{"id":679,"date":"2026-05-04T19:42:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T18:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/?p=679"},"modified":"2026-05-04T19:44:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T18:44:22","slug":"mail-cheat-sheet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/?p=679","title":{"rendered":"mail\u00a0Cheat Sheet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\u00a0UNIX mail command<\/strong>\u00a0is\u00a0a fundamental utility on Unix-like operating systems used to\u00a0send and receive electronic mail<\/strong>\u00a0directly from the command line.\u00a0

\u00a0It functions as a Mail User Agent (MUA) that allows users to manage their mailbox, compose messages, and interact with recipients without a graphical interface.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start \/ Exit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

mail<\/code> open mailbox
q<\/code> quit and SAVE changes
x<\/code> exit WITHOUT saving<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading Mail<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Enter<\/code> next message
p<\/code> print current message
n<\/code> next message
5<\/code> jump to message 5<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deleting Mail<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

d 1 2 3<\/code> delete specific messages
d 1-10<\/code> delete range
d *<\/code> delete ALL messages
d .<\/code> delete current message
d .-5<\/code> current + previous 5<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search and Delete<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\/word<\/code> search messages
d \/word<\/code> delete matches<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

d \/cron<\/code>
d \/root<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart Selectors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

d :r<\/code> delete all read
d :n<\/code> delete all new
d :u<\/code> delete all unread<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Message Management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

h<\/code> show headers
z<\/code> next page
z-<\/code> previous page<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sending \/ Replying<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

r<\/code> reply
R<\/code> reply to all
m user<\/code> send mail<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saving Messages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

s 5 file<\/code> save message 5
s 1-10 mbox<\/code> save multiple<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Undelete (before quitting)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

u 3<\/code> undelete message 3
u 1-5<\/code> undelete range<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick Workflows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Delete first 50 + read mail:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

mail<\/code>
d 1-50<\/code>
d :r<\/code>
q<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delete everything:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

mail<\/code>
d *<\/code>
q<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delete by keyword:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

mail<\/code>
d \/spam<\/code>
q<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Changes only apply after q<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Use x<\/code> to cancel all changes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • You can combine multiple delete commands before quitting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The\u00a0UNIX mail command\u00a0is\u00a0a fundamental utility on Unix-like operating systems used to\u00a0send and receive electronic mail\u00a0directly from the command line.\u00a0 \u00a0It functions as a Mail User Agent (MUA) that allows users to manage their mailbox, compose messages, and interact with recipients without a graphical interface.\u00a0 Start \/ Exit mail open mailboxq quit and SAVE changesx exit WITHOUT saving Reading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-netbsd","category-smartos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=679"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":681,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679\/revisions\/681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukr.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}