requests these header fields in addition to the default headers ("Date:", "From:", "Sender:", "Subject:", "To:", "Cc:", "Message-Id:", "References:", "Content-Type:", "Content-Description:", "In-Reply-To:", "Reply-To:", "Lines:", "List-Post:", "X-Label:") from IMAP servers before displaying the index menu. You may want to add more headers for spam detection.

Note: This is a space separated list, items should be uppercase and not contain the colon, e.g. "X-BOGOSITY X-SPAM-STATUS" for the "X-Bogosity:" and "X-Spam-Status:" header fields.

imap_idle

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension to check for new mail in the current mailbox. Some servers (dovecot was the inspiration for this option) react badly to NeoMutt's implementation. If your connection seems to freeze up periodically, try unsetting this.

imap_keep_alive

Type: number
Default: 300

This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds that NeoMutt will wait before polling open IMAP connections, to prevent the server from closing them before NeoMutt has finished with them. The default is well within the RFC-specified minimum amount of time (30 minutes) before a server is allowed to do this, but in practice the RFC does get violated every now and then. Reduce this number if you find yourself getting disconnected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.

imap_list_subscribed

Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will look for only subscribed folders or all folders. This can be toggled in the IMAP browser with the <toggle-subscribed> function.

imap_login

Type: string
Default: ""

Your login name on the IMAP server.

This variable defaults to the value of $imap_user.

imap_oauth_refresh_command

Type: command
Default: ""

The command to run to generate an OAUTH refresh token for authorizing your connection to your IMAP server. This command will be run on every connection attempt that uses the OAUTHBEARER or XOAUTH2 authentication mechanisms. See "oauth" for details.

imap_pass

Type: string
Default: ""

Specifies the password for your IMAP account. If unset, NeoMutt will prompt you for your password when you invoke the <imap-fetch-mail> function or try to open an IMAP folder.

Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your neomuttrc even if you are the only one who can read the file.

imap_passive

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for new mail. NeoMutt will only check for new mail over existing IMAP connections. This is useful if you don't want to be prompted for user/password pairs on NeoMutt invocation, or if opening the connection is slow.

imap_peek

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read whenever you fetch a message from the server. This is generally a good thing, but can make closing an IMAP folder somewhat slower. This option exists to appease speed freaks.

imap_pipeline_depth

Type: number
Default: 15

Controls the number of IMAP commands that may be queued up before they are sent to the server. A deeper pipeline reduces the amount of time NeoMutt must wait for the server, and can make IMAP servers feel much more responsive. But not all servers correctly handle pipelined commands, so if you have problems you might want to try setting this variable to 0.

Note: Changes to this variable have no effect on open connections.

imap_poll_timeout

Type: number
Default: 15

This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds that NeoMutt will wait for a response when polling IMAP connections for new mail, before timing out and closing the connection. Set to 0 to disable timing out.

imap_qresync

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will use the QRESYNC extension (RFC7162) if advertised by the server. NeoMutt's current implementation is basic, used only for initial message fetching and flag updates.

Note: this feature is currently experimental. If you experience strange behavior, such as duplicate or missing messages please file a bug report to let us know.

imap_rfc5161

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will use the IMAP ENABLE extension (RFC5161) to select CAPABILITIES. Some servers (notably Coremail System IMap Server) do not properly respond to ENABLE commands, which might cause NeoMutt to hang. If your connection seems to freeze at login, try unsetting this. See also https://github.com/neomutt/neomutt/issues/1689

imap_send_id

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will send an IMAP ID command (RFC2971) to the server when logging in if advertised by the server. This command provides information about the IMAP client, such as "NeoMutt" and the current version.

imap_server_noise

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will display warning messages from the IMAP server as error messages. Since these messages are often harmless, or generated due to configuration problems on the server which are out of the users' hands, you may wish to suppress them at some point.

imap_user

Type: string
Default: ""

The name of the user whose mail you intend to access on the IMAP server.

This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.

implicit_auto_view

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set to "yes", NeoMutt will look for a mailcap entry with the "copiousoutput" flag set for every MIME attachment it doesn't have an internal viewer defined for. If such an entry is found, NeoMutt will use the viewer defined in that entry to convert the body part to text form.

include

Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are replying to is included in your reply.

include_encrypted

Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether or not NeoMutt includes separately encrypted attachment contents when replying.

