Mutt: select multiple messages

Question

I am looking for a way to select multiple messages in Mutt.

For example, selecting the first and the last message would select a whole block of messages. I'd also like to select a subject using a regular expression.

Then, I want to run a command on the selected messages, e.g., save them to a file.

score 69 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 10 '16 at 14:17

69

You need to run the tag-pattern command. The default for that is T (Shift+t). You can then give it a regular expression. By default this will match message subjects.

If you need to select a range of messages by number, you can provide the ~m [MIN]-[MAX] pattern to tag-pattern. There are many other options I've found useful over the years, and you can see a complete list in the “Advanced Usage - Patterns” section of the manual.

You can also use t to tag or untag the highlighted message, to fine-tune the selection.

Then you can run tag-prefix (;) followed by save-message (s), and it will prompt you for a mailbox name. This command marks the saved messages to be deleted; there is also the copy-message command (C, i.e. Shift+c) to copy without marking for deletion.

edited Jul 10 '16 at 14:17

answered Feb 15 '14 at 16:28

Scott McClung

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to select all: `T` then dot (`.`) – tutuDajuju Sep 01 '15 at 06:33
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If you want to delete multiple messages based on a pattern, you can hit `D` and then type a pattern (like `[email protected]`). Then quit and purge. – bonh Dec 21 '17 at 20:46
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After running the command on the tagged (selected) messages, the messages are still tagged. To **de**select (untag) all messages, use `Ctrl` + `t`, then dot (`.`). – Matthias Braun Jun 27 '20 at 12:01

score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 01 '20 at 12:00

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Extending @Scott McClung's correct answer:

If you want to apply mutt commands by default to all selected (tagged) messages without using tag-prefix (bound to ; by default), you can set the auto_tag variable by adding this line to your .muttrc:

set auto_tag = yes

edited Oct 01 '20 at 12:00

Jeff Schaller

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answered Jul 15 '16 at 16:27

mrajner

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`true` was not accepted by my mutt version 1.10.1 and it pointed out that values should either be `yes` or `no`. would edit it but it's too short of an edit for SE to accept it. – user640916 Jan 16 '19 at 21:11

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 31 '17 at 17:53

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Check also http://www.sendmail.org/~ca/email/mutt/manual-4.html + http://www.rosipov.com/blog/effective-search-with-mutt/ for useful flags like ~d 31/12/99-01/01/00 ~s Y2K ~b scared.

L uses the same syntax to browse only a subset of your inbox, eg ~f [email protected] ~B your father.

answered Jul 31 '17 at 17:53

isomorphismes

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loved the samples :-) – Gen.Stack Feb 20 '19 at 16:11

Mutt: select multiple messages

3 Answers3