Mutt

General Commands

  • q(x) = exit the current menu (abort without saving)
  • ^g = cancel current action
  • ? = list all keybindings for the current menu

Keybindings

The Message Index (browsing through mailbox)

  • m = compose a new message
  • d(D) = delete the current message (matching a pattern)
  • u(U) = undelete-message (matching a pattern)
  • C(ALT C) = copy the current message to another mailbox (decode first)
  • s(ALT s) = save-message (decode first)
  • r(g) (L) = reply to sender (all recipients) (reply to mailing list)
  • f(b) = forward message (bounce)
  • /(ALT /) = search (search-reverse)
  • c = change to a different mailbox/folder
  • F(N) = mark as important (new)
  • l = show messages matching a pattern
  • o(O) = change the current sort method (reverse sort)
  • t(ALT t) = toggle the tag on a message (entire message thread)
  • T(^t) = tag messages matching a pattern (untag)
  • v = view-attachments
  • <Return> = display-message
  • <Tab> = jump to the next new message
  • @ = show the author’s full e-mail address
  • $ = save changes to mailbox
  • ^l = clear and redraw the screen
  • ALT k = mail a PGP public key to someone

The Pager (reading an email)

  • <Return> = go down one line
  • <Space>(-) = display the next page/message (previous)
  • ^($) = jump to the top (bottom) of the message
  • /(ALT /) (n) = search for a regular expression (search backwards) (next match)
  • \ = toggle search pattern coloring
  • S(T) = skip beyond quoted text (toggle display of quoted text)

Composer (setting the send options for an email)

  • y(P)(w) = send the message (postpone) (write to folder)
  • i = check spelling, if available
  • a(A)(D) = attach a file (attach message) (detach)
  • d = edit description on attachment
  • t(ALT f) = edit the To field (From field)
  • c(b) = edit the Cc field (Bcc field)
  • s = edit the Subject
  • r = edit the Reply-To field
  • p = select PGP options
  • ALT k = attach a PGP public key
  • ^f = wipe PGP passphrase from memory
  • f = specify an ‘Fcc’ mailbox i.e. sent folder

^g means CTRL and the g key. ALT f means ALT and the f key. If you do not have an ALT key then use ESC then key. Do not type the brackets.

Arguments

  • -H file = Use a file as a model for a new message, taking both headers and body. Very useful for sending patches generated with git format-patch

Highlight according to a pattern

You can play with these for a start (probably want to get rid of ~x \@`hostname` stuff):

~F

Flagged as ! color index cyan default

 ~Q   (~Q ~x \@`hostname`)

Replied to color index yellow default

~p   (~p ~x \@`hostname`)   (~x \@`hostname`)

Answers to my mails color index magenta default

~P   (~P ~x \@`hostname`)

Answered by myself color index green default

~N (~P ~p ~Q ~x \@`hostname`)

New concerning myself color index red default

Tagging

TagPatterns

T ~m 1-700

to mark messages from 1 to 700

T ~d 01/1/2006-24/2/2006

to mark messages in that time span

T ~d >1d

to mark messages older than 1 day (use d for days, w for weeks, m for months and y for years)

See what charset is being used

In mutt, type :set &charset ?charset

Macros

macro index,pager d "<save-message>=MAILBOX<enter><enter>" "Trash"

Move message in “MAILBOX”, which should correspond to the trash one of the inbox. For GMail it would be “[Gmail]/Trash”

macro index A "WNK<save-message>=MAILBOX<enter>" "Archive"

Archive a message, marking it as read and moving to a generic inbox (for GMail it will be “[Gmail]/All Mail)