---
name: "prev"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "nmh"
version: "1.5-release-0.2"
release: "Debian 7 (Wheezy)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/prev"
---

# prev(1)

show the previous message

## NAME

prev - show the previous message

## SYNOPSIS

**prev** \[*+folder*\] \[-showproc *program*\] \[**-showmimeproc** *program*\] \[**-header** \| **-noheader**\] \[**-checkmime** \| **-nocheckmime**\] \[switches for *showproc* or *showmimeproc*\] \[**-version**\] \[**-help**\]

## DESCRIPTION

**Prev** performs a **show** on the previous message in the specified (or current) folder.  Like **show**, it passes any switches on to the program named by *showproc* or *showmimeproc*, which is called to list the message.  This command is almost exactly equivalent to “**show prev**”. Consult the manual entry for [**show**(1)](/show/1.md) for all the details.

## FILES

```
^$HOME/.mh_profile~^The user profile
```

## PROFILE COMPONENTS

```
^Path:~^To determine the user's nmh directory
^Current-Folder:~^To find the default current folder
^showproc:~^Program to show non-MIME messages
^showmimeproc:~^Program to show MIME messages
```

## SEE ALSO

[show(1)](/show/1.md), [next(1)](/next/1.md)

## DEFAULTS

```
`+folder' defaults to the current folder
`-checkmime'
`-header'
```

## CONTEXT

If a folder is specified, it will become the current folder.  The message that is shown (i.e., the previous message in sequence) will become the current message.

## BUGS

**prev** is really a link to the **show** program.  As a result, if you make a link to **prev** and that link is not called **prev**, your link will act like **show** instead.  To circumvent this, add a profile-entry for the link to your **nmh** profile and add the argument **prev** to the entry.