Sidebar Feature

Overview of mailboxes

1. Support

Since: NeoMutt 2016-09-10, NeoMutt 1.7.0

Dependencies: None

2. Introduction

The Sidebar shows a list of all your mailboxes. The list can be turned on and off, it can be themed and the list style can be configured.

This part of the manual is a reference guide. If you want a simple introduction with examples see the Sidebar Howto. If you just want to get started, you could use the sample Sidebar neomuttrc.

3. Variables

Table 36.1. Sidebar Variables

Name Type Default
sidebar_component_depth number 0
sidebar_delim_chars string /.
sidebar_divider_char string |
sidebar_folder_indent boolean no
sidebar_format string %D%* %n
sidebar_indent_string string    (two spaces)
sidebar_new_mail_only boolean no
sidebar_next_new_wrap boolean no
sidebar_non_empty_mailbox_only boolean no
sidebar_on_right boolean no
sidebar_short_path boolean no
sidebar_sort_method enum unsorted
sidebar_visible boolean no
sidebar_width number 20

For more details, and examples, about the $sidebar_format, see the Sidebar Intro.

4. Functions

Sidebar adds the following functions to NeoMutt. By default, none of them are bound to keys.

Table 36.2. Sidebar Functions

Menus Function Description
index,pager <sidebar-next> Move the highlight to next mailbox
index,pager <sidebar-next-new> Move the highlight to next mailbox with new mail
index,pager <sidebar-open> Open highlighted mailbox
index,pager <sidebar-page-down> Scroll the Sidebar down 1 page
index,pager <sidebar-page-up> Scroll the Sidebar up 1 page
index,pager <sidebar-prev> Move the highlight to previous mailbox
index,pager <sidebar-prev-new> Move the highlight to previous mailbox with new mail
index,pager <sidebar-toggle-visible> Make the Sidebar (in)visible

5. Commands

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

This command specifies mailboxes that will always be displayed in the sidebar, even if $sidebar_new_mail_only is set and the mailbox does not contain new mail.

The sidebar_unpin command is used to remove a mailbox from the list of always displayed mailboxes. Use sidebar_unpin * to remove all mailboxes.

6. Colors

Table 36.3. Sidebar Colors

Name Default Color Description
sidebar_background default The entire sidebar panel
sidebar_divider default The dividing line between the Sidebar and the Index/Pager panels
sidebar_flagged default Mailboxes containing flagged mail
sidebar_highlight underline Cursor to select a mailbox
sidebar_indicator neomutt indicator The mailbox open in the Index panel
sidebar_new default Mailboxes containing new mail
sidebar_ordinary default Mailboxes that have no new/flagged mails, etc.
sidebar_spool_file default Mailbox that receives incoming mail
sidebar_unread default Mailboxes containing unread mail

If the sidebar_indicator color isn't set, then the default NeoMutt indicator color will be used (the color used in the index panel).

7. Sort

Table 36.4. Sidebar Sort

Sort Description
alpha Alphabetically by path or label
count Total number of messages
desc Descriptive name of the mailbox
flagged Number of flagged messages
name Alphabetically by path or label
new Number of unread messages
path Alphabetically by path (ignores label)
unread Number of unread messages
unsorted Order of the mailboxes command

8. neomuttrc

# Example NeoMutt config file for the sidebar feature.

# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# VARIABLES – shown with their default values
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Should the Sidebar be shown?
set sidebar_visible = no
# How wide should the Sidebar be in screen columns?

# Note: Some characters, e.g. Chinese, take up two columns each.
set sidebar_width = 20
# Should the mailbox paths be abbreviated?
set sidebar_short_path = no
# Number of top-level mailbox path subdirectories to truncate for display
set sidebar_component_depth = 0
# When abbreviating mailbox path names, use any of these characters as path
# separators. Only the part after the last separators will be shown.
# For file folders '/' is good. For IMAP folders, often '.' is useful.
set sidebar_delim_chars = '/.'
# If the mailbox path is abbreviated, should it be indented?
set sidebar_folder_indent = no
# Indent mailbox paths with this string.
set sidebar_indent_string = '  '
# Make the Sidebar only display mailboxes that contain new, or flagged,
# mail.
set sidebar_new_mail_only = no
# Any mailboxes that are pinned will always be visible, even if the
# sidebar_new_mail_only option is enabled.
set sidebar_non_empty_mailbox_only = no
# Only show mailboxes that contain some mail
sidebar_pin '/home/user/mailbox1'
sidebar_pin '/home/user/mailbox2'
# When searching for mailboxes containing new mail, should the search wrap
# around when it reaches the end of the list?
set sidebar_next_new_wrap = no
# Show the Sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen
set sidebar_on_right = no
# The character to use as the divider between the Sidebar and the other NeoMutt
# panels.
set sidebar_divider_char = '|'
# Enable extended mailbox mode to calculate total, new, and flagged
# message counts for each mailbox.
set mail_check_stats
# Display the Sidebar mailboxes using this format string.
set sidebar_format = '%B%<F? [%F]>%* %<N?%N/>%S'
# Sort the mailboxes in the Sidebar using this method:
#       count    – total number of messages
#       flagged  – number of flagged messages
#       unread   – number of unread messages
#       path     – mailbox path
#       unsorted – do not sort the mailboxes
set sidebar_sort_method = 'unsorted'
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# FUNCTIONS – shown with an example mapping
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Move the highlight to the previous mailbox
bind index,pager \Cp sidebar-prev
# Move the highlight to the next mailbox
bind index,pager \Cn sidebar-next
# Open the highlighted mailbox
bind index,pager \Co sidebar-open
# Move the highlight to the previous page
# This is useful if you have a LOT of mailboxes.
bind index,pager <F3> sidebar-page-up
# Move the highlight to the next page
# This is useful if you have a LOT of mailboxes.
bind index,pager <F4> sidebar-page-down
# Move the highlight to the previous mailbox containing new, or flagged,
# mail.
bind index,pager <F5> sidebar-prev-new
# Move the highlight to the next mailbox containing new, or flagged, mail.
bind index,pager <F6> sidebar-next-new
# Toggle the visibility of the Sidebar.
bind index,pager B sidebar-toggle-visible
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# COLORS – some unpleasant examples are given
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Note: All color operations are of the form:
#       color OBJECT FOREGROUND BACKGROUND
# Color of the current, open, mailbox
# Note: This is a general NeoMutt option which colors all selected items.
color indicator cyan black
# Sidebar-specific color of the selected item
color sidebar_indicator cyan black
# Color of the highlighted, but not open, mailbox.
color sidebar_highlight black color8
# Color of the entire Sidebar panel
color sidebar_background default black
# Color of the divider separating the Sidebar from NeoMutt panels
color sidebar_divider color8 black
# Color to give mailboxes containing flagged mail
color sidebar_flagged red black
# Color to give mailboxes containing new mail
color sidebar_new green black
# Color to give mailboxes containing no new/flagged mail, etc.
color sidebar_ordinary color245 default
# Color to give the spool_file mailbox
color sidebar_spool_file color207 default
# Color to give mailboxes containing no unread mail
color sidebar_unread color136 default
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------

# vim: syntax=neomuttrc

10. Known Bugs

None

11. Credits

Justin Hibbits, Thomer M. Gil, David Sterba, Evgeni Golov, Fabian Groffen, Jason DeTiberus, Stefan Assmann, Steve Kemp, Terry Chan, Tyler Earnest, Richard Russon

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