This variable was added to prevent accidental exposure of encrypted contents when replying to an attacker. If a previously encrypted message were attached by the attacker, they could trick an unwary recipient into decrypting and including the message in their reply.

include_only_first

Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether or not NeoMutt includes only the first attachment of the message you are replying.

indent_string

Type: string
Default: "> "

Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a message to which you are replying. You are strongly encouraged not to change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanatical netizens.

The value of this option is ignored if $text_flowed is set, because the quoting mechanism is strictly defined for format=flowed.

This option is a format string, please see the description of $index_format for supported printf(3)-style sequences.

index_format

Type: string
Default: "%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%<l?%4l&%4c>) %s"

This variable allows you to customize the message index display to your personal taste.

"Format strings" are similar to the strings used in the C function printf(3) to format output (see the man page for more details). For an explanation of the %<...> construct, see the status_format description. The following sequences are defined in NeoMutt:

%a

Address of the author

%A

Reply-to address (if present; otherwise: address of author)

%b

Filename of the original message folder (think mailbox)

%B

Same as %K

%c

Number of characters (bytes) in the body of the message (see formatstrings-size)

%C

Current message number

%cr

Number of characters (bytes) in the raw message, including the header (see formatstrings-size)

%d

Date and time of message using date_format and sender's timezone It is encouraged to use "%{fmt}" instead, where "fmt" is the value of $date_format.

%D

Date and time of message using date_format and local timezone It is encouraged to use "%[fmt]" instead, where "fmt" is the value of $date_format.

%e

Current message number in thread

%E

Number of messages in current thread

%f

Sender (address + real name), either From: or Return-Path:

%F

Author name, or recipient name if the message is from you

%Fp

Like %F, but plain. No contextual formatting is applied to recipient name

%g

Message tags (e.g. notmuch tags/imap flags)

%Gx

Individual message tag (e.g. notmuch tags/imap flags)

%H

Spam attribute(s) of this message

%i

Message-id of the current message

%I

Initials of author

%J

Message tags (if present, tree unfolded, and != parent's tags)

%K

The list to which the letter was sent (if any; otherwise: empty)

%l

number of lines in the unprocessed message (may not work with maildir, mh, and IMAP folders)

%L

If an address in the "To:" or "Cc:" header field matches an address Defined by the user's "subscribe" command, this displays "To <list-name>", otherwise the same as %F

%m

Total number of message in the mailbox

%M

Number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed

%n

Author's real name (or address if missing)

%N

Message score

%O

Original save folder where NeoMutt would formerly have Stashed the message: list name or recipient name If not sent to a list

%P

Progress indicator for the built-in pager (how much of the file has been displayed)

%q

Newsgroup name (if compiled with NNTP support)

%r

Comma separated list of "To:" recipients

%R

Comma separated list of "Cc:" recipients

%s

Subject of the message

%S

Single character status of the message ("N"/"O"/"D"/"d"/"!"/"r"/"*")

%t

"To:" field (recipients)

%T

The appropriate character from the $to_chars string

%u

User (login) name of the author

%v

First name of the author, or the recipient if the message is from you

%W

Name of organization of author ("Organization:" field)

%x

"X-Comment-To:" field (if present and compiled with NNTP support)

%X

Number of MIME attachments (please see the "attachments" section for possible speed effects)

%y

"X-Label:" field, if present

%Y

"X-Label:" field, if present, and (1) not at part of a thread tree, (2) at the top of a thread, or (3) "X-Label:" is different from Preceding message's "X-Label:"

%Z

A three character set of message status flags. The first character is new/read/replied flags ("n"/"o"/"r"/"O"/"N"). The second is deleted or encryption flags ("D"/"d"/"S"/"P"/"s"/"K"). The third is either tagged/flagged ("*"/"!"), or one of the characters Listed in $to_chars.

%zc

Message crypto flags

%zs

Message status flags

%zt

Message tag flags

%@name@

insert and evaluate format-string from the matching "index-format-hook" command

%{fmt}

the date and time of the message is converted to sender's time zone, and "fmt" is expanded by the library function strftime(3); if the first character inside the braces is a bang ("!"), the date is formatted ignoring any locale settings. Note that the sender's time zone might only be available as a numerical offset, so "%Z" behaves like "%z". %{fmt} behaves like %[fmt] on systems where struct tm doesn't have a tm_gmtoff member.

%[fmt]

the date and time of the message is converted to the local time zone, and "fmt" is expanded by the library function strftime(3); if the first character inside the brackets is a bang ("!"), the date is formatted ignoring any locale settings.

%(fmt)

the local date and time when the message was received, and "fmt" is expanded by the library function strftime(3); if the first character inside the parentheses is a bang ("!"), the date is formatted ignoring any locale settings.

%>X

right justify the rest of the string and pad with character "X"

%|X

pad to the end of the line with character "X"

%*X

soft-fill with character "X" as pad

Date format expressions can be constructed based on relative dates. Using the date formatting operators along with nested conditionals, the date format can be modified based on how old a message is. See the section on "Conditional Dates" for an explanation and examples

Note that for mbox/mmdf, "%l" applies to the unprocessed message, and for maildir/mh, the value comes from the "Lines:" header field when present (the meaning is normally the same). Thus the value depends on the encodings used in the different parts of the message and has little meaning in practice.

"Soft-fill" deserves some explanation: Normal right-justification will print everything to the left of the "%>", displaying padding and whatever lies to the right only if there's room. By contrast, soft-fill gives priority to the right-hand side, guaranteeing space to display it and showing padding only if there's still room. If necessary, soft-fill will eat text leftwards to make room for rightward text.

Note that these expandos are supported in "save-hook", "fcc-hook" and "fcc-save-hook", too.

inews

Type: command
Default: ""

If set, specifies the program and arguments used to deliver news posted by NeoMutt. Otherwise, NeoMutt posts article using current connection to news server. The following printf-style sequence is understood:

%a

account url

%p

port

%P

port if specified

%s

news server name

%S

url schema

%u

username

Example:

set inews="/usr/local/bin/inews -hS"

ispell

Type: command
Default: "ispell"

How to invoke ispell (GNU's spell-checking software).

keep_flagged

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, read messages marked as flagged will not be moved from your spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox or to the "mbox" specified by a mbox-hook command.

Note that $keep_flagged only has an effect if $move is set.

local_date_header

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, the date in the Date header of emails that you send will be in your local timezone. If unset a UTC date will be used instead to avoid leaking information about your current location.

mail_check

Type: number
Default: 5

This variable configures how often (in seconds) NeoMutt should look for new mail. Also see the $timeout variable.

mail_check_recent

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, NeoMutt will only notify you about new mail that has been received since the last time you opened the mailbox. When unset, NeoMutt will notify you if any new mail exists in the mailbox, regardless of whether you have visited it recently.

mail_check_stats

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, NeoMutt will periodically calculate message statistics of a mailbox while polling for new mail. It will check for unread, flagged, and total message counts. (Note: IMAP mailboxes only support unread and total counts).

Because this operation is more performance intensive, it defaults to unset, and has a separate option, $mail_check_stats_interval, to control how often to update these counts.

Message statistics can also be explicitly calculated by invoking the <check-stats> function.

mail_check_stats_interval

Type: number
Default: 60

When $mail_check_stats is set, this variable configures how often (in seconds) NeoMutt will update message counts.

mailbox_folder_format

Type: string
Default: "%2C %<n?%6n&      > %6m %i"

This variable allows you to customize the file browser display to your personal taste. It's only used to customize network mailboxes (e.g. imap). This string is identical in formatting to the one used by "$folder_format".

mailcap_path

Type: string list
Default: "~/.mailcap:/usr/share/neomutt/mailcap:/etc/mailcap:/etc/mailcap:/usr/etc/mailcap:/usr/local/etc/mailcap"

This variable specifies a list of colon-separated files to consult when attempting to display MIME bodies not directly supported by NeoMutt. The default value is generated during startup: see the "mailcap" section of the manual.

$mailcap_path is overridden by the environment variable $MAILCAPS.

The default search path is from RFC1524.

mailcap_sanitize

Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, NeoMutt will restrict possible characters in mailcap % expandos to a well-defined set of safe characters. This is the safe setting, but we are not sure it doesn't break some more advanced MIME stuff.

DON'T CHANGE THIS SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

maildir_check_cur

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, NeoMutt will poll both the new and cur directories of a maildir folder for new messages. This might be useful if other programs interacting with the folder (e.g. dovecot) are moving new messages to the cur directory. Note that setting this option may slow down polling for new messages in large folders, since NeoMutt has to scan all cur messages.

maildir_field_delimiter

Type: string
Default: ":"

Use the value as maildir field delimiter. This is a single-character used to accommodate maildir mailboxes on platforms where `:` is not allowed in a filename. The recommended alternative on such platforms is `;`. NeoMutt supports all non-alphanumeric values except for `-`, `.`, `\`, `/`. Note: this only applies to maildir-style mailboxes. Setting it will have no effect on other mailbox types.

maildir_header_cache_verify

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Check for Maildir unaware programs other than NeoMutt having modified maildir files when the header cache is in use. This incurs one stat(2) per message every time the folder is opened (which can be very slow for NFS folders).

maildir_trash

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, messages marked as deleted will be saved with the maildir trashed flag instead of unlinked. Note: this only applies to maildir-style mailboxes. Setting it will have no effect on other mailbox types.

mark_macro_prefix

Type: string
Default: "'"

Prefix for macros created using mark-message. A new macro automatically generated with <mark-message>a will be composed from this prefix and the letter a.

mark_old

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls whether or not NeoMutt marks new unread messages as old if you exit a mailbox without reading them. With this option set, the next time you start NeoMutt, the messages will show up with an "O" next to them in the index menu, indicating that they are old.

markers

Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls the display of wrapped lines in the internal pager. If set, a "+" marker is displayed at the beginning of wrapped lines.

Also see the $smart_wrap variable.

mask

Type: regular expression
Default: "!^\.[^.]"

A regular expression used in the file browser, optionally preceded by the not operator "!". Only files whose names match this mask will be shown. The match is always case-sensitive.

mbox

Type: mailbox
Default: "~/mbox"

This specifies the folder into which read mail in your $spool_file folder will be appended.

Also see the $move variable.

mbox_type

Type: enumeration
Default: mbox

The default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be any of "mbox", "MMDF", "MH" or "Maildir".

This can also be set using the -m command-line option.

me_too

Type: boolean
Default: no

If unset, NeoMutt will remove your address (see the "alternates" command) from the list of recipients when replying to a message.

message_id_format

Type: string
Default: "<%z@%f>"

This variable allows you to choose a custom format for the Message-Id when sending messages. The value may end in “|” to invoke an external filter. See formatstrings-filters.

Please note that the Message-ID value follows a strict syntax, and you are responsible for ensuring correctness if you change this from the default. In particular, the value must follow the syntax in RFC 5322: “"<" id-left "@" id-right ">"”. No spaces are allowed, and id-left should follow the dot-atom-text syntax in the RFC. The id-right should generally be left as “%f”.

If unset, NeoMutt will use a long random format.

If the format doesn't begin/end with “<”, “>” they will be added.

The old Message-ID format can be used by setting this to: “<%Y%02m%02d%02H%02M%02S.G%c%p@%f>”

The following printf(3)-style sequences are understood:

%c

Step counter looping from “A” to “Z”

%d

Current day of the month (GMT)

%f

$hostname

%H

Current hour using a 24-hour clock (GMT)

%m

Current month number (GMT)

%M

Current minute of the hour (GMT)

%p

Pid of the running mutt process

%r

3 bytes of pseudo-random data encoded in Base64Url

%S

Current second of the minute (GMT)

%x

1 byte of pseudo-random data hex encoded (example: '1b')

%Y

Current year using 4 digits (GMT)

%z

4 byte timestamp + 8 bytes of pseudo-random data encoded in Base64Url

See also: Base64Url: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4648#section-5

menu_context

Type: number
Default: 0

This variable controls the number of lines of context that are given when scrolling through menus. (Similar to $pager_context.)

menu_move_off

Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, the bottom entry of menus will never scroll up past the bottom of the screen, unless there are less entries than lines. When set, the bottom entry may move off the bottom.

menu_scroll

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, menus will be scrolled up or down one line when you attempt to move across a screen boundary. If unset, the screen is cleared and the next or previous page of the menu is displayed (useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).

message_cache_clean

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, NeoMutt will clean out obsolete entries from the message cache when the mailbox is synchronized. You probably only want to set it every once in a while, since it can be a little slow (especially for large folders).

message_cache_dir

Type: path
Default: ""

Set this to a directory and NeoMutt will cache copies of messages from your IMAP and POP servers here. You are free to remove entries at any time.

When setting this variable to a directory, NeoMutt needs to fetch every remote message only once and can perform regular expression searches as fast as for local folders.

Also see the $message_cache_clean variable.

message_format

Type: string
Default: "%s"

This is the string displayed in the "attachment" menu for attachments of type message/rfc822. For a full listing of defined printf(3)-like sequences see the section on $index_format.

meta_key

Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, forces NeoMutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit (bit 8) set as if the user had pressed the Esc key and whatever key remains after having the high bit removed. For example, if the key pressed has an ASCII value of 0xf8, then this is treated as if the user had pressed Esc then "x". This is because the result of removing the high bit from 0xf8 is 0x78, which is the ASCII character "x".

mh_purge

Type: boolean
Default: no

When unset, NeoMutt will mimic mh's behavior and rename deleted messages to ,<old file name> in mh folders instead of really deleting them. This leaves the message on disk but makes programs reading the folder ignore it. If the variable is set, the message files will simply be deleted.

This option is similar to $maildir_trash for Maildir folders.

mh_seq_flagged

Type: string
Default: "flagged"

The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.

mh_seq_replied

Type: string
Default: "replied"

The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.

mh_seq_unseen

Type: string
Default: "unseen"

The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.

mime_forward

Type: quadoption
Default: no

When set, the message you are forwarding will be attached as a separate message/rfc822 MIME part instead of included in the main body of the message. This is useful for forwarding MIME messages so the receiver can properly view the message as it was delivered to you. If you like to switch between MIME and not MIME from mail to mail, set this variable to "ask-no" or "ask-yes".

Also see $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode.

mime_forward_decode

Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain when forwarding a message while $mime_forward is set. Otherwise $forward_decode is used instead.

mime_forward_rest

Type: quadoption
Default: yes

When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from the attachment menu, attachments which can't be decoded in a reasonable manner will be attached to the newly composed message if this option is set.

mime_type_query_command

Type: command
Default: ""

This specifies a command to run, to determine the mime type of a new attachment when composing a message. Unless $mime_type_query_first is set, this will only be run if the attachment's extension is not found in the mime.types file.

The string may contain a "%s", which will be substituted with the attachment filename. NeoMutt will add quotes around the string substituted for "%s" automatically according to shell quoting rules, so you should avoid adding your own. If no "%s" is found in the string, NeoMutt will append the attachment filename to the end of the string.

The command should output a single line containing the attachment's mime type.

Suggested values are "xdg-mime query filetype" or "file -bi".

mime_type_query_first

Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, the $mime_type_query_command will be run before the mime.types lookup.

move

Type: quadoption
Default: no

If this variable is set, then NeoMutt will move read messages from your spool mailbox to your $mbox mailbox or to the "mbox" specified by a mbox-hook command.

See also $keep_flagged.

narrow_tree

Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable, when set, makes the thread tree narrower, allowing deeper threads to fit on the screen.

net_inc

Type: number
Default: 10

Operations that expect to transfer a large amount of data over the network will update their progress every $net_inc kilobytes. If set to 0, no progress messages will be displayed.

See also $read_inc, $write_inc and $net_inc.

new_mail_command

Type: command
Default: ""

If set, NeoMutt will call this command after a new message is received. See the $status_format documentation for the values that can be formatted into this command.

news_cache_dir

Type: path
Default: "~/.neomutt"

This variable pointing to directory where NeoMutt will save cached news articles and headers in. If unset, articles and headers will not be saved at all and will be reloaded from the server each time.

news_server

Type: string
Default: ""

This variable specifies domain name or address of NNTP server.

You can also specify username and an alternative port for each news server, e.g. [[s]news://][username[:password]@]server[:port